Brave New World

The people of Union have had an odd week. While it was nice to cap things off with the knowledge that Gigas is not going to try and invade them again (for now), the population has had to deal with a different sort of intruder. Namely, Abra. Abra teleporting anywhere and everywhere. Abra teleporting places to try and hide.

Absolutely terrified Abra. To say nothing of the dreams the city's Psychic-types have discussed.

And now, as a new week dawns...the nightmares spread to everyone. Without exception. Perhaps you're fortunate and things that go bump in the night don't frighten you, but sleeping brings a sense of dread, and a hazy vision of a world in ruins. Night after night after night. The first one is horrifying for shock value. The next few are horrifying because they won't stop.

How will you deal? Where will you go, in the middle of the night, if you're the sort who tries to clear their heads? Will you share what you've been experiencing or keep it to yourself?

No matter what you do, the nightmares continue. And the Abra continue to shiver.

[[ This is a catch-all post/mingle for people wanting to react to their weird nightmares! As mentioned here, they have now spread to the entire population. Players are welcome to continue making their own posts addressing the nightmares if they prefer. ]]

The opposing armies meet just outside the forest, the more idiosyncratic forces of Union and its allies up against fully-organized Gigan might. Wheeled transports carry many of the enemy troops while strange metal cylinders with rotating blades keeping them aloft swoop around overhead in a near parody of Flying-type Pokémon. And marching among the soldiers and their transports, unmistakable by their bulk, each wearing a metal band around their middles, are the mighty yet enslaved Gods themselves.

The clifflike bulk of Regirock.

The glacial progression of Regice.

The alien presence of Registeel.

And, dead in the center of the formation, towering over them all, the sheer presence of Regigigas, crown jewel of the Emperor’s ill-gotten forces.

There is no attempt to negotiate. No overtures first, no white flags of truce to try working this out. The Gigan army has come to fight, armed with technology. The Union army has come to defend, armed with the bonds between themselves and their Pokémon. This spirit has earned them an additional boon: blessings from the gods who favor Union, who support the humans they believe in with the hopes their comrades can still be rescued.

Thus the battle is joined.

[[ OOC: As noted, all participants in this event get to pick one stat-boosting “blessing” from the gods, just like when they defended from Sveta’s attack. Please note which blessing your character received in their first tag. Also note that Mod tags will come once every 24 hours, unless all characters in the log have replied, then they will come more frequently.]]

True to their word the Seekers lead the teams discretely through the winding streets of Gigas and into service entrances, gaining them admittance into the heart of Gigas’s political compound. Bringing them stealthily along the catwalks, the Union infiltrators were brought to the inner sanctum, close to the captive Gigases and their mission.

Sharp-looking soldiers in fatigues holding machine guns patrolled diligently, although their demeanor was not especially tense. It seemed no immediate operations were taking place at this time as no engineers were present. And in their enormous cages, the Gigases slept. Waiting.

While Union was happy to agree to a ceasefire with Gigas and treat with them in earnest, it seems the Seekers have held some suspicions of the great Empire for awhile now. And thus, enlisting in the help of a few hand-picked Union agents, they stole into the deepest vaults of Gigas, hoping to recover items of great power and learn the truth about the city’s purported guardian gods.

The warriors of Union fought hard, and in the end, victory was their reward. Seeing the battle lost, the fanatics of the Elite Four fled into the night, those that were not killed or captured of course. Sveta was nowhere to be seen, nor was her mysterious companion, and as its rage was reaching its peak, the mighty Dragon simply vanished in a blaze of energy, recalled by its trainer but not before slamming the mysterious red dragon into another tower for good measure.

As quickly as they had come, the gods of Union vanished, leaving behind the ruined, devastated city. What was once panic has subsided to a quiet shock and horror as the dead and wounded are gathered and people try to find out what was damaged and if their family and friends are still among the living.

While the damage is great, the defenders of Union can take heart in the fact that it could have been much, much worse. The habitat suffered a major blow with a great hole blasted into it, but it is otherwise undamaged and salvageable. The forge likewise had one smithy station destroyed from a divine claw smite, but is otherwise unscathed. The signal tower took moderate damage from the initial attack, but it is reparable, given time. The biggest toll, however, is on that of the people. The Residential District, as well as parts of the Entertainment district lie in tatters. Several towers are gutted, and a few even fell completely, many of the citizens inside them trapped and unable to escape. In all, the death toll numbers around 700, with at least 1,000 wounded, and is expected to rise as rescuers desperately comb the wreckage in search of survivors. Never before has Union lost so many of its citizens, never before has such suffering and violence come to Union. People are afraid, they are angry, but, in the true spirit of Union, they are banding together. The City of Union has survived. But it will never be the same.

All across Union, its citizens prepared to ring in the Salvation holiday with cheer. Dedicated to their beloved Savior, many of the houses were decorated with garlands, ornaments and other fineries in preparation for this truly special holiday, and while it had been uncharacteristically cold the last few days, not a single flake of snow had fallen. Children eager to start the festivities the following day did their best to stay up in the hopes of possibly catching a glimpse of one of the Delibirds they saw the previous night. However, try as they might, the late night would get the better of them, and soon the city was asleep, nestled warm in their beds, dreaming of parties and presents, candies and cakes.

