Magnitude 9

[bravenewmods]

[It is almost precisely 2AM when the first earthquake hits.

The ground vibrates dully at first, like the rumble of construction machinery or the shaking of a heavy Pokémon coming down the streets. In the throes of sleep, it seems unalarming, if a bit out of the ordinary. Worse than this has occurred in the past.

Then the walls shake. Paintings tilt and sway and objects teeter and fall off the shelves, one after another. The ground shifts underfoot and a cautious step out of bed only succeeds in sending the frightened sleeper reeling to the floor.

High up in the sky, the towers sway. An infinitesimal amount at first, but any amount of swaying is terrifying, unfathomable, an event so utterly wrong it is inconceivable that it could be happening. The tilting progresses, becomes noticeable, measurable, and it can only be hoped that it is a reflection of a panicked imagination rather than reality.

After an eternity, the rumbling dies down...

Just when it seems safe to investigate, about a half hour after the quake began, the Warp Band flares to life. A voice speaks - it can be heard, too, from outdoors, issuing from the emergency broadcast system. It is a woman's voice, speaking briskly, efficiently, holding no trace of fear or panic.]

Effective immediately, the Council has issued a state of emergency for Union. This is not a drill or an exercise. All citizens, please be prepared to follow standard residential tower emergency procedures; all relevant instructions are posted on every floor. For the majority of citizens, this means to stay in place and to take shelter until the quakes are confirmed to be over. Do not attempt to evacuate unless instructed to do so now or unless severe injury has been sustained.

This message is for Towers D and E of Sector 3 and the Cloud Towers in Sector 5. Again, this message is for Towers D and E of Sector 3 and the Cloud Towers of Sector 5. The gas lines have ruptured, and all residents should prepare for immediate evacuation. Swords and Guardsmen assigned to these sectors should proceed immediately to their stations to assist. Further instruction will be given by officers on site. Again, residents of all other towers should stay in place at this time.

Entrance 2 to the Old City has collapsed and Entrances 3 and 5 have been severely damaged. Again, the Industrial District entrance has collapsed and the Habitat and the Southern Wall entrances have been damaged. At this time, a large number of wild Pokémon are seeking entrance into Union from all other entrances. Rangers and remaining Guardsmen, please report to these areas to begin containment measures. Be prepared for potential aggression.

All medical personnel trained in Emergency Medicine, report to the Medical Center if and when possible. All Habitat employees with Level 2 clearance and above, report to the Habitat Tower to initiate emergency stabilization protocols.

All citizens, please stay alert for further information. Major aftershocks are predicted to continue for the next six hours, and damage assessments will be ongoing. Be ready for further quakes and be prepared to contact emergency services if an emergency situation is seen developing.

[She cuts off with alacrity. An uneasy echo hangs in the air after she concludes...]

((This post may be used as a mingle thread to address any of the issues raised within. You may also make your individual posts at this time. Responses may be addressed in regards to the initial emergency situation, or forward dated to address the assessment of damage after the first major quake. The wild Pokémon will not stop coming, and the aftershocks will continue for long after six hours.

Characters may follow instructions but may also feel free to move around at will and help however they can. Actions taken throughout this event will be noted and may affect the status of Union after the end of the event.))

Comments

Action/Entrance 4 - (Open)

[for_realsies]

Tonight was going fairly well until that stupid quake! RUDE! There was a banquet at another residence so most of the staff were given the evening, and it took Natalie and her consort out of residence, by the time they both returned home they were more than ready for bed in a way that made it clear they wouldn't wake up for anything. (Which the Earthquake proved, after some mild panic.)

Because Imogen so rarely got to use the greenhouse for her own... consorting, with Fai Flourite. ...It also thankfully meant they were not standing up when the quake hit.

Once the two begrudingly got dressed, Imogen quickly decided the best place for her was down at one of the entrances to the old city. It's dark, everyone is scared, and if someone can't bridge the gap between the Guards and the Wild ones there'll be a lot more hurt than are needed. So regardless of delvers not being called down there, Imogen was going. ...And Fai wouldn't let her go alone, and she didn't want to argue.

Imogen was full of energy when she got down to the entrance and quickly talked her way through a few of the City Guard, whipping words at them like quick attacks until they stupidly agreed to pretty much all she said about why she was useful down here and they let her by. And she started trying to control the influx of refugees in a way that they didn't flood the streets, but weren't trouble enough to warrant attacking.

