[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

[lostsoldier]

[ The Winter Soldier whirls to greet Luke's approach the way he had the last husk, with a vice grip and a twist — and then stops short, wary blue eyes catching at the sight of the other man. Those eyes are the same, at least, if nothing else about him is — long, scraggly hair over half a face mask, black leather tac gear, and a prosthesis that's had a few upgrades. But from the look on his face (or, half-face) at the sight of Luke, you'd think he was the one who was almost unrecognizable. Belatedly, his hand drops to his side, recategorizing. Luke. Phoenix. Ally, not enemy. ]

Functional, [ he answers. Injuries are a little hard to gauge beneath all the leather, and there's a certain relentlessness to his bearing that suggests he might not pay much attention if he was hurt, but it's nothing that's slowing him down at any rate. He looks beyond Luke, to the felled Scion, back to the lightsaber. Not bad. ]

Together? [ with a nod ahead, to the next wave of husks. While there's no pattern to their formation, they do at least seem to be coming from a particular direction. ]

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Truthfully, Luke hadn't recognized him at first. Now that he's looking closer, however, Luke tilts his head and his eyes narrow in realization.] Oh... Soldier? I didn't recognize you.

[It might have been the short, to-the-point answers and tone of voice that did the trick. He really looks different. Luke, on the other hand, looks mostly the same aside from slightly longer hair. Even his prosthetic hand was made to look as realistic as possible.

He takes Bucky's word for it and trusts that he's as injury-free as he says he is.]

Absolutely. Less chance of getting overwhelmed that way. [With the way this horde is moving and with their massive numbers it would be very easy for a single person to get in over their head. If they team up they can keep an eye on each other.

He nods in agreement in the same direction as Bucky. That seems to be what the horde is protecting so that's where they should probably head. Luke starts off that way, lightsaber humming and slashing through husks as he goes.]

[lostsoldier]

[ Together, as it turns out, is a relative term. Teamwork isn't the soldier's forte, as becomes evident enough as they press forward through the husks. He's used to leading strike teams whose capabilities are summarily dwarfed by his own, and once or twice at the start, his rifle sends a husk Luke probably could have handled tumbling over a catwalk rail.

But the next time he— redirects. Reorients his area of attack to minimize overlap. Decides maybe he can trust Luke to keep doing what he's doing, at least.

It means as they close in on whatever it is these things are guarding, though, Bucky isn't maintaining his initial guard-dog closeness. Letting Luke handle a clump of husks in one direction, he steps in the other. Unfortunately, so does another scion. ]