[plot] Invasion: Day 2

[theearth]

Who: EVERYONE + Returnees
What: Day 2 of the Invasion!
Where: EVERYWHERE
When: ICLy: The 30th! OOCly: May 5th to May 9th!
Warnings: Please warn in your subject line if anything that deserves a warning occurs; this includes R-rated things as well as things worthy of a content warning/trigger warning.

The Central info post



Description: The first spaceships get through... and strangely enough they land only inside echo boundaries, disappearing somewhere in the Mesosphere and reappearing about ten kilometres above ground. They always operate in exactly the same way: They bomb an area to clear it and then land their spaceship to release roughly a hundred soldiers (they look like humans).

Each group of soldiers is equipped with extremely technically advanced equipment and on top of that has one super power - one could also say that it are all groups of 100 clones of the same person. The super powers range from telekinesis to the control of an element to telepathy and so on, but each soldier only has one. They are stronger than grinches - basically, your character will have trouble with them no matter what their powers are. They are not stormtroopers, they are darth vaders, so to speak. That said, they can be taken down, it will just be hard. A numbered with special talents will find that the troops communicate and will send in an unit that is equipped to handle that specific talent (f.ex: Against a very fast giant, they'll call people who can catch and keep him in place with telekinesis). So no super power works eternally, and they'll have to retreat and do quick surprise attacks on groups that can't hurt them once they've been figured out by the Enemy's troops.

According to what so far has been submitted about numbered battle power, plans and such, the following picture can be painted:

At first, they will land in the areas where the resident Animal was killed or is out of commission: Locke City, Las Vegas and Christmas Island.
Locke City: Due to the fairly high number of numbered defenders, the city will remain in numbered/human hands. It will however suffer heavy destruction. Locke City will be heavily damaged by secure, being entirely defended by numbered and unnumbered humans.
Las Vegas: Due to the in comparison much lower number of numbered defenders, Las Vegas will fall. If numbered decide to turn the mountain and its insides into a fortress, that will hold and be able to shelter pretty much the whole population of Las Vegas and surroundings. The Enemy's troops will slowly start to spread from Las Vegas and conquer the surrounding areas. Las Vegas and Western North America (USA/Mexico) will be destroyed and fallen.
Christmas Island: Due to the low number of defenders, Enemy soldiers will quickly get a hold of the island... until Julien destroys the glass cage over the central Mushroom. As soon as that has happened, the mushroom will put spores into the air that take root in the enemy soldiers' brains and make them fight all further invaders, also following those who have started to cross the ocean to Indonesia and further. Christmas Island & South East Asia will thus be damaged but secure, being entirely defended by the Mushroom.

Once it is clear that Las Vegas is falling, which will be around noon GMT, the Enemy's troops will start to land in areas where the Animal was weakened: Lapland, Santarem, Neuschwanstein, London. In all these areas, the Animal itself will fight, but it will require numbered assistance. Local military and police will help out with fighting enemy soldiers inside and outside of the echo boundaries.
Santarem: The Swarm (literally a swarm of dragonflies) can hold the area, but a couple of troops manage to sneak past them and start to go on a rampage in South America. Local military and the American military that just invaded Brazil itself will cease their hostilities and turn on those new invaders instead. They can for the most part take care of the alien invaders, but there'll be some destruction. South America is damaged but fairly secure.
Lapland: A good number of santas has been killed at the beginning of the year and there are very few numbered there, so while the enemy can be kept at bay, troops still manage to sneak past them (and the horned giant Animal that will rise from the ice to defend the area). Mostly, they wander into Russia, but a few also head down into southern Finland and into Scandinavia. Again, the local militaries will take care of the enemy soldiers fairly well - they mostly aim to capture and not kill, though, so a number of aliens will be in prison around Norway, Sweden and Finland after this. Northern/Eastern Europe is damaged but fairly secure.
Neuschwanstein is in a fairly similar position, with a number of wolpertingers and doppelgängers having died for various reasons or being caught in other echo boundaries/the ghost zone (though all will attempt to return to the Neuschwanstein Area for this. Including those that are ghosts now) and few numbered fighting there. Due to the higher population and country density in the area, there will be more casualties but the surrounding militaries will also manage to contain the danger more quickly. South/Middle Europe is damaged but fairly secure.
London: Cousin Itt will completely take over the underground and parts of the ground - no enemy soldier will manage to leave the area. But that means that the hair can do less about the soldiers that land in the city itself, so they will for the most part be up to numbered to fight - they could of course just give up the whole city, but giving up a capital...? England will be secure, but London itself will be heavily damaged.

