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

[nonscriptum]

[ That mild paranoia is something they both share, and relaxing never came easy to a man who spends most of his time on his feet. Nate is accustomed to massive waves of enemies, but they're usually a lot softer and more breakable.

The suit's eyes glow and Nate raises his eyebrows, watching Peter lower his web thingy, relaxing. They're all on goddamn edge. ]

Yeah?

[ Quick-healing or not, Nate doesn't like the vague lack of assurance in his voice. He waves a hand. ]

C'mon, let me see anyway.

[itsnotaonesie]

[There is definitely some eye rolling going on behind that mask, because teenager, but Peter decides not waste his energy on arguing.]

Yeah, yeah. [He doesn't like the idea of letting his guard down, but as long as they have a little down time, he might as well try to take advantage of it. After hopping down from the boulder, the mask retracts into his suit all high tech like and there's Peter with an impressive black eye. That doesn't seem to be bothering him too much, though. Once he gets over to Nate his armor retract off of one of his forearms and there's just webs. Just makeshift bandage spider webs.]

Oh, crap, forgot about the- hang on. [He takes a second to pull those webs off so that Nate can properly patch this mess up. Said mess consists of a nasty gash and a couple of burns where he'd been grazed by lasers, but it could be worse right?]

[nonscriptum]

Jesus.

[ He should have expected the black eye. Nate imagines that this is what Sam felt like whenever he'd visit his baby brother at the orphanage only to find out that young Nathan was picking fights again. It's hard to hide a shiner. It's also hard to do anything but wait for it to go away, so he won't fret over it. Nate's had and shaken off his fair share.

His eyebrows climb toward his hairline when Peter starts peeling the webbing away - interesting multi-purpose use there - but he recognizes the burns, at least. Has some of his own. ]

Yikes.

[itsnotaonesie]

[Okay Nate be all dramatic about it.

It's not really that dramatic, it's like two words, but still. Peter's kind of regretting showing his injuries off, if only because he's sure Nate already has plenty of other things to worry about. He even starts to step back in an effort to ABORT.]

I-it's fine, like, seriously. I've had way worse. Like, way worse.

...That's not reassuring at all, is it? For real, though, these are already way better than they were a few hours ago.

[nonscriptum]

Sit.

[ It isn't like Nate to pull the authoritative card, but there's no mistaking the look he shoots Peter when the kid starts to backpedal. He waits and when there's no immediate response, Nate gestures at the rock next to him. ]

Seriously, sit down. I've had way worse too, but I wouldn't walk around with a bullet in my stomach unless I had to. [ Even then, it kind of sucked. ] We've got time.

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter looks surprised at first, then he like he's about ready to argue for a second. Ultimately he just does as he's told, taking a seat on the rock next to Nate, though not without huffing in that ornery teenager sort of way. The attitude doesn't last long though, there are bigger things to be annoyed about than being told what to do.]

Sorry. I, uh...

[That's it that's all he's got. He heaves a sigh, rubbing his face and trying to make himself relax a little bit. Given the circumstances, it's a little hard not to be high strung.]

[nonscriptum]

[ Nate isn't used to being forceful like this. He doesn't like to be, but given that he's inadvertently taking another leadership position that he's vastly unqualified for, he might as well do his level best to not be complete shit at it. ]

I know.

[ There is a tacit understanding to his words, simple and succinct as they are. He pulls the alcohol from the kit, sloshing a little only a gauze pad. There's a weight to his movements, a weariness he's been doing his best to hide. ]

I'm sure you've heard that from every person over twenty-five in a mile radius, but I do know.

[itsnotaonesie]

No, I-- I know. I mean, I know that you know. We're all facing this thing together, so... Yeah, we're all uh, all on the same page. This is hard for everyone.

[Peter busies himself with pulling a few stray strands of web off his arm, seemingly distracted by it for a few seconds before he says anything else. This down time is good for treating a few wounds, but it's also good for letting one's mind wander to less than encouraging places. It isn't ideal when you're kind of trying to win a war.

He doesn't want to break out the heavy baggage on Nate, but if he doesn't get some shit off his chest now he might never the a chance to.]

...Nate, did, um... did I ever tell you what happened to my universe? Right before I got here?

