hadriel_logs | Event Log: Null Attack

Entry tags:

Event Log: Null Attack

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( OOC: starters below! )

( The safe zone in the north east of the city has another purpose beyond offering respite for the injured or non-combative: picking off Null. Anyone (Hadrielite or Null) who wanders too close to the space will find themselves subjected to the considerable effects of the Door. The madness, the sensation of blood in their mouths. Disorientation.

She remembers it all too well, and that's exactly why she asked Sorrow if they could make it happen. The effects are strong enough to knock even a Null out of sorts for a while. And she has the best seat in the house — stood atop a building, her bow in hand and her arrows strapped to her waist. There's electric in the air and a smile on her face despite the situation.

One of the only good things about their pursuers being emotionless robots is the fact that it's so much easier to divorce herself from the implications of taking apart a species one arrow at a time. This isn't murder, it's target practice.

Murder requires blood. And these things don't bleed. The tang of metal in the air doesn't set her hairs on end, or make it any harder to breathe. It's just part of what these things are:

Excellent targets. And she always did have good aim — it comes with the territory of fighting in the dark, and the need to always be moving, to never let yourself be hit by limbs nor the spray of blood. It's just made easier with her still position atop the roof, a clear shot on a Null that stutters and stumbles in response to the edges of what is marked as theirs.

She lets loose an arrow and the Null retains just enough of its senses to dart away from it, sacrificing not much more than a limb to the heavy force of a bow that's almost bigger than its user. )

Dammit—

( But, hey, maybe she's given you just the opening you need to finish it off. )

[Jo hadn't really tried to get into the bunker. She didn't need to yet and her forays into the edge of the Door's influence had been unpleasant enough to make her want to wait.

She rounds a corner chasing one of the Null, preparing to launch herself at its midsection when it collapses.

She stumbles, tucking into a roll before she hits the ground. She stays down, crawling up to the metal body to figure out what the hell just happened.

An arrow? There aren't many guns in Hadriel, but not a lot of those in the city know archery either.

In this kind of situation, she's pretty sure whoever it is is on a roof, so she stands to scan the area.]

Hey! [It's not a loud yell. She doesn't want to get one of the Null by accident.]

( She's always got your back, Jojo. Once again, the trade-off of mobility for sheer power comes in handy, and she really has to find a proper way to thank Henry for manipulating her into learning this skill.

Jo calls up as Kate's halfway to moving to a new position — she's stood here too long, made her trajectory too obvious — and for a moment there seems to be no response, Kate ducking and weaving out of whatever cover is available on the sole flat roof near the bunker before she reaches a more secluded side of the building and drops

... Right onto a Null's head, apparently. )

... Shit.

( Should have looked, but hey she has a heavy, currently unstrung bow, and it makes a pretty good weapon all on its own as Kate jumps back, swinging it in an attempt to club a limb or something that would damage the Null. )

Over here—

( Feel like giving a girl a hand, Jo? )

[Jo hears the thump first and tries to figure out where it came from.

When Kate calls out, Jo takes off, checking corners and alleys until she finds the duo just a building or two over.]

Get down. [Jo has a machete, but she has no desire to catch kate with it by accident. Hopefully it will do enough to stop the Null.]

( Machete? Machete is good. Machete is certainly more useful up close than her heavy bow is. She doesn't argue, moving out of the way with a hop, skip and taunt aimed right at the Null.

It helps distract them, and distracted Null aren't going to be as troublesome to get a blade to. )

[That's the spirit, Kate.

Jo takes advantage of the distraction to get behind the Null, jabbing with her machete into the back of the robot's head.

Thankfully the handle of her weapon is wood, so she doesn't have to worry about electricity.]

[That opening turns out to be exactly what is needed; as soon as the Null dodges away from Kate's arrow, the ground underneath its newly regain footing erupts and a spear of ice skewers it clean through its core. A moment later and a second goes through what passes for a head, then a third further down the spine; each point that could house any sort of central processing or "brain" is skewered in quick succession with pinpoint accuracy, rendering the machine inert in a few short seconds.

Kate is not the only one that has good aim, and from the looks of things, the ice alien that lumbers up beside her is not messing around; not that he ever does when the safety of the people he cares about are on the line, but after being forced into this war time and time again, he is feeling particularly fed up. So whereas Kate might feel the excitement of the hunt and the satisfaction of a good shot, Glacius is all grim determination, purpose and intent behind every movement.]

