EVENT #010

[larkers]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam and any other megacity the Displaced happen to be in/travel to!
WHEN: May 28, 2512
WHAT: Golden-eyed monsters stream into New Amsterdam and other megacities the world over.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Violence, death, body horror, mind control, and transformation.

> EVENT #010

It starts in the middle of the night, when most everyone should be fast asleep in their beds, whether they're still taking up a cot in the safehouse or staying in their own apartment. One moment it's quiet, with most of the rest of the city having also turned in for the night, and then in the next? It isn't.

There will be mass confusion as the scope of the situation becomes clear. Monsters stream out onto the streets, thundering up the stairs of a train station, skittering out of construction sites, or climbing up the walls. Some of them fly. Others slither. Others run, loping forward with only one goal in mind: to find something to sink their teeth or claws into and to leave destruction in their wake at every turn. They are a horde, a swarm, a teeming mass of creatures that have no intention of stopping. All of them have eyes or bodies that shine gold and wherever they go, they seem to leave decay. Concrete turns black and porous where they step; plants wither and die.

There is no real preparing for an attack of this scale. New Amsterdam will awaken as the sound of these monsters crashing down on cars or bursting through storefronts or into homes forces people to run screaming from their dwellings or places of work. There is no discrimination in who these beasts might target, and no discernable pattern in where they go.

All that one can really tell is that they seem to want to spread out. They're constantly on the move, leaping from victim to victim, and they're relentless. No one knows why they've come, where they're come from, or what will make them stop. At least for now, the only option seems to be to cut down their numbers. It's time to fight the horde.

The first night will be utter chaos as everyone reacts to the monsters' sudden appearance, but by the morning hours news reports will start streaming in. This is not only happening in New Amsterdam, or wherever else a Displaced might be staying, but seemingly everywhere. Some cities seem harder hit than others, but practically every megacity is overrun with the creatures.

With no way of knowing who might have unleashed the monsters, all of these cities have essentially been turned into battlefields. Not many civilians are prepared to fight for their lives, and it will take a mobilization effort from the police, Morningstar, the Displaced, and anyone else who's willing to take up arms in order to survive.

◉ As a note, this attack starts simultaneously in multiple cities. While it's the middle of the night in New Amsterdam, the monsters will appear at other times of the day in other parts of the world depending on the timezone!

> BESTIARY

So as to not make this post overly long, we have compiled all of the monster descriptions into a Google doc here for everyone's reference!

> (NOT SO) SAFEHOUSE

For those Displaced who stay at (or spend any time in) the safehouse under the hoverbike shop or the Red Wings bar, they may become aware of the presence of the monsters sooner than others, due to the fact that at least a few of the giant mole monsters will end up burrowing up through the concrete basements to wreak havoc. The screeching noise of steel claws tearing through the floor will be sure to wake up even the deepest of sleepers.

This won't just be an occurrence on the first night of the attack, either. Unless something is done to deter them, tunnels leading straight into the safehouses will continue to be created, allowing even other types of monsters to find their way through (the smaller ones, that is). Where exactly they're coming from won't be entirely clear, though it's a safe bet to assume that they must have originated in the cave system somehow.

Suffice to say that El won't be happy about the safehouse being compromised in this way, though this isn't a possibility that ze or anyone else could have really prepared for. While ze can't do much to physically help with containing the invasion of the monsters, ze will offer whatever resources ze can—though Morningstar is going to be busy in plenty of other locations, as well, and they only have so many resources.

The Red Wings, being a Displaced-operated location, will also be in need of assistance, especially if it's meant to be a point of safety and a hub for handing out supplies. Speaking of—

> RED WINGS HQ

As things begin to deteriorate, Clarke Griffin and Stephen Strange sink their resources into Red Wings, adapting it into a base of operations for the Displaced. Clarke also called in PRESERVE to set up a checkpoint here, too, and anyone—from the Displaced to civilians—will be able to seek aid here. (Of course, Red Wings will be just one of a few locations throughout the city where they attempt to set up shop, but Red Wings may prove to be more fortified thanks to the talents of the Displaced.) Civilians will not have access to Red Wings' safehouse, however. That's still something that Clarke and Stephen want to keep under wraps, for now.