[nonscriptum]

[ It's hard for everyone, but it shouldn't be something that everyone - let alone high schoolers - should have to deal with. There's something to be said about growing up too fast, about seeing too much, too soon. Nate never had the luxury of a remotely normal childhood and while he doesn't regret it, he has the benefit of nostalgia - memories dulled and softened by time, like a stone in a stream.

Nate takes Peter's wrist in his hand gently, scooting closer and using the edge of the gauze to disinfect the gashes. Briefly, he glances up from his work to make eye contact, sensing the monumental shift in tone. Like Nate, Peter has an open face, and can't lie for beans. ]

No. What happened?

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter can't lie for beans, it's a wonder that he'd kept the Spider-Man thing a secret back home at all.

He winces when Nate starts prodding at his injuries, but stops himself from pulling away. He's had way worse than this, he can deal with a little stinging. After watching Nate work for a few seconds he glances up as well, but ultimately settles on watching Nate clean his wounds up.]

I, uh... Man, I'm not even sure where to start. Okay uh, this is going to sound just completely out there, but there was this big alien guy, Thanos. He was after these... [He waves his hand a bit, trying to think of a good way to describe all this,] these uh, magic space rocks that would give him unlimited power or whatever. He wanted to use that power to destroy half the life in the universe, something about overpopulation and limited resources. Doesn't matter. We tried to stop him, but um...

[His voice trails off for a moment and he gestures vaguely with his free hand, as if that's somehow going to help him explain this thing.]

We-- we couldn't. He did it. Half the universe, just... gone. I shouldn't even be here right now.

[nonscriptum]

[ It's simpler to listen to what can't be an easy story to tell while he works, concentrating on Peter's arm, trying to remember the first time he got into a fight as a kid. He was eight, and someone had taken his book. Pushed him down. Told him his mother was burning in Hell. He spent so much time learning how to throw a proper punch and while useful, it was no way to spend a childhood. It makes him queasy just looking at Peter's cuts, no matter how fast he may be able to heal.

But more importantly, he almost misses the explanation. It registers slowly and sluggishly, as though being pushing through a mire, and Nate doesn't realize that he's stopped cleaning Peter's wounds by the time it sinks in. The implications are clear. Jarred and wide-eyed Nate looks at him, startled, understanding. ]

You- [ He's angry, tense and tight and comprehending. ] You died?

[ Nate's voice pitches up and his first aid is forgotten. ]

Some asshole had unlimited power and instead of creating more resources he just killed people?

[itsnotaonesie]

[He absently withdraws his arm after Nate stops cleaning his wounds, his eyes finally settling on his face. Part of him wishes he could go back in time a couple minutes and not tell this story, he felt guilty about dumping all this bad news on someone in the middle of some already pretty serious shit. Nate didn't need this, and Peter didn't need to be thinking about it

Nothing he could do about it now, though. With a shaky sigh and a halfhearted shrug, he continues.]

I did. And yeah, that's uh. That's the long and short of it. Just... pointless genocide. With that kind of power he could have literally done anything else to help people, but he just... Just wiped us out, and I don't have any way of knowing who survived and who didn't. I don't know if my aunt is okay. I don't know if anyone is okay.

[He frowns, glancing back down at his arm briefly just because it's something else to look at while he tries to sort his thoughts out.]

Sorry to, y'know... hit you with all of this at once. I coulda probably picked a better time, huh. It's just, um. It's been a long year.

[nonscriptum]

No, Jesus-

[ Nate sighs and rubs at the back of his neck. ]

Peter, I wish you'd told me sooner.

[ He knows it wasn't easy to. He knows that in Peter's position, he would have held onto that information for as long as he could, keeping it safe, avoiding the likelihood of uncomfortable stares and gentled tones. It's better not to be pitied, no matter how heavy that baggage starts to weigh on you. ]

[itsnotaonesie]

[SEE, this is why he doesn't talk about this, it's easier to just pretend that everything is okay. Up until a point, at least. He's kept this stuff bottled up for close to a year, and if it wasn't for all this Null business, he probably would have continued on that way like nothing was wrong.]

I'm sorry. I just- I didn't wanna make it anyone else's problem, y'know?

[Which, he feels like, is exactly what he's doing right now. Oops?]