I knew I would find you out here. How fitting that my life in this place started fighting by your side, and now we find ourselves here at the end. [The otherworldly warrior does allow himself a slight smile now, but it fades back to a cold focus as he looks out over the battlefield.] How long do you think the Door will be able to stave them off like this?

[ She has to find some good in it. After all these years, fighting is fucking tiring and even if she likes the Gods — at least, more than Glacius does, which isn't saying a lot — this was never her war, just one she got dragged into. She could be — should be — back home, worrying about nothing more complicated than teenagers with hormonal imbalances fucking up their powers. That would be great.

But she isn't. And if she keeps thinking about the fact that all of this bullshit with the Null is what's keeping her from that relatively mundane life, she'll lose it. It'll be just enough to chip away that layer of resilience and bring her back to that pointless, miserable space she used to be in.

So. It's target practice. They're machines. Unfeeling and incapable of bleeding. That is much easier to swallow than the greater picture right now.

And because this is target practice, and because the fatigue of this fight has yet to sink into her bones, a grin curves her features at that comment, dropped right into position beside him, shaking off archery in favour of utilising the sheer weight of her warbow. ]

Not long enough.

[ But that brings it back to a grim reality. ]

They adapt too quick.

[ She all but expects that they'll figure out a way to resist the defences they've created sooner rather than later. ]

( She can't stay by the safe zone forever, and the problem with standing on a rooftop firing arrows alone is that you make yourself a big, glaring target. Especially when you're lugging a warbow and sporting a topknot of messy, pink hair.

Still, the slice across her gut, bleeding warm and red and coppery, has wiped the earlier smile off her face and replaced it with a thin-lipped grimace and the careful breathing of someone who's trying not to make anything worse.

(There is, and always will be, the vague taste of panic in the back of her throat, trying to spread through her chest and pushed down by a litany of logical reminders. There's no time to panic, not right now.)

Thank fuck the clinic is nearby, and she half-stumbles through the door, clutching her stomach and gritting her teeth, heading for a cabinet that should hold something to clean up and stitch herself back to — well, not full health, but close enough. Something where she isn't in danger of bleeding unconscious or feeling the bile in the back of her throat rise as her hands run slick with blood.

Who has time to wait for actual volunteers for this place when you're perfectly capable of doing it yourself?

(Kate. Kate does. Tell her she's being stupid.) )

[what a coincidence, telling people they're stupid is one of Law's favorite pastimes! Especially when he's more or less on duty]

What are you doing? Sit down, I'll take care of it.

( Look here, Law, there are surely more serious injuries than this alright??? )

I've got i—

( Actually, judging by the dizziness that just hit and the bile that coats her tongue, maybe he's not entirely wrong there. Kate swallows hard and winces, a mix of acidic burn and white-hot pain searing through her torso. )

...Fine.

( Grumble grumble. Off she goes. Sitting down. )

[probably, but triage is first come first served and oh look, there's no line of waiting patients.

He snatches up a couple of things on the fly as he passes the counter, so he can manually stitch if his ability isn't going to be enough]

Talk to me, tell me how it happened.

[it should keep her alert while also imparting valuable info to augment his observations, as he bends down to examine and begin stemming the blood.]

( Sitting, currently, is not the most pleasant of experiences, and Kate had almost forgotten how the sensation of being stuck still and unable to do anything when they world is going to hell around her grates. Even for a few moments.

She grips the edge of the chair and forces the urge to wait a bit longer. )

Were trying to get to a new vantage point. Got cornered by Null. One of them managed to nick me.

( "Nick" might be a slight understatement there. )

[super understatement, yep]

Wish it were a cleaner cut but I can handle this. It... [hang on, he needs a Room to Scan and be absolutely sure] ...yes, it missed your organs by a hair. A millimeter deeper and you might have bled out before you got here.

[with his ability, he manually redirects blood flow, and even uses Takt to physically move all that excess blood onto...well, the floor will do, it's not like he's going to keep it for anything else. Makes it a lot easier to see what he's doing and where he needs to use stitches rather than special powers.]

Will your abilities help, at all? [he knows she has powers, just. Been a while since he's seen them in action]

[again, George is forgoing food and sleep to be at the Clinic 24/7. it's not easy on her, not even with her inhuman abilities, but there's a time to be easy on yourself and a time to. not.

she figures this is the latter.

so when she sees Kate crashing into the Clinic, obviously bleeding like a motherfucker and obviously searching for something to patch herself up, George releases a brief huff of frustration before going over to her.

she has healing magic now. this should be a snap, right? right]

Kate, stop that. Sit down and let me do my thing, okay?