In the bar proper, there will be medical aid, supplies, and even weapons for those who can use them. During rare moments of downtime, the gang at Red Wings will also work on reconnaissance missions to find safe spots throughout the city to provide much needed protection and safety for the people of New Amsterdam. This task may be much easier said than done. Gathering intel on the monsters is a high priority, too, and for anyone who tries to capture a monster to learn more about them, the basement might be a good place to hold them. If the Displaced are going to be able to fight back, they need to know exactly what it is they're fighting.

However, the truth of the matter is that this attack happened quickly, and in the middle of the night to boot. As much as the group at Red Wings tries, resources are stretched thin, and they didn't have time to prepare as much as they wanted to. Supplies need to be rationed, bandages and stitches used for wounds that really need them, and if you're not a great shot, it might be best to let someone with more training take that gun you're eyeing.

More than anything, despite the difficulty, this is a way for the Displaced to help out as many people as they can, and a way for them to cement their humanitarian efforts and affect the population's opinion of them. The citizens of New Amsterdam are sick of this cycle of destruction, and are just waiting to be empowered. Now's the time to teach them to fight back and help them protect their city.

Red Wings' safehouse underground will be damaged by burrowing monsters as well, and will need protection. The bar itself will escape relatively unscathed.

> INVESTIGATING / GATES

Maybe the best way of dealing with the monsters isn't violence at all. Maybe there's a more strategic way to deal with this.

The monsters will be moving from city to city via the gates, just like the Displaced do. There might be a way to keep them from spreading, or at least slow them down, by shutting down the gate network. Of course, with the mag trains shutting down, getting back home could be an issue. One option is the delivery network of hover trucks. They'll still be running to get supplies from city to city, but their batteries don't run indefinitely, so these will be relatively local trips only. No getting from New Tokyo back to New Amsterdam with this method, unfortunately, and convincing a driver to let you hitch a ride might be a challenge, but it's doable.

Of course, there's also the question of where these things are coming from. Intrepid characters might be able to track them back to their nests, which are tucked away in wildly different places depending on the city. In New Amsterdam, they might be in the caves below the city. In other places, they might not be in the city proper at all, but just outside of it. It's important to keep in mind that the nests are far away from any of the action taking place elsewhere. Tracking these origin points may provide some answers, but the cost would be less involvement in the crisis taking place.

And then there's the matter of the monsters themselves. How can you fight an enemy you know nothing about? For those determined or crafty enough, capturing them might be an option, although this will take some creativity. Once these creatures are captured, they'll need to be kept contained, and kept alive. Just because they're monstrous doesn't mean they don't have to eat, after all, and some will need special environmental considerations as well, such as the mind control slugs.

What happens after that is up to the Displaced. Is dissecting them the best bet? Their internal anatomy won't be wildly different from most "normal" animals, with the exception of some creatures who have strange appendages or the like. Still, this might give the Displaced a better idea of how they operate and what their weak spots are. Sending samples to a lab is another possibility, if the Displaced can figure out how to safely store those samples. After all, the world is in a crisis, and no one is running tests at the moment.

All monsters, though, seem drawn to the blue light. When a Displaced uses a power or activates the empathy bond, the creatures will lock onto it, utterly transfixed, and if this is done enough times, that gold glow of theirs will intensify. What does it all mean? Maybe figuring that out will be a pathway to stopping their attacks.

> PITCHING IN

While all of this is going on, it certainly won't be just the Displaced who are heading out into the streets to try and stem the flow of the monster attack. These creatures are certainly not holding back, and no matter how much work might be put in, their numbers are overwhelming. Plenty of people will end up dead as a result, ripped to shreds or dragged off somewhere to be eaten. Yet, for some reason, these monsters are not as vicious toward the Displaced. They'll engage them in a fight and injure them, but they never go so far as dealing a fatal blow.

Seeing how that's not the case for the rest of the populace throughout the world, however, some groups and organizations will be rising up to do their part.