Come bother her if you dare, but any of that playful Imogen you're used to is hiding while business is taken care of.

Rudest earthquake B|

[comparative_insanity]

It had been a rather brusque summoning back to reality, and not even the reality of the everyday city either. The shaking of the earth was... well, terrifying, made him think of collapsed rooms and dusty air choking him, but apart from going very pale he doesn't say anything about it. And when Imogen immediately heads off towards danger, it is almost a relief to focus on not letting her go alone, looking after his friend. And that way... well, he won't have to go alone either, will he?

At in the gloom it rather helps to have luminescent skin, and an exertion of will is all that it takes for him to glow a little brighter. And despite some slight unease, he can still feel his heart beating in excitement. "It looks as if they've got something pretty scary to flee from. Do you think maybe parts of the Inner City might be collapsing on them?"

[whateveryoueatliveitspart]

Apollo lived quite close to the Southern Wall entrance, but with it damaged, he and his grandfather had split up and went to the two next closest entrances. For once, Apollo was wearing his Ranger uniform for something other than an official event. It had been his grandfather's suggestion, and it had proved immediately useful, getting people in the streets to step out of his way when they noticed him running and the guards around the entrance to let him through with a nod, though there were still some double-takes when they realized how young he was.

Apollo ran up to her, not panting despite having jogged so far, with a Hippopotas and a Deerling following behind him. He immediately began projecting a sense of calmness at the crowd, noting as he touched their minds that they considered Imogen's orders as coming from a Kindred Soul. He began mentally directing them as well, reinforcing Imogen's work.

"Have they said anything about what they're running from?"

Medical Center (Open)

[holycrows]

It's time for everyone to band together and help out in these tough hours after thee earthquake, and in the spirit of kindness Henry has made an appearance from his normal underground sanctuary of the morgue and is helping out with any emergency response.

"Remember to not leave anyone on a high surface, we don't want them rolling off and getting more hurt, and I don't want to take anyone to my office if I can help it, nya-ha-ha! Is anyone going out to help bring the injured back? We should probably get some teams together."

[improvings]

Laurent really shouldn't be here, all civilians were told to keep in their home, but he knows enough about medicine that he should be out of the house and helping people where he could. Hopefully no one from the university is there to recognize the sixteen year old as he goes around tending to minor injuries he can deal with, his Solosis hovering at his shoulder and trying to send good vibes to his friend's patients. He does look over when Henry speaks though, frowning a little.

"Is this really the time for humor, sir?"

Action | Open | Around the residential district, not long after the broadcast

[niepokonany]

[Technically, he doesn't feel like he's obeying orders by sneaking out of his house.]

[Because he's totally not evacuating, he's investigating! Like something as trifling as "sensible orders" would keep him from springing into poorly planned action.]

[He throws on a cloak and boots with his long nightgown--fashion is his mistress, but there are times when it just isn't important--and heads towards the rich part of the residential area, where he hopes Imogen, Fai, and his grandparents can be found,from his own more modest neighborhood, carrying Jadwiga, who is not taking well to all the fear and confusion in the air. His newly-befriended Houndour, Emilia, is at least more composed--she's a stubborn thing, with a lot of pride, and if she's scared, she's not letting it show. Feliks helped her, and now she's going to protect him if she has to! The little shaking fairy-thing is obviously going to be of no help, she thinks.]

[The aftershocks continue, and the ground wobbles terrifyingly under Feliks's feet. Is there anywhere in the city, where something couldn't collapse or fall on him? He hugs his Ralts tighter, and keeps moving the instant the shaking stops again, on the lookout for trouble or his loved ones.]

Re: Action | Open | Around the residential district, not long after the broadcast

[bejustorbedead]

[One of the swords is patrolling the streets - looking for collapsed buildings that may have someone trapped under or someone like Feliks who is disobeying orders.

The Mareep's ball at the end of it's tail is glowing - nowhere near as bright as Ampharos' but enough to illuminate the area around Ky - and Feliks]

Hold on! Stay where you are.

Entrance 1 (Open)

[reborn_love]

"Hurry!" Elly shouted, as she caught a look at the horde of Pokémon ahead. They were rushing out from the underside of the city. Between running and adrenaline-fueled bursts of energy, Elly realized there had to be some reason for that; that something must have changed down there to cause this.

A few Rangers were running next to her, cloaks trailing out behind them; they broke off at one cross street, though, when a few panicked shouts could be heard. Elly turned -- and then saw the Magnemite floating upward. She ducked down low, then, and the Seedot bobbing after her rolled away, as electricity flew free. The electric discharge hit several of the nearby iron lamps. Glass shattered, raining down, and Elly winced, before she stood up.