( Look, she'd lecture you, George, but... Well, she's bleeding and using most of her strength to stay standing and not vomiting. Or hyperventilating. Probably vomiting, the warm slick of blood against her hands is revolting and fuck she hates these Null.

But she doesn't entirely hate being healed. She just assumes that the clinic is busy enough without her mistakes requiring attention. )

...Alright.

( She's not as belligerent as she was when Law asked her to, mostly because she's been through this song and dance once already, and eases herself into a seat with a hiss of pain, face scrunching in response to the discomfort. )

[any lectures would fall on entirely deaf ears. she figures there's a time and place for social niceties and that would be while they're not being attacked by the motherfucking Null.

and getting injured isn't a mistake. it's a thing that happens, especially during war]

Good. I'm gonna touch you now.

[and she reaches over to touch where Kate has been injured. blood gets on George's hand, but it's not like it's the first time that has happened. she concentrates and the hand on Kate's wound starts to glow faintly, the edges of the wound knitting together slowly, slowly, slowly, until it heals completely]

There. Better?

( Even in the midst of pain shooting through her midsection, Kate can still note the good practices of George — the mention of what she's doing, the care in her healing. She nods and grits her teeth, healing so much more convenient than stitching the wound up herself though endlessly odd as a sensation. Bits of skin and muscle knitting themselves together so quickly will never not feel weird. )

Good work.

( Let's just... flex those muscles slightly. And it's as good as new. )

Thanks.

[she's going to medical school when she gets out of this place, that much is certain. who would've thought that an impulse decision to help at the clinic would lead to something she has a real talent for, much less an actual passion for?

not her. she'd been so used to ennui and cynicism, she couldn't imagine finding something she wanted to do, only things she didn't want to do]

Thanks. [a slightly wry smile] I'm getting a lot of practice lately.

[of course it is, she's good at this shit]

How's it going out there?

So, you ready?

( You wanted help controlling your powers, Share-bear? She's got your back. In part because her weapons are a limited stock, in part because there's way too many Null in this part of town and why take the hard route when you can set shit on fire?

Kate's eyes are glowing white again, and her fingertips spark with flashes of lilac, the flares gradually dimming to a glow. She's got just the juice they need to make this happen. )

Edited 2019-06-01 20:59 (UTC)

As ready as ever. [ The look she gives is almost a vocal negative; a 'no' that reverberates through her soul. It's not what Kate's about to do, it's not even about the fact that the more powerful she gets, the less human she feels. She's just not ready.

Not ready for any of this.

She clenches her fists, maybe a little too tightly. She'd never admit it, too proud and ashamed, but she's afraid.

She's actually so very scared. ]

( It's not just because they're not messing with Sharon's reality warping that Kate feels more confident about this than before, it's that this is no longer so remote. She's no longer creating things and leaving Sharon to her own devices, but laying her hands upon the young woman, finding the points where Sharon's abilities interact with Kate's own — always so malleable, so willing to adapt to whatever they need to boost. )

I got you.

( And she does. For every point of aid her powers can give, they can take it and more away. She can interfere with this as easily as she can make it happen, should it come to that.

Kate hopes it won't. But she can still do it. )

[ Luckily, it should never come to that. Her goals have changed a lot since she pulled that stunt, though it's not something she regrets; she met some great allies and made herself feel a little better for just trying. But, now, it's all different.

Sharon shows clear discomfort, fidgeting at every touch, along with the knowledge that she was letting someone else, again, fiddle with her powers. ]

I don't plan on abusing this. [ She whispers to the older woman, insistent. Kate was trusting her by doing this, despite Sharon's often violent, vindictive view on the gods. She wants her to know that. ]

( Unfortunately, they don't have time to discuss the issues right now, with all the chaos around them, but perhaps if this works?

Maybe. Ask her how she feels after she's done siphoning off her power to make Sharon's work better. )

Better not.

( If she did, they'd all be screwed. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Event Log: Null Attack

kate / ota and closed

by the safe zone / ota

Re: by the safe zone / ota

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the clinic / ota

kate plz

but waeeee

doctor says!

gosh :|

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sharon / closed

Re: sharon / closed

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