Police departments will be mobilizing in every megacity to put the monsters down, and while they are armed, it's not on the same level as the UNA. They also don't have any sort of training that's prepared them to fight monsters, but they'll still be putting their lives on the line to put a dent in the monsters' onslaught. When it comes to enforcing regular law and order, they certainly won't have the bandwidth for anything like that. Then again, most people won't be in any position to take advantage and commit crimes either, given the chaos that will be a constant everywhere.

Morningstar will also be jumping into action around the world. The New Amsterdam branch will be most likely to work alongside the Displaced and share some of their resources, particularly with those who are signed up as official agents or those who've supported them in the past. In cities like New Prague and New Beijing where the Displaced have made some contact with Morningstar before, they'll also be open to working with the Displaced. However, their resources are by no means robust. Morningstar is an organized rebel group, but they're hardly an official army in any sense of the word. They might be able to hand out a weapon here or there and they have a safehouse set up in almost every city, but beyond that, they'll mainly be getting boots on the ground to help with the fighting.

UNA soldiers who have been left without any sort of purpose or guidance will now have an opportunity to put some of that training to use. Their involvement will be much more scattered, though in some cases small groups of these soldiers who used to work in units together will reconnect in their effort to fight off the horde. However, having been cut off from the UNA in an official capacity, they won't have much in the way of gear or weapons. They're still formidable fighters, though, and now might be the perfect time to reach out and make a connection with some of them.

Mercenaries belonging to various different outfits, depending on what city they're based in, will also be joining the cause. Whether they're acting out of a basic desire to survive the attacks or if they're actually being paid by someone to go out there and risk their lives will be less clear, but they're some of the best-equipped fighters (other than the police). They also won't really find much reason to protest any of the Displaced pitching in to fight with them. The more firepower, the better, right?

A group of regulars from the New Amsterdam fighting rings will be rising up to add their fuel to the monster-fighting fire, as encouraged by Hawke and whoever else might know them well enough to reach out. Given that some of these people have illegal mods to enhance their strength or cybernetic attachments that can do impressive amounts of damage, some of them might hold their own against the monsters. Hell, some of them might even ask the Displaced to demonstrate some of their powers if they end up fighting together, as word of their abilities has become more known among their ranks. Either way, they'll be jumping into the fray with quite a bit of gusto.

PRESERVE will be involved on the other end of these efforts and will be doing their best to tend to the wounded and the dead, along with finding shelter and safe spots for people to barricade themselves from the attacks. It's not like the grand majority of civilians could stand a chance against these monsters, after all, yet not all of them can rely on their homes to be safe enough to stay in. They'll be quick to accept an offer of Displaced help, as they'll be doing their best to try and drag the recently dead to hospitals to get them put into medi-units before they're too late. Along with what's set up at Red Wings, they'll also be cobbling together other relief spots throughout the city for taking care of wounded and offering up what supplies they have (food and water, medical supplies, etc).

And what are the corporations doing in all of this? Well, suffice to say, mainly just panicking. Unsurprisingly, they're not much help during a crisis like this, with most of the super-rich opting to hide away in whatever highly secure bunkers they might have. Too bad that these bunkers might not prove so secure in the face of these attacks. Could that prove to be an opportunity if someone went looking?

> FINAL OOC NOES

Please refer to the OOC EVENT POST for all OOC info, including suggestions for directions on how to engage with the event. Given the spread out nature of this event, as well as the amount of additional details provided here, please direct all questions to our QUESTIONS thread below. This is, naturally, a huge event in terms of scale, and so we're certain there are aspects of it we haven't covered and questions that have yet to be answered. We do encourage that all of our players use the event planning post for any additional ideas and for touching base!

Please do not begin to thread out any aftermath until AUGUST 8, 2020, which is when we will put up the aftermath log and OOC post. If this date changes, we will provide a gamewide update as needed! As a note, the August calendar will be posted alongside the aftermath!

As a reminder, there is one power level up available for this event, granted for a thread of at least 5 log/action comments containing your character utilizing their power in some way during the event itself. They will need to reach the 5 comments required by SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 to be eligible. Submission will be handled on the wrap up post.

Our Activity Check will be posted AUGUST 1 at 12 AM UTC. It will run for seven days and close on AUGUST 8 at 12 AM UTC.

