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meadowlarklogs2019-11-30 12:31 pm
EVENT LOG 007 | AFTERMATH
WHERE: New Beijing, a train, and then New Amsterdam.
WHEN: The tail end of the operation and the two days after: January 26th-28th.
WHAT: Finishing up the operation, hiding out, and going home.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Violence and unstoppable soldiers. More to be updated as necessary.
At the turn of midnight in New Beijing, the true risk to this plan comes to light. There was always a chance, always a point of awareness that Cassius wouldn't be able to buy his foot soldiers enough time. He knew that this could go poorly, so he was prepared for just that. He knew that the Displaced would, potentially, treat the UNA soldiers as personal enemies. They showed this face with their foolhardy desperation during the EMP's effects, and given an opportunity to assault a weaker, unexpecting bunch, they wouldn't hold back.
After all, not killing the soldiers hadn't been a suggestion made by Cassius showing some sign that he had a conscience or was worried about the death of citizens. No, killing the soldiers would make his job harder: and it did.
After scrambling the distress call for forty-five minutes, Cassius' efforts finally fail when the base finally gets the word out for reinforcements. Switching gears, Cassius sends along a word to the Displaced still in the base, letting them know that their time is running short. They need to get moving, and the UNA has wisened up to Cassius' tactics with the fabricated terrorist attacks on the other side of the city. If it were just one thing, the UNA may not have turned back, but their installed software quickly began to recognize many of the tactical patterns that Cassius employed: they weren't that different from the ones executed by radicalized Morningstar agents in other cities.
The lack of traffic in the city means the deployed soldiers return swiftly. Unlike the ones at the base, these soldiers are heavily armed and prepared for the worst. Even though Judas is definitely offline by the time they arrive, their systems remain operational for now. After all, Judas wasn't online as it was, as he was isolated from the world on a localized quantum server. The weight of Judas' impact on the UNA and its systems are still up in the air for anyone to guess. It's hard to tell what they might have been using him for, and just what weight his own additions had made on their current operations. What's clear is that these soldiers can still move, act, and attack, and there are hundreds of them rushing back in a steady stream of military might.
For anyone in the base, it's time to move. Being caught here probably will mean the end of the road for everyone involved.
◉ The soldiers who show up are not beatable. They will be working in formation and predicting most of what's coming their way, and given the numbers sent out, they will be unstoppable. Unsurprisingly, the larger the unit, the stronger their ingrained instincts happen to be. Think of these soldiers as the boss battle you can't even beat for an achievement. It's the one where you're meant to lose, if you engage at all.
◉ We're fine with any degree of Judas Hot Potato that goes on in the final stages of the base, and recommend that you all work that out on our event aftermath post.
◉ As for who finally hands Judas off to Cassius, we have sign ups at the aftermath post, too! The person who wins that doesn't need to be the person with the potato in the end; some creative juggling can go down for that stage, too!
◉ Anyone who dies on the base will need to be dragged out and taken to a medi-unit or they will be permadead. We are not asking for anyone to have their characters killed here! Everyone can get out safely and unharmed if they haul ass. Or even if they don't! Maybe they got lucky.
◉ Cassius will be wiping any records of the interlopers, making it so that their existence can't be traced. He'll be covering the surrounding areas of the base for a three mile radius. After that, everyone is on their own: they'd better have a plan of escape.
While Cassius will be covering the immediate area of the base, everyone will want to make sure that they don't appear suspicious as they hit the streets of New Beijing. The best place to hide? The lower levels of the city. Despite the frequent police raids, someone can move through the lower levels until they're close to their hotel. All they need to do is move up once they're just beneath their temporary residence. Discarding any unwanted goods along the way down there probably wouldn't hurt.
For anyone who's been injured by the soldiers or by their fellow Displaced, they'll want to stop and do some quick first aid on themselves. Hitting a hospital or clinic like this is risky. For the dead, it's not as if anyone has any choice, so their pal better cook up a good story for what happened along the way. The good news in all of this is that injuries and all, none of the hotels are likely to ask too many questions. The drones that do the room service aren't sentient, and the people who work the front desks simply aren't paid enough to care.
By 9 AM, all the news beats around the city refer to a series of attacks that rocked UN landmarks. While the attacks on the UN government buildings had the mark of Morningstar radicals from New Prague and New Johannesburg, they are not citing them as the individuals most likely to be culpable for these attacks. There is no information about what happened at the UNA HQ, though it seems unlikely that none of that information would have gotten out during the flurry of hasty exits.
Even so, it's likely a good idea that everyone lays low for the final couple of days in New Beijing. That doesn't mean that everyone needs to say cooped up in their hotels. Still, they'll likely want to be cautious while the city is on high alert for suspicious activity.