"This isn't good," she said, eyeing the entrance to the Old City warily; she could see the bobbing forms of more Pokémon, but they were indistinct in the shadows.

Then, the Magnemite was looking back at her, alarmed -- and lightning beginning to crackle over it. Her lips pursed; she contemplated it for a moment, before she raised her hand up, trying to calm it. So far, it wasn't working to bring the wild Pokémon under control.

Entrance 1 (Open)

[tobeahero]

Ashlynn crossed Elly's path as she dived in front of the woman, not to block the potential electric discharge, but to save a purrloin that had tripped over it's own tail after being kicked hard by several of the other fleeing pokemon. It just happened that she got in the way of Elly's attempt to use the warp band on the magnemite. An effect she was wholly unaware of as she, herself, ended up being hit quite a few times while protecting the smaller pokemon with her own body.

Fortunately for Elly, Ashlynn's pokemon were a little more aware of what was going on with the magnemite. Brom, a houndour, and Cake, a scraggy, took up defensive positions in front of the woman, ready to protect her from the coming electric attack.

[somnambulatory]

"Miss Van Houten!"

Jinxie's voice comes echoing through the air in the midst of all the chaos as she tries to make her way back to her neighborhood. There's a Grimer chasing after her while Dokuro floats at her side.

"D-do you need help?"

She's scared, of course, but not too scared to try to help a friend in need.

Tower D of Sector 3 (Open)

[dream_unrealized]

The ruptured gas line frightened Wiegraf mostly because he couldn't see it. There was no way of knowing exactly where it was after the quake; he only knew that it was there, somewhere, and waiting to explode underneath all of their feet. The blonde-haired man stared up at Tower D, which rose up in front of him; other Swords and Guardsmen were helping the walking wounded and dazed people on the streets.

Wiegraf found himself staring at a bigger problem. The earthquake's rumble had caused part of a nearby warehouse to collapse over; the roof and wall were smashed against one pair of the large doors leading into the Tower.

He ground his teeth. His Mareep, beside him, looked at it balefully but impassively. The man turned, and then shouted back. "We need to move this rubble!" he shouted. "We'll have trouble getting people out unless we can clear that mess!"

[copesetic]

"I'll help." A silver-haired man, still in rumpled striped pajamas and bedroom slippers, heads over with a ruffled Mareep of his own in tow. "There's a shortage of hands around here, I thought I should lend mine."

His own apartment is mostly intact but something in him won't let a state of emergency pass without trying to help, whether that be an attitude he's always felt or something heavily instilled in him by Hilda before her passing. Either way, he's ready and willing to help. He points towards the rubble with his right hand, which appears to be entirely made of metal. "Is there any chance of getting ladders or being able to climb on the overhang? If we just start clearing willy nilly we'll cause a slide and potentially crush anyone stuck underneath."

Entrance 5 - Closed to Jean

[improvings]

[While it was a bit foolish to leave his home after the warning issued, Laurent was determined to see the damages to the walls and towers and see if he could help... While not formally trained in medicine yet, he'd studied enough to see signs of distress in a Pokemon, and he wanted to make sure none of them were hurt. He could have stayed behind in the medical center to help the people, but he'd nearly been caught there and nobody had been seriously injured from what he'd seen... That, and his skills more lied with Pokemon rather than the humans, and he feared for any of the Pokemon living in the city were injured from the walls collapsing or the earthquake itself... So he's making his way toward one of the entrances closest, but stopping to clutch his Solosis a bit tighter in his arms or steady himself against something when he feels an aftershock...]

[sturzflug]

Hey, you!

[ Naturally, when the warning went out, Jean 'suited up,' so to speak, and went into full Guard mode. He takes his work seriously!! Which is why he's running around, making sure people follow the orders on their warp bands. There are frantic pokemon running around ]

Hey, what do you think you're doing? Can't you see it's dangerous around here?!

Action | Near the Cloud Tower | Open

[tinytactician]

[It turns out sneaking away from home on a near-daily basis had proven to be a good thing, at least today. Armin had been close enough to choke on the dust that came when part of the tower collapsed, near enough to get himself and Meredith sprayed by debris, rock and glass, a thousand tiny cuts opening on the arm he'd flung up to protect them when they were sent to the ground -- but far enough to escape otherwise unscathed.