Have fun and fight some monsters! Or … whatever else you might do with them. 😉😏 Your secret's safe with us. 😙

> NAVIGATION

Comments

[braveoff]

[ Drake's also a very steady and calm personality, nowhere near as shaken by the injury as most people would be. He's actually struck by how innate the stranger's emotions feel to him, and the bond would actually be a very pleasant experience both ways if it wasn't for all the pain Gene's getting, but Drake does his best not to let it show, not to flinch away or make much noise other than a soft hiss when Gene wipes at the raw edges of the wound. He can take it.

There's also a curiosity there, and a need to get back out to protect others. Drake wants to ask after Gene, what his name is at least, but figures he should wait and not break the other man's focus. ]

[preseance]

( pain ain't nothin' but somethin' to be survived. it don't hardly trouble him. gene's fallen off'a near every structure in conecuh that's tall enough to climb, had broken most'a his own bones bein' feckless an' wild all before he turned twelve. his metric for it is surely hell an' gone higher than most folks, so in turn there's just an acceptance of it, an' a dismissal in turn.

once the wound's clean enough he's satisfied, he slathers it with a medical ointment an' then starts the process of dressin' it. he makes sure there ain't no edges of the dressin' peekin' out beneath the bandages, lest the blood wick out an' make more of a mess than it is now.

the whole process, from cleanin' to clippin' the edge of the bandage with a safety pin, takes about three minutes all told. )

Your shoe's full'a blood. If'n you're worried about bein' tracked, we ought to find you another pair. Reckon there's a store back a ways, got wrecked by monsters already. An' the name's Gene, by the way. Gene Hicks.

[braveoff]

[ It's a good job, careful and gentle enough and thorough, and fast. The kind of job by someone who knows his job well and is used to doing it under pressure. Drake reclaims his leg when it's all said and done, bending his knee up and testing how the bandage moves with him. ]

Thank you, that's faster than trying to get home. And for the patching up, obviously... my name's Drake. Drake Holloway.

[ Not that anyone he likes calls him by his last name, but it's how Gene introduced himself. ]

Do you need any help with cover out here while you're helping people?

[preseance]

( he shrugs a bit, as he reaches out to help heft the man back up to his feet. )

Can always use the help. Wouldn't go so far as to say I have a need of it, though, given how dire things are elsewhere.

( he's used to making do with what he's got. whether that means a squad what's fully kitted out an' ready for a fight or a stretcher made from long guns an' an officer's jacket, he ain't fussed about it. lives will be lost an' he'll grieve them, but he knows you can't save 'em all. )

[braveoff]

[ Drake takes the hand up, gingerly testing his leg. It feels okay, honestly, he can keep fighting now that he isn't losing blood. ]

I'll stick with you for awhile, then. It's not like I was headed anywhere in particular, just patrolling to help out.

[ There's strength in numbers, and if someone's getting attacked they'll likely need both help fighting the monster off and medical attention. Best to stay together for awhile. ]

Can I ask where you learned to do all this?

[preseance]

( drake halloway sounds earthen enough, don't it? the man surely don't comport himself with that air gene's rapidly beginning to understand as old-fashioned in the way that he's old-fashioned, but he would put his bet on earth. )

Well. You can ask.

( the playful implication is that he may not decide to answer, though he surely will.

seems like he's tellin' more folk what he was mired in these last few days than he has the whole'a his time here. he cants his head to one side, makes sure the fella ain't gonna topple over an' then lets him stand on his own power. )

Reckon bein' a paratrooper medic from 1942 on through '45 has a mite to do with it.

( his tone's a bit dry, but humorous for all that. )

[braveoff]

[ Well if Gene was still uncertain about Drake being from Earth, his reply will put that to rest. His eyes widen slightly in recognition. ]

World War II? Damn.

[ He isn't sure what to say next, but doesn't want to make it awkward so offers something in return. ]

I was in an alien war the place before here, but it didn't last that long.

[preseance]

( funny how the war can get that reaction outta folks, an' the man's blasé about aliens. both eyebrows go up in somethin' more like surprise than disbelief. )

Aliens, huh? So this must all be like old hat to you then.