As for whoever has Judas, they'll get a message late in the evening of the 26th telling them to meet with one of Cassius' resources in the morning. Cassius won't be up for much conversation when the message comes in. Despite all previous communication, any messages sent to him now will be a dead end.
Eventually, it's January 28th and everyone will be headed back to New Amsterdam on a train. It feels as if there's almost a lack of closure, as Judas is most likely gone, the devices that were meant to hold him unable to go through customs. Unlike the previous train, this ride will be an non-stop express from New Beijing to New Amsterdam, and will be largely uneventful. The lack of stops along the way makes it impossible for any temporary havoc to break out. Even the Displaced who didn't pick up express tickets will find that their itinerary has been changed. While the more luxurious seats will remain the same and will offer a bed for anyone looking to rest over the long journey, everyone else's upgrade will treat them to neck pillows and thin blankets to help them stay comfortable.
An event-free ride probably won't mean much for the feelings stewing among the Displaced. Everyone is bound to be feeling something after everything that just happened, so there's still a lot of room for tension now that everyone's been crammed in close quarters on a non-stop train ride. Let's just hope it doesn't get too nasty in there!
◉ El will purchase all of the newcomer Displaced tickets for the way back. All of them will be traveling to New Amsterdam for new job opportunities in the wake of the city's losses, and will be directed to make a statement of intent to move to New Amsterdam permanently.
◉ El won't be purchasing that upgrade, though. If anyone thinks it's Cassius' doing, just blame it on Cassius.
◉ Everyone will be arriving in New Amsterdam around 4 PM with varying amounts of jetlag (or trainlag).
◉ Upon arriving, everyone will begin to see garrish advertisements for both Valentine's Day and Carnival.
Thanks for the great event, Larkers! We have a lot planned to spin out of this one, so we hope that you enjoyed what we cooked up here. Our OOC Aftermath Post is live, which is where we'd like you to direct all of your aftermath questions. We also encourage you to discuss any loose ends for the plot and plan anything else out that's needed!
Otherwise, we intended for this to be more of a low key log while everyone continues to thread out the event. Our next log will be up on December 13th featuring our new arrivals, giving everyone some time between now and then!
no subject
( by now he’s acquired a med-kit, which he sets on the nearest table and opens. his grasp of first-aid is rudimentary at best, but thankfully rey doesn’t appear to have anything more grievous than the scratches to contend with. )
The UNA figured out we'd managed to infiltrate their base. They sent in their heavy-hitters.
( as one usually does in these cases. this, in itself, would have already been a concern but with how quickly so many of them had dropped after that he half wonders if they'll be making another trip out to the research outposts sooner rather than later. )
I'd be surprised if anyone managed to make it out with the AI.
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[ Someone definitely made it out. Rey shuts her eyes, sighing out her disappointment. If no one on Cassius' side has bragged about it, maybe they're fortunate enough that it didn't go to him. The best case scenario would be that Akechi and Ren got there first. ]
That cat girl wouldn't tell me who got away with it while she distracted me. [ It's embarrassing, actually, that distracted here means 'beat.' Rey has gotten her ass handed to her before, but mostly when she was a child. She'd been exhausted by then, though, and powerless and distracted. And Catra was vengeful. ]
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( oh, he remembers her. had, quite frankly, dismiessed her as any kind of real threat after seeing her scuttle around the theme park like a hyperactive child.
his mistake.
he starts with cleaning the obvious injuries, swabbing them carefully. antiseptic comes next — he doesn't warn her, just applies it directly. )
You're sure she's with Cassius?
( that means cassius must reached out to the newcomers, after all. a worrying thought but one that makes sense. none of them would know just how dangerous the ai truly is. what he's capable of. )
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[ Presumptuously so, maybe, but Rey commits to her interpretation. She grimaces against the burn of alcohol against the open slashes that Catra's claws had left. ]
Do you know where she's from? [ Kylo had met her, apparently. Rey's never seen an alien like Catra before. Most are reptilian in some way. ] Not our galaxy, right?
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( she'd said a lot of other things, admittedly, and most of it had sounded nonsensical at best. )
She could have been lying, of course. Or it could have another name. One I'd know.
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[ She seems to accept that Catra probably wasn't lying. She doesn't seem the type to preoccupy herself with it, but Rey had on some level hoped that because she was unfamiliar to Earth's people that maybe ...
But no.