In the areas where the Animal remains unharmed, which are Tokyo and the Galapagos Islands, the Animals will be able to take care of the invaders alone, but everything that is there can be damaged in the process. So Tokyo and the Galapagos Islands are secure but damaged, yet the area around them is unharmed

A special area to defend is space. People can decide to assist Jörmungandr with battling the spaceships, but they have to watch out for the serpent so it doesn't trash them in its trashing. At least there are no civilians here?

What this day is for: This day is for fighting, evacuating, helping and organizing. This is the pure battle day, basically; non-combatans have plenty to do with trying to get civilians to safe places, providing medical aid, coordinating things, getting supplies from one echo boundary to the other, getting in trouble... what have you.


How this works:

- Day 2 will have alien encounters. Please NPC these aliens yourself but keep in mind the following: 1. The aliens are strong. They are Darth Vaders, not Stormtroopers, and will give your character trouble. 2. They land in groups of hundred, and like acting as a group to make winning easier on themselves. All aliens in a group have the same one superpower - this power can be pretty much anything, from telepathy through telekinesis to controlling elements, or whatever else you can come up with. 3. If you have any questions, please as them here!
- Space is now an available echo boundary. Just make sure to not fly too low, you don't want to be at 10% of your echoes mid-air, after all...
- There will be no toplevels on this post. Please start your own threads freely! Please format the subject line like this: "Location(s)/Network | ota/closed/etc". Please keep in mind that each character may change location twice per day (= a maximum of three different locations) and that the moon/space location is still off limits on the 1st Day.
- This post can be used for both network and action threads.
- Keep in mind that returnee characters must have checked in and must request their echoes if they get any.
- Please direct all questions to this thread on the General Invasion Guide
- For the returnee registration, please go here.

Comments

Locke City | Open

[chalicejoker]

[This is Hajime's city, and he'll defend it. His other self was born for this, meant for this. He's in his armored Rider form, tearing through the streets, looking for trouble. It's going to be a hard fight, but he's ready. So ready. The first aliens he sees, he's attacking. Doesn't matter if someone's already there or not. He's going to help.

The whole time, he can feel Joker's influence in the back of his head. Raging, howling, wanting to be let out, regardless of who might get hurt in the crossfire. He's holding it back well enough for now, but if things get bad enough? That might no longer be the case.]

[darkhourdear]

Phillip's never been 100% ok with his death form, not since the first time he used it- and a couple months off with normal child reactions to death and everything hasn't really helped that. But those are what his powers are, and it would be kind of silly for someone with massive battle powers who is also immortal to sit out the fight.

...But he still wants to stick by the people he knows, so Phillip will be flying around near Hajime, in his Death form, using the sword for the most part since a lot of the other stuff he isn't sure if it'll leave the people he likes alone.

[chalicejoker]

The power inherent in Phillip's Death form is not really helping the Joker instincts that are constantly clawing at the fringes of Hajime's awareness, but he doesn't care. It's easy enough to redirect any aggression onto any nearby aliens, anyway.

And oh, he's letting out a good deal of aggression onto those aliens. They keep adapting to any sort of tactics, so he's just trying to be as unpredictable as possible. At the moment, he's got one ensnared in thorned vines he shot out of his bow with the assistance of one of his cards. "How many more we have left?" he yells back at Phillip. Something tells him these guys won't stop coming.

[darkhourdear]

"A lot!" Phillip calls back, not exactly pleased with the situation himself. They can't damage him, but they can make everything really annoying, especially when they seem immune to his own powers. Hmph. They should stop that.

But Hajime's right- it's seemingly endless, and the aliens just keep coming. It's bad. It's kind of really bad. He swoops down on a bunch with his sword, which he's pretty sure they shouldn't be immune to but some of them are anyway. Jerks.