Physically, at least. Mentally, it's another story -- the panic, pain and confusion is emotionally deafening, to the point where Armin's found himself a little hidey-hole in an alley just to try and escape the roar inside his head. It's hard to focus on helping Meredith when he's being crushed by the entire city of Union's shock and fear.

And he needs to help Meredith. The little Ralts is curled up tight on Armin's lap, making sad little whimpering sounds as he picks out tiny sharp-edged rocks and slivers of glass, being as gentle as possible, stopping frequently to murmur soft soothing words to his Pokemon.]

[stahlflugel]

[Eren is running around like a metal chicken without a head. This earthquake was by no means the worst to ever occur, but with an epicenter right below the city, it was causing more havoc than he'd ever seen. Pokémon, scared for their lives, were pouring out of the old city like combee from a disturbed nest. And scared pokémon could be very dangerous.

But Eren only had one thing on his mind for now. And he sends a message on his warp band to his friend]

Armin!! Armin, where are you? Are you ok? Are you safe?

[niepokonany]

[In all the chaos of the city--emergency squads everywhere, Pokémon from the Old City panicking, roads closed off with debris--Feliks has found himself looking for a new route to his friends' homes in the well-off part of town, growing more tense and frustrated each time his way is blocked.]

[He's started to get a little lost, honestly, by the time he passes by Armin. It's less the boy that catches his attention, and more the Pokemon in his arms--he's carrying his own Ralts, and gods, if anything ever happened to her... She shivers, unaware of what exactly he's thinking, but upset by the momentary lapse of his confidence into fear.]

[He's well aware of his own trouble talking to new people, but the boy looks shaken, and the Pokemon looks maybe even worse. With both arms wrapped protectively around Jadwiga, he pushes down his anxieties and tries.]

You totally don't look so hot. Is your friend okay and junk?

[stahlflugel]

[A; Closed to Jean and Nor (NPCing)]

[ It's best to do this sort of work in groups, or at least pairs. So as usual, Jean and Eren are together. But not bickering as much, for once. There was business to attend to! Eren nearly gets conked in the head by a group of fleeing magnemite. Victor the lotad, on his shoulder, isn't quite so lucky and gets knocked off. Eren quickly scoops him back up]

Savior, all these Pokémon leaving the old city... There must be something terrible going on down there.


[B; Closed to Laurent]

[ Pokémon and people everywhere. This was a mess. Victor has gone back home so that Eren can carry a very injured scraggy in his arms. He needs to get her to the clinic! So when he sees a person hanging out in the chaos, he has to glare. He points one of his swords at the guy] Hey!! What are you doing down here? It's too dangerous for civilians!

[C; OPEN TO ALL]

[Eren is patrolling, both in pokémon form and in human form, all around the damaged parts of the city. He's equipped with some basic first aid equipment, and Victor the lotad is with him to help put out any small fires that may have erupted thanks to damage]

[improvings]

[Laurent doesn't look up at Eren right away. He's bandaging the tail of a finicky Purrloin who wants nothing to do with him once he's finished, scampering off despite just having her tail trampled. He's actually making his way out of the chaos, wanting to get his injured Houndour friend back to somewhere he can treat him properly, but it's hard for his bleeding heart to ignore injured Pokemon on the way.]

[He doesn't finally look up at Eren though.]

There are injured Pokemon here, I assume they were trampled by their larger fellows. I'm assisting them.

[sturzflug]

Yeah, wonder if anything... woke up.

[ Jean doesn't really wanna think about it... He's got Apollo and Volbeat with him, and they're helping out however they can. See, they're not tiny babies like Lotad. They can fly, unlike Jean. ]

Hope it's not the same thing that caused the earthquakes.

action; residential center

[myfedorarocks]

[When the earthquake hit, the first thing that Flemming did was rush home to make sure that his daughter was well. She was fine. A little frazzled from something falling off of the wall and clinging to her grandmother, but fine. It was a relief, but after a brief stay he was outside, hoping that he could be on alert for any guardsman who could tell him the damage.

He was an engineer, he couldn't fix the gas leaks, but he needed to be on scene as soon as the leaks were fixed to help with the structure.

He may have been better suited to making objects, but if the towers had any structure issues at all... well, it could be bad. Very bad. He needed to know, if at all possible, and catching anyone who could know anything at all, even if he needed to follow them would do fine.]

[antiseptic]

[A soft sound comes from behind Flemming. If he turns around, he'll see a Purrloin facing at him, eyes happily closed and mouth turned up into a sweet smile.]