Probably, that's alright. She hadn't exactly come off her efforts to bond with Jyn with anything to show for it except insult. She settles back to the bed with a soft sigh, her eyes gliding across the room. It's not the one Riverstone had rented for her. ]
You brought me here? [ It almost goes without saying. ] How are the others? [ For however he defines that, she's most interested in Riku and Sora. ]
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( reiterated even though he knows it's unnecessary, because of course he did. leaving her behind could (and would) never be an option. )
Riku checked in while you were out. I assume Sora is with him.
( the two are attached at the hip, right? )
no subject
We lost.
[ The last time she'd felt defeat like this, she'd woken up alone. Rey reaches out for his hand, struggling to verbalize the strange mixture of grief and relief. What Cassius does with Judas could change everything on Earth for the worse. But there's a certain peace in knowing that whatever it looks like, she won't be alone in trying to make up for this particular failing, as she'd felt following the EMP.
She squeezes tightly, the glow in her chest dimmer for her shirt but still casting weird shadows on the walls of the otherwise warmly lighted hotel room. ]
no subject
( but there is a resolve beneath the words, determined. truthfully, they only lost once judas was handed over to cassius ㅡ and even then, perhaps there would be something that could be done.
el would know.
he squeezes her fingers, ) We have survived worse odds.
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Rey nods, accepting it now, but she isn't ready to plan yet. She releases his hand and scoots over on the bed, making room for him beside her. It isn't new anymore, the intimacy of sharing space, of simply holding one another. But it's new to need it and have it, to ask for it bluntly instead of crawling into his bed at midnight like she can steal it from him without his knowing. ]
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settling in beside her, he is careful not to jostle her any more than necessary. acutely aware of the fact that this is a bed not meant for two. absurdly, he's reminded of new tokyo and crowding into that tiny bunk bed, poe dameron's disapproving gaze watching them. )
no subject
You don't have to be careful with me. [ Bruising of her head and a handful of deep, gouged scratches aside, the worst is really in her sternum where the slight chafing of a modest electrical burn itches against his ribcage. She doesn't let it deter her the contact, though she realizes the empathy bond is letting him know precisely where and how much pain she's in. ] She used my staff on me. The taser.
[ She cranes her neck to look up at him. ]
Did you find it with me?
[ Catra hadn't taken it, so it should have been there, but Rey was unconscious, so she doesn't know either way. ]
no subject
he gestures vaguely in the direction of the door, the staff propped against the wall. he'd almost missed it at first but both el and gaby's warning had been ringing in his ears. the weapon might not have been distinct to morningstar, but there were doubtless plenty of other ways they could have used it to wring out rey's identity. )
I told the clerk you were a very enthusiastic cosplayer. ( it's said in that tone that could be a joke or it could be entirely serious. ) I think he'd seen worse.
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[ There's a smile in her voice that doesn't show on her face because just then she turns to burrow against his chest, a languid search for warmth in his skin. She savors the softness of it. The smell of him. All these things have come to signify a sense of safety, to her. It helps more than anything else to ebb away the worser effects of her injuries -- the invisible ones. ]
I bet your followers would like it if you played a character you could actually dress up as. [ As it stands, she'd have better luck imitating his Emberpoint character. She doubts this is a coincidence. ]
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( this is, admittedly, said largely in jest. they had attended a few conventions together, seen the degree some invested in their costumes. even if he were so inclined, he hardly has the resources available.
and finding something in his size would be difficult. )
Here, ( pulling off one glove and then the other, a hand slips beneath her shirt to settle at her hip, ) let me take it. ( the pain.
if he still had the force, this would be simpler. as it stands what he does is less healing than it is wrapping her in a cocoon of affection and relief. )
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Her eyelids flutter, but she opens her eyes after a moment to look up at him. ]
I'm sorry.
[ That's what does it, what tells her that she had something to apologize for. The sharing of his emotions makes her realize that she'd done it again — worried him. Not as much as the outpost, but it's the same behavior. She can't seem to stop herself. She certainly doesn't act like there are people who'd miss her. ]
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( the concern doesn't abate — because it would be a lie to say that he had not been concerned. finding her like that, well... it had hit him harder and deeper than he would ever admit.
but they've had some variant of this conversation before. he doesn't need to be happy to understand the drive she possesses. that inherent need to do good and to help.
his fingers splay across her skin, mouth brushing against her temple, and the emotion intensifies. ) Just don't go where I can't follow.
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[ She wants to say it. But it doesn't come out. It's not the first time she's been in that position, and some part of her suspects that her reticence is the reason that he hasn't either. Still. She feels it, and the empathy bond tells him as much.
Her heart swells, warm and appreciative and loving. She just nudges her nose against his skin, though, and says, ] I won't.
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closer. )
I believe you.
( a slow exhale of breath and something in him unwinds slowly. the recognition might not be necessary but it will always be welcome. )