( if a man can trouble himself about aliens, then new amsterdam must be next to nothin'. )

[braveoff]

Actually, yes... it wasn't exactly part of the war but monsters showed up all the time there too. Every month, at least.

[ He flashes a tiny grin. ]

I used to be harder to take down than this, though.

[preseance]

( he huffs a quiet laugh. )

Every month at least. Got that in common with here, near abouts, huh?

( once they get to the shoe store, gene steps in over the broken glass an' holds out his hand so's drake can take it an' follow him in with surer footin' than a shoe slick with his own blood. )

Y'somethin' other than human back home? Or got magic or somethin'?

[braveoff]

This place is... it's easier with regards to downtime in between, less a constant barrage of monsters and crises, but when something does happen it feels worse? Maybe because of the breaks.

[ He'll take Gene's hand with a soft 'thank you,' just until they're over the glass. There's still a little pain but it's intentionally in the background, Drake overwhelmingly steady even if his footing isn't right now. He grabs a pair of socks off the rack by the door and then heads to the section with his size, trying to figure out how to explain zombie without just saying it... since it seems to be different in his world than in many others. ]

I had a condition that made me almost invulnerable, but at cost. So kind of not human? They cured me just before I left the place I was last.

[preseance]

( he got pretty good at guessin' sizes in the war, so he starts eyeballin' pairs an' pullin' 'em down from the racks so's drake can try 'em on, leavin' them beside a bench for him. )

Ain't sure that'd be a condition most would want cured of.

( invulnerability, an' all. he figures there must be more to that story than what he's bein' told, but in all honesty he doesn't mind so much. he ain't exactly a nosy sort. )

[braveoff]

In my world, it varies. Most people do want to be cured, though, the cost is extremely high, that's pretty much the only benefit. I stayed that way as long as I could stand to and then awhile longer so I'd be better at protecting people in the city, but if I ever wanted to leave I needed to be human again.

[ He notices that Gene grabbed a pair of shoes and goes to try them, since they look like they've got good soles for running in. ]

Thanks, these should work.

[preseance]

Huh.

( it's one of those little southern expressions of noise that somehow manages to convey a sense of well, how about that? as open as drake's being, it sounds like a complicated enough matter that he'd prefer to leave well enough alone for politeness' sake. they've just met, an' though there's kinship there as plain an' easy as anythin', they're still in the middle of a relative war zone an' ought to put that sort of curiosity away for later. )

You ought to take two pair, just in case. We can pay it back later once the store's up an' runnin' again.

[braveoff]

[ Drake lets the 'huh' sit, figuring the stranger doesn't think this is the time for small talk -- or big talk -- and he'd be right. He pulls on the new shoes and abandons his old ones as not worth the trouble, then pulls out another pair and sets about tying the laces together. ]

Kind of a weird thing to fight with around your neck, but I see your point. I might bleed through this.

[ He could use another pair of jeans, too, but that's a thing he can get without borrowing any when he circles back to the apartment. He's just finishing up when they hear a shout outside. ]

...sounds like someone needs help, let's go.

[preseance]

( gene gives him a nod, kicks those bloody shoes further back outta the way so there's less chance of them attractin' predators an' the like an' then checks his gun. ain't got but a few bullets left, an' they're precious enough besides. )

Once we find 'em, you ought to go back to Red Wings, rest up a spell before you get back out.

[braveoff]

I'll do that. I'm just glad it didn't need stitches.

[ He starts moving again, clearly favoring his leg a little but not because he can't take pain -- just because he doesn't want to injure himself worse.

They spot the people in trouble quickly enough, a small group of civilians just around the corner dodging swipes from one of the arachne. At least it's not something flying, Drake thinks to himself. ]

I can probably handle it, save your ammo... get them out of here, maybe?

[preseance]

( gene watches the way he moves, mentally takin' tabs on whether or not he'll be as all right as he says. but at the end of the day, it's the civilian folk who matter more, an' gene nods, pushin' too-long hair back off his forehead. )

Right. You mind yourself, now. If you happen to get fatally wounded, make sure you send out a call. We can come pick you up and set you to rights so long as it's done reasonably quick.

( he ain't no tactician, but: )

I'll head around the right side. Get some distance so's you don't have to run, and distract 'em maybe?