[chalicejoker]

"I'm going to try something!" Hajime removes the belt buckle that had been slotted into his bow, and he slots it back into his belt. He's dodging aliens as he grabs another card from his deck and runs it down the middle of the belt buckle. There's a bit of a light show as Hajime's other cards light up, surround him, and then go back to him. His form ripples, and now his armor is red and green and gold. He freezes for a second, struck by the "that actually worked" nature of the transformation and how great it feels.

He pulls a couple of scythelike weapons from the holsters at his hips, and he launches himself at one of the aliens that's proven to be immune to Phillip's sword. "We've just got to keep fighting!"

[darkhourdear]

Phillip stops what he's doing long enough to give an impressed 'whoa' before he remembers that, oh yeah, aliens. Those are still a thing.

"Right!" he calls back, and tries to do a little experimenting of his own. The ones near him can't be effected by a lot, but maybe if he can cast things further away--

He winds up playing with the range of his attacks a little bit (they're not as far as he would like, but enough to take down some more of the reinforcements that weren't immune). Still doesn't look like this battle's going to end anytime soon...

[chalicejoker]

Hajime's launching himself at the ones close by Phillip with a barely-restrained ferocity. "Keep switching targets--the ones they send for me won't do as well with you!" It's about the best strategy he can think of.

Late but...

[dragon_blossom]

[ While he's fighting an alien - really, any alien, anywhere - another three crash the party, in the sense that they're crashing into a nearby parked car, that gets swept up in the torrent of water and joins in the party by crashing into a building with the aliens. All of this very, very close to Hajime, damn near sweeping up him and his opponent at the same time. ]

Oh shit-watch out there, coming through!

[ A big ass blue giant robot comes barreling down the street, disappearing in a flash and granting its momentum to Marina, taking a hopefully properly aimed arc at Hajime's opponent, sword first. ]

Never too late!

[chalicejoker]

What the hell?

[It's all Hajime can say to properly voice his confusion, but he's not complaining as he reflexively shields himself.

And hey, she's taken out his opponent. Giant sword's doing a bit more damage than Hajime's bow was.]

Thanks.

[dragon_blossom]

[ Hopping down from Seles - the giant robot disappearing almost as though it wasn't there to begin with, except for some mist and some water flowing across the ground where it stood - Marina stands in front of Hajime and surveys the scene. ]

Well I did almost get you too, but you're welcome.

[chalicejoker]

Eh, been a while since I went swimming. And the armor dries off easy enough.

[He's far more comfortable with all this fighting than he has any right to be, really. But staying calm about it keeps the monster inside at bay...]

Robot teleport away, or does it just have a cloaking device?

[dragon_blossom]

Teleported. He's a magical dragon god, so he can sorta do what he wants.

[ Aside from, like, repelling this entire invasion single-handed, but whatever, he was awesome anyways. ]

[chalicejoker]

...that's pretty cool.

[There are only so many ways you can react to magical dragon gods, really.]

What's he do when he's not smashing aliens?

Well, here goes

[fusionjack]

There's been a lot of fighting, and it's a big city. His path had yet to cross Hajime's, for he'd been too busy darting from fight to fight, taking out what he could and retreating when the numbers were too overwhelming. The disadvantage of having been everywhere, though, is that they're getting wise to him. There's a freshly landed squad of invaders who are maddeningly resistant to his psychic powers. They just bounce back when knocked around by telekinesis, and they most certainly do not 'kneel' when he tries to order them to do so.

So it's down to sword swinging, using the blade that Torin (who had gotten a lot taller since the last time they'd spoken) gave him, fiercely and desperately. As much as the urge to fight fight fight pulsed in his head and surged through his veins, he knew he was at the disadvantage. As he slashes and swings, he's trying to make some sort of retreat.

I'll get the tissues

[chalicejoker]

Hajime has also been trying to fight everywhere, but he's got a wider array of cards tricks to draw from. It's hard; he's trying to keep tabs on everyone and everything, but he can't be everywhere at once.

It's easy for him to sense Jack with his Undead abilities. Part of him still feels drawn towards the other, wants to fight him. Hajime just rides that wave of instinct in Jack's direction, and he's easily redirecting the destructive parts of that on the aliens. He's trying to hack his way over to his cousin, but it's hard with all the aliens around.

