[OPEN] mod plot | sacking of olympus: harbinger descends

[unplug]

CHARACTERS ▶ All characters opting in
LOCATION ▶ Olympus
SUMMARY ▶ The Zion Defense Grid with civilian relief corps arrive at 1100 6/18, and Commander Gwisin gives the orders for rescue, assault, and investigation. This log is player-run and includes The REAPER simulation option (1 of 3) in the Matrix, as well as rescue activity in the Real. Kill some zombies, save some abducted babies.
WARNINGS ▶ Violence and reference to human experimentation, possibly R.
NOTES ▶ This is Part II of the Sacking of Olympus plot. Questions/investigation here, for example, what happens when you shoot compartment x of the centipede

▶ Sacking of Olympus Part II

REAL: THE ZIONITE RESCUE OPERATION ◀

Gwisin's orders are terse over the comms, two hours before the fleet makes Olympus. Make contact and communication to the best of your ability, restore comms if possible. Provide emergency care, fire control, and evacuation, before the unidentified bogey arrives at city center.

Pandemonium reigns over the populace of Olympus, civilians trapped by fires, drones, and debris. Olympus’ forces have rallied but remain thin on the ground, and the Zionite reinforcements are direly needed. Electronic communications remain down except for the Matrix pirate signal, darkening the panic and despair that have descended over the city; REAPER drones harry every human or ship that tries the ground or air.

Organizing this wide-scale rescue in the face of explosions and still-unexplained abductions comes down to ingenuity and manpower.

REAL: HARBINGER DESCENDS ◀

Thirteen hours after the Zion rescuers arrive in Olympus, the Harbinger does too. The cavern ceiling, dead center, cracks, crumbles, boulders the size of hovercrafts hammering down on the city center. By now, thankfully, the heart of the city is empty of civilians, but as the Machine breaks through, it's instantly clear that isn't going to be enough.

Harbinger is massive. Digging mandibles up front could eat a squid whole, and have room left over to total a hovercraft; its name emblazoned on red on each segment. Scarlet optics glow against its black chassis, and drones flush out of the gasping ports in its sides the same way insects give birth in dozens. Ponderous but unmistakably powerful, the centipede-shaped robot crawls out into a dangle into empty air. Keeps dropping its head toward the city in neat, clockwork degrees, almost elegantly, to let itself down onto the rubbled cavern floor. Erratic gasps and comments sound off across the disrupted networks: the oldest of the humans, civilian or otherwise, have never seen a Machine like this in the Real.

But maybe you remember dreaming a monster like this, from another lifetime.

Pilots throughout the city gun their engines, preparing for a feat of comms-blind synchronization. The battle truly begins.

MATRIX: REAPER COMBAT FREE-FOR-ALL ◀

When the Harbinger arrives, the Matrix pirate signal augmentation doubles in strength. Triples. The operator reports start to come in, distorted from the REAPER signal jamming, but unmistakable. There's a simulation out there, like a bridge to-- what? The Matrix? The programming language carries unmistakable similarities to the Dowager's feed from Kitty Jones' call to the Atalanta, but there's nothing specifically like that strange, consuming pattern in the girl's neuro-output. At least, not on this level of the sim. Not yet.

Jack in, and the first thing you see is the cold belly of a spaceship. What you hear are the screams, bouncing echoes off catwalks and cold corridors. Next, figures coming in a wave of seemingly unstructured attack. In the vanguard, the Husks, screaming zombies-- sinewy, discolored flesh mingled with useless tech components and bioluminescence. Not far behind, the bulbous Scions with their single energy weapons. Bringing up the rear, the Banshees float in deceptively slow at first, only to accelerate into a dazing flash of teleportation, skeletal-faced, real death waiting in their razor hands.

One thing is certain: they're guarding something, though where in the recesses of this ship, the operator must largely guess.

Comments

[hacker]

[ She'd been trying to follow them back, figure out what these creatures were guarding that the rest of them needed to get close to. So far, there was nothing, but up ahead—

She slowed, staggered by the sound of ripped flesh as the behemoth of a man before her ripped one of the husks apart. If she thought she'd seen carnage watching Ward and May, this was a new level. Irritated by the now-unfamiliar distraction of her bangs, Skye pushed them out of her eyes and invited bioluminescent goo to smear across her forehead.

Advancing, she at least accepted that he was on their side. ] Hey— [ And then she heard the groan. She knew what that meant. Skye reached out to grab the metal shoulder. ] Company, get down!

[ She pulled him into a crouch just as the energy cannon went off on the scion's shoulder. Looking up at it, Skye pulled a gun from the holster on her hip, then turned her gaze towards the man she'd just met up with. It wasn't until that moment, looking at his face, that she realized— ]

Bucky Barnes.

[lostsoldier]

[ She pulls him down, and he twists to land a grip on her arm in return — but the voice clicks, her face and the name she uses for him a moment later, and he stops short. ]

Quake, [ he returns through his muzzle, since they're saying names. His jaw works under the stiff material, the muscle at his temple betraying the flattening of his mouth. ]

You weren't going to jack in. [ he says as his eyes lift to scan for the scion's position without missing another beat, but he still sounds tense. Worried. Not the happiest, let's say. ]

[hacker]

[ Having someone inside who knew that about her, who knew why, made Skye uneasy. Uneasy enough that she could feel the gun in her hand start to tremble. ]

Desperate times.

[ She tried to sound cavalier, but she fell just short. ]

I like the look. [ Straightening, she gestured to him, primarily the arm and hair, then she started with steady steps backwards, away from the scion. ] You should think about growing your hair out in the Real. It's cute. Very 70s.

[lostsoldier]

[ A look Steve Rogers is probably real familiar with flattens in his eyes at the first part, but he doesn't say anything. She's already here. It's done. As she moves, he swivels to keep the back of a shoulder parallel to her, which might mean team-work if not for the way he keeps a half a step behind, too. Always a little closer to danger.

Why is she talking about his hair. ]

It's tactically unsound.

[ The hair. And yet.

He doesn't sound very sure. He shoots a charging husk in the head instead. He's sure about that. ]

[hacker]

Is everything about tactical with you?

[ Her smirk poked fun at his all-work-and-no-play attitude, even as she turned away from him to square her back against his shoulder. She raised her gun, using the opportunity to focus on something else to bring the tremor down. It leveled her out, though she only showed it in the quick adjustment of her grip on the gun, a steadying movement that doubled down on her intent to fight through this instead of panic.

Her eyes never tracked back to Bucky, instead focusing on the enemies. At the very least, it seemed she believed he wasn't in that column himself. Raising her weapon, she fired off two shots at the scion. The first caught in its armor, barely flagging its movement, but the second landed in the bulbous blue sack of its right shoulder, spraying some of the bioluminescent fluid and drawing a screech from it. ] The tumors are their weak point. You ever seen something like this before?