As they slept, the first snow began to fall, snowflakes silently dancing through the night sky, dusting rooftops and covering sidewalks in pearly white. It would seem that a Salvation miracle was at work in Union that night. The streets were empty, save for a young woman and Pokémon, scarcely visible even in the lamplights. Her steps made no sound, even in the accumulating snow, and she left no footprints, the strange Pokémon by her side taking the time to peer into every window.

Should anyone wake during this peaceful snowfall, they might find the young woman and her companion in their room, transparent as a fog, a placid smile on her face. She did not speak, but simply smiled warmly, almost maternally, before disappearing from view.

When dawn finally broke, the people of Union would find a simple gift within their home, rested alongside a familiar note. The snow from last night coated buildings, streets, and sidewalks, blanketing the city in white and shimmering in the gentle, early morning light.

((OoC: This is a Salvation Mingle Log for all characters. There are decorations and the like in various squares for celebration around Union, so feel free to tag around!))

The people of Union have descended into the besieged city, doing everything in their power to aid the citizens of Glacier yet remaining within. Whether struggling against the invaders seemingly loyal to the White Dragon, or seeking out the injured and lost in need of aid, they take advantage of several hours of relative calm to do all they can. And for a time, it seems to be working - the invaders are not so very strong after all, not against the experienced Unionites who have surpassed everything from human armies to memories of gods.

But perhaps the might of the two combined is an altogether different challenge.

GRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAH!

The sensation is felt throughout the whole of the city, the rumbling of the earth itself enough to take down the more unstable buildings in its wake. From any point, at any height, all eyes are drawn to the monstrosity that has descended in the blink of an eye into the still-burning town center. A great, white dragon... Exactly as described by those who had escaped from the city.

Those with sharp eyes will see that standing beside it, there seems to be a human figure.

Its sheer presence is overwhelming. The air around it ripples with an aura of heat, but felt even more keenly than that, there is a devastating sense of raw power and control. This being... this god could burn down the entire earth if it wished. A city of Glacier's relative size... What chance did it possibly have? That the world yet remains standing seems almost a mercy. Its size is immense, its bulk several times larger than that of a Wailord, its height almost seeming to rival the tallest towers of Union, though perhaps this is an exaggeration of the mind.

It takes a step forward, and the earth shudders once more in its wake.

All across the frozen city of Glacier, every individual carrying a Warp Band will suddenly feel the device activate of its own accord as a video feed begins to play. Attempting to turn it off fails, and changing it doesn't seem to work either. Something, or someone, has hijacked the feed and is using it for their own announcement.

A tall, severe looking man stares into the feed, his lone eye seeming to burn with an unnatural fire. And beside him, only its lower body visible, stands the feet of the White Dragon, its fur outlined in crisp detail from this distance. The man gazes steadily forward, eyes yet alight with passion.

"So, it seems that this place has found someone to come to its aid. No matter, our plans will not be disrupted by insects like you. Still, it's good to know that there are humans left that understand the value of kinship with our fellow inhabitants of this world. It brightens my day, you might say, to know that my men have been facing honorable opponents, and not weak cowards that still cling to the old ways.

A pity that when we're done here, we'll have to come for you next. I won't lie to you and say we'll show you mercy, but at least your deaths will be swift."

He smiles then, a thin and grave expression.

Every fiber of those remaining in the city screams to flee from this threat. There is nothing they can do - they must retreat. But though their minds may instinctively beg for such a course of action, to do so means to abandon its people to a fiery demise. Can they truly run from this?

They must choose quickly... and this time, it is not a choice concerning a rabid creature, an angered and wild animal lashing out. This cold and calculated destruction, sanctioned by a god itself, so reminiscent of what was said to have happened in the past. To oppose it, perhaps, means to steer the course of history into terrible new waters. Choose quickly, people of Union. What answer will you find?

((Reshiram is a Legendary, and thus, the normal rules will not apply. It will be able to strike through abilities that would seemingly protect people, and analysts will not be able to sense its weaknesses. It radiates an aura of power that will inspire fear and awe in those who see it. Please be warned that there is a definite chance of injury when attacking this creature; however, despite all this, it is possible to defeat it.

Have fun! And enjoy some mood music.))

For those remaining in Citadel, there is still ample work to be done. The Valkyrie tribes, after all, only congregate at the tree occasionally for their important meetings and congregations. There is scarcely enough food to support such a great influx in population. More and more arrive every day, staggering across the plains towards the enormous tree - thankfully, it is an easy enough landmark upon which to convene. The later arrivals appear more the worse for the wear, having attempted to stave off the invaders as long as possible. They sport various injuries, though the vast majority, of course, are terrible burns.

Their stories are confused. Some insist that the white dragon was hundreds of times as large as even the largest Pokemon, capable of flattening the entire city with a single footstep alone. Others scoff, saying that it is clear that the dragon is nothing more than an illusion created by the invaders; some sort of Psychic trick. No Pokemon of that sort exists in reality. All concede that the dragon and its companions seemingly had no demands apart from the complete destruction of Glacier... The speculative reason for this ranges from 'perhaps someone wants to steal our ice' to 'once we turned a stranger out of the city because he defaced one or the statues'.

Nobody is quite sure why a great white dragon would spontaneously appear out of the blue to raze Glacier to the ground.

Regardless of any of that, there's plenty to do. Gather food and resources, go out to the plains and tundra to assist those who are still straggling in, heal and care for the wounded, and help set up temporary lodgings.

((This log is for the players in Citadel to thread amongst ourselves! There will not be official mod threads here, so please feel free to control the refugees at your whims!))