[fusionjack]

Jack is not a one trick birdie, but his arsenal is not nearly as diverse as his cousin's. A sword can get you far, and these soldiers are at least obliging enough to bleed and stumble and slow when slashed apart, but they're not the only ones that are bleeding. These ones have claws and spikes and move like lightning, and as durable as an Undead might be, you can still cut them. It's a mess of red and green trailing after him as continues to fight his way out...

And he gives a double-take, because he can feel Hajime coming. He wants to turn in that direction, turn the blade on that source of power... but it's not hard to redirect that fighting urge to the alien invaders around him. He lunges at one with such force that he pierces clear through it heart.

"...Hajime! HERE!" Though damn it, it's going to take him a moment more to pull the sword free from the dead alien, and that's leaving him wide open.

[chalicejoker]

"Hang on! I'm coming!" It's somehow easier to hurl aliens aside knowing that he's got someone to rescue. He'll get over there to Jack, and then they'll fight together. That's how this works, right? The Lord of the Bugmen and the High King of the Avians, together again.

[fusionjack]

One alien slashes at him from behind, slicing decorative feathers and drawing more green blood. Two more come in stabbing, and Jack's effort to backhand them away only delays them for a moment. He's still pulling at the sword, still trying to get it free because he needs it in the middle of all this...

"Nnggh!" And it's free and he's swinging it again wildly, trying to buy himself a few more inches of space. And then he is attempting to launch in the air and fly away from them, but they're quick, they've got him surrounded, and they're tackling him back down onto the ground.

Hajime's coming. He'll come. This isn't done. They'll fight them off together. It's not over.

[chalicejoker]

Hajime's still running towards Jack, but he's not fast enough, not knocking them aside quickly enough, these jerks are learning. In desperation, he runs another card through his belt. His armor ripples and shifts again, and now he's trying to cut through that crowd as best he can with the hand-held scythelike weapons this form comes with.

The sudden change, his best approximation of the ability to adapt the enemy has been displaying, helps. He's slicing and dicing and trying so hard to get to his cousin, but it might not be enough. He might not be fast enough.

[oncedevil]

[WAY TO ALMOST RUN HIM OVER WITH A MOTORCYCLE, HAJIME. There's a shout of surprise, Tony leaping backwards and away from where the motorcycle riding bugman plows into the small group of aliens that had him surrounded. Sure, Hajime might have just saved his hide, but he might have just thrashed it, too.]

Oi! What the hell, man? Watch where you're going with that thing!

[He's charged back in already, smashing one alien back roughly while more begin to pile in for the attack. These guys are awfully tough for mooks.]

[chalicejoker]

[Hajime's not listening. Not at all listening.

He had to seal Jack. He had to seal his own cousin. He is not dealing with this well at all. There's a flying motorcycle leap at an alien. He's not listening to Tony, and he's fighting a little wild right now. Almost too wild.]

[oncedevil]

[Okay, that's weird. And annoying.

Hajime's going to get himself killed at this rate. The aliens are intelligent and quick, they respond and regroup almost immediately, now aiming to entrap and try to disable the bugman who has become a higher priority threat than Tony.]

Hajime! Hey!

[Nope, not listening. Idiot. Tony huffs and charges in, shimmering in place to appear just behind one alien whom he slashes at viciously with his sword, trying to keep the group from fully surrounding Hajime. So he can get to him first. Just what the hell has gotten into the bug lord?]

[chalicejoker]

[Nope. Still not listening. And he's glad he's surrounded by aliens, because he's tired of holding back, of thinking, of having to deal with what he's done...

There's a roar of sorrow and rage as his form ripples, and he shifts from his Rider form into Joker and wastes no time in rampaging at those aliens.]

[oncedevil]

[Oh shit, that can't be good. That's really not good.

Something bad's happened, Hajime isn't himself, but Tony isn't really at the liberty of trying to find out at the moment. Not with them in the thick of things being attacked and shot at by aliens. Right now it takes every ounce of concentration to not get killed, so Tony's going to hang back and let Hajime sort out the first mess.

Then he'll get to sorting out Hajime.]

[chalicejoker]

[Hajime hadn't been fighting in this form, and so this group of aliens is ill-prepared to handle the green blasts of scythe-like energy he's firing at them. At least they're giving him plenty of targets, because the way he is now, he won't differentiate between them or Tony.

...and he won't stop fighting until all the targets in the area have been destroyed, either.]