Entrance 6

[paradiseshrinemaiden]

[Reimu wasn't particularly happy about this development. There hadn't been any damage to the shrine, but she'd definitely felt that earthquake. She was still getting over her cold, but she was well enough to go investigating. It hadn't taken her long to notice that the pokemon seemed like they were running from something, and while it was true that it could just be the earthquake destroying their homes, she still felt she should take a closer look. Also they needed to make sure the wild pokemon coming out of the Old City didn't cause any problems.

So with Marisa and their pokemon in toe (well she only brought Ruukoto with her. The Slowpoke was left back at the shrine.) Reimu headed down to one of the still intact entrances to the Old City.]

((Oh yeah, sort of NPCing Marisa with mun permission.))

[indy_wannabe]

You're slow!

[Ezreal was already laying down cover fire on some Grimer that were getting too overzealous.]

I could've let these guys up to that shrine of yours.

Action - Medical Center

[a_gentle_boy]

What is Emergency Medicine? Did he know Emergency Medicine? Honestly he wasn't even sure that was a real thing weren't all medical problems emergencies in one way or another maybe they just wanted a fancy word to use to get everyone to help out if they could.

These are the grave and important thoughts running through Lucas's head as he practices Emergency Medicine just outside the Medical Center.

"I'm sorry, I can't -- Please, if you have a severe injury, I'll definitely help, but I... I can't get everyone. I'll do as much as I can. The doctors will take you as soon as they can."

He's never used his healing so much and so quickly - his body shines like a cyan nightlight as he makes his way through the crowds, stopping bleeding when he can, easing pain when it's clear it's intolerable. ...His light glows dimmer and dimmer as time goes on.

[meguriau]

Roxas, being stable enough to actually do so, had been around the Medical Center assisting the Doctors bringing them bandages and anything else that they needed to heal the injured. Thanks to one of his abilities as an Enlightened he had been able to do at a decent speed; he would apparate - teleport - around delivering the supplies. They had done their best to ask him to do to the less crowded areas. But with all the chaos it was easier said than done.

Eventually he had to stop teleporting around so often and take a break. He started to make his way on foot back to where he could safely rest when he notices Lucas healing someone. Should that light be that dim?

No, it probably shouldn't. Roxas can tell that Lucas' strength is diminished. He doesn't call out on Lucas because well ... what is doing that and especially while Lucas is focusing on someone else. But he stands pretty close by and watches carefully.

Open

[radiantwingedone]

[ Laboratory / University Tower ]

So he might be ignoring the 'stay in your residence' calls, or he might just think that the laboratory where he gets his little research corner counts as his residence. Either way, he's out and about trying to pick things up, Laulyse tucked worriedly against his neck again.

He's also grumbling under his breath about earthquakes with horrid timing, he had just gotten those organized, why did it have to dump them all now...

[ Residential Area ]

"No, stop following me." That is directed at a Grimer, which is mostly paying attention to the fairy type on his shoulder. Duke is trying to study the damaged section of the building - although from several feet away - to see if he can tell where any metal in the walls was damaged. Of if someone was under the rubble, but that would be harder if they were wearing nightclothes.

"I said leave her alone!" Of course, having a grimer occasionally toss mud at him doesn't help anything.

Residential Area

[makeitquick]

As a Ranger (to be) she was called to the entrances initially, and has done her part to try to step the flow of pokemon into the city proper. But now that she's technically off-duty, she's started a patrol to see if she can't find any stragglers which have actually broken in. A Phantump floats beside her, looking like she is revealing in all the confusion and fear about. ... It's her nature.

But more importantly. Seeing a Grimer harassing this man, Melaka (still in her ranger uniform) steps over to- "Sir, do you need someone to deal with that?"

Entrance 3

[makeitquick]

[ More the Guard's job than hers, but like more Rangers even if she's a newbie she was shortied to go and deal with the broken entrances into the Old City. Specifically, Melaka has ended up at the severely damaged Entrance 5 so that she and a couple of others can monitor people surveying the damage for repairs. There haven't been a ton of Wild Pokemon fleeing out of this one, given that it's not a super open path way, but both her and Sneak and ready to deal with them.

Seeking someone to NPC an encounter. Open to any other interaction ]

NPC

[antiseptic]

[sup Melaka, don't mind the steel ball that seemingly appears out of nowhere and starts floating out of the entrance and towards the Union...]