Event Log: Null Attack

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone!
What: The event log for the Null Attack event
Where: All over the city
When: May 29th- ?
Warnings: None

What starts as a normal day will begin to herald in the beginning of the end. On May 29th, you might see something in the sky out of the corner of your eye- blink and you miss it, but there's definitely something there, something that's not any kind of animal you've ever seen. Now that you know to look, you may be paying closer attention to the sky in order to catch the next one that flies past- a ship. A ship that that seems to be designed in a way that might remind you of the Null themselves.

As the days pass, it becomes unmistakable- the Null are here and are scouting out the area. It's time to prepare for an immediate attack and start putting all those contingency plans to good use. Will you gear up for a fight and fall into formation? Will you close and lock your doors and stay inside? Or perhaps there's some other plan that you want to enact?

You'll have time to discuss that on the network later, but now you need to start reacting to the Null's actions- which are apparently to start building smaller encampments around the city as they try to find the way inside. Confusion is holding them at bay for now but it might be time to start building some defensive measures and fortifications, because she won't be able to keep them at bay forever.

When they break in, they do so in a big way- with a massive explosion at Confusion's temple that rattles throughout the entire city. It's obvious that something has happened- and what exactly that something is reveals itself shortly when Null begin to flood the city, having broken through Confusion's protection.

This is when the fight escalates to an all-out war. Nobody is spared, and they're watching everyone from above. What will you do? How will you keep the ones you love safe? How can anyone survive this? All you can do is fight back, all we can do is wait. Good luck, Hadriel.

► This log covers the entirety of the Null attack
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you are killed by the Null, please let us know here.

Comments

[substances]

[It's a shame that Klaus is far too disoriented and confused and in pain to see how straight up badass that was, because it would've been really impressive. As it is, he's barely aware of where he is. The only thing that registers is his name, and he responds to it, his eyes a little glassy as he turns to look at the man who's calling his name, chest heaving, tears running down his face.]

No, no no no no no, no, where's Dave? We need a medic, I need a medic!

[At first, he tries to make his body coordinate well enough to push himself up on his right elbow, only to find his whole right arm isn't working because of the chunk of wood embedded into him. Instead, he rotates his body, hisses in pain, and pushes himself up with his left hand, looking around in panic.]

Please please please please please...

[Except then it registers for a moment that he's not with Dave, that Dave isn't here, the guy who's looking at him isn't anyone from his unit or even the Brigade and he has no idea where he is. Everything is scrambled, he can hear explosions and bullets whizzing overhead and he's covered in mud and blood and for a moment he thinks he's high. Part of him remembers trying not to do drugs for a long time, so long, remembers the shakes and the cold sweats and the nausea and the crippling depression from coming off them that had lasted for weeks but he feels high right now, feels high and in Vietnam and Dave is dying.

What the fuck is he doing thinking about all this stupid drug shit? Dave is dying.]

Where's Dave, he needs a medic, he's gonna die, I can't lose him, no no no no....

[nonscriptum]

[ Nate stoops at Klaus' side, familiar with the shaking in a way that makes him distinctly uncomfortable. The shuddering, thousand-yard stare and the eyes brimming with tears immediately throw him back to a different jungle, to Panama. Bullets pocking the concrete and metal, the screaming prison alarm and the thick, heavy smell of coming rain in the air, tinged with iron from the blood that Sam coughed onto his face.

He's gone. C'mon, the boat's just beyond the wall.

No. No, I can't. I can't- I can't leave him behind.

Nate, your brother is dead. Either come with me or join him.

To this day he still doesn't know how he got to his feet and ran, half-stumbling through the trees and underbrush as thunder and his heartbeat drowned out the sounds of the guards far behind them. Echoes swallowed by numbness and grief, the only relief being the shock of saltwater as they slid off the edge of a cliff and into the ocean. ]

Klaus.

[ Gentle and firm, Nate takes a sweat-damp face in his hands and tries for eye contact. ]

Hey, I need you to look at me, okay? Tell me you can hear me.

[substances]

[When Nate says his name, Klaus finally focuses, just a little, and then the hands on his jaw and cheeks steer his head toward the other man and Klaus looks at him. Green eyes widen a little, then focus just a bit as he makes eye contact. Nate is talking, and somewhere in the recesses of his mind, Klaus is aware that yes, this is Nate, Nathan Drake, Mr. Tight-Shirt-Shoulder-Holsters, and he's a comrade, someone he trusts to have his back in the jungle.

But most of his brain is still scrambled, lost in time, mistaking the past for the present and vice versa, all that fear and terror and grief over Dave flooding him, released by whatever that weapon had done to tumble his thoughts like clothes in a dryer. All the things he's kept under the surface, repressed until he can deal with it at some unknown impossibly distant future time. But right now, his brain is convinced he's in Vietnam, he can smell and taste it, he can feel the humid heat, and his brain is convinced that Dave is dying, he's dying and Klaus needs to get him help.]

Yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah, okay okay I hear you.

[He looks at Nate, and for a moment he catches his bearings, he looks like he's in the present instead of a flashback to the worst moments of his life.]

I hear you, but...but Dave...where's Dave?