Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:17:06 GMT
Major Yvon-Rubicon Rourke had previously put very little credence into the saying “wake up dead.” It had seemed counterintuitive to him, though, given his current predicament, it was hardly as unreasonable as he initially had imagined. That being said, when he opened his eyes, he realized that he was in hell. He then remembered that he had been in a bunker, and as his eyes rapidly blinked back the tears from the heat and smoke, he brought himself back to where he truly was.
Precisely put, that was beneath a girder; the bunker had at some point been struck rather directly by one of the orbital blasts, and the results of that were scattered above him; through the cracks, he could see a strong red glow, and it cast shadows out across the crushed chamber.
He was, quite surprisingly, not feeling all too much pain; then he remembered that…thing…running him through with a blade, and he raised his head enough to view the wound. He was amazed he was still alive afterwards; the gash stretched for a full foot across his torso…
…and then he realized he wasn’t breathing. His heart was no longer beating either; and amid the rubble and flame, Rourke began to laugh. It was a broken thing, as the air wasn’t moving through his vocal chords like it used to.
Yet as he laughed, he thought too. He had survived, and the ground was no longer shaking. There must be other survivors, surely. And so, as he laughed beneath the flames at the lack of ceremony towards his death, he resolved to find them.
--oOo—
This is a Tenebrean Imperial News Report, being transmitted and brought live to you from Tenebrae City. As news has begun trickling in with more reliability from Exceion, we are now able to provide you with more accurate information.
This attack could have been much worse had the Immortal Empire’s fleet not withdrawn when it did; they appeared to have been targeting rural areas on the planets in Exceion primarily, perhaps in an effort to herd survivors into the more populated metropolitan areas for final glassing. While still staggeringly high, casualty counts are notably lower than originally anticipated; had the attackers pressed on their advantage, it is entirely possible that the survivors of the Exceion Massacre would number under a thousand, as opposed to the several million who survived the attack.
However, the environmental damage on the Exceion system will require incredible effort to restore. The attackers deliberately penetrated the planetary crusts of all of the major worlds on the planet, leading to catastrophic, extinction-level geological disturbances. These worlds are now having widespread volcanic activity and are entering a period similar to nuclear winter as ash and debris reins down over tens of thousands of square miles. The survivors will need incredible stamina if they are to hold out until a proper relief force can be assembled. With crops effectively destroyed, planetary weather systems undergoing a dramatic collapse, and civilization rapidly eroding, time is the greatest enemy they now face.
--oOo--
Vastra’s sky glowed darkly. This was the best way to describe it. The already cold temperatures had been dropping ever since it happened, but they now seemed to have leveled off; some even claimed that it might have been slowly warming now. Temperature aside, it was an unnatural light that permeated the horizon; a dim purple glow cast macabre shadows over the frozen ruins that dotted the moon’s surface. There were no stars; no planets or moons dotted the heavens. It was the darkest of blacks, with an ethereal purple emanating from somewhere beyond the horizon.
“Still can’t reach anything.” One of the men-he couldn’t see his face well enough in the dim lantern light to identify him-called out gruffly. “It’s not like any jamming I’ve ever heard, I’ll give you that much.”
“Keep trying. I want to know what the hell’s going on.” Kes answered, as he began to rebutton his parka. Simmons had been gone for almost an hour now-
-and then abruptly, the hut’s door swung open, and a snow and ice caked figure stumbled in. Kes immediately began deconnecting the umbilicals attached to his life support system as the helmet came off.
“Any signs of Rathers or Park?” Kes asked with concern, and the figure-who was now known to be Simmons-shook his head as he shivered.
“No…at least I don’t think so…we…we need to kill the lights…”
Kes shot a quizzical glance at Simmon’s icy form. “And why the hell would we do that?”
Simmon’s teeth were chattering as he responded.
“Because…because there are…things moving out there…”
Precisely put, that was beneath a girder; the bunker had at some point been struck rather directly by one of the orbital blasts, and the results of that were scattered above him; through the cracks, he could see a strong red glow, and it cast shadows out across the crushed chamber.
He was, quite surprisingly, not feeling all too much pain; then he remembered that…thing…running him through with a blade, and he raised his head enough to view the wound. He was amazed he was still alive afterwards; the gash stretched for a full foot across his torso…
…and then he realized he wasn’t breathing. His heart was no longer beating either; and amid the rubble and flame, Rourke began to laugh. It was a broken thing, as the air wasn’t moving through his vocal chords like it used to.
Yet as he laughed, he thought too. He had survived, and the ground was no longer shaking. There must be other survivors, surely. And so, as he laughed beneath the flames at the lack of ceremony towards his death, he resolved to find them.
--oOo—
This is a Tenebrean Imperial News Report, being transmitted and brought live to you from Tenebrae City. As news has begun trickling in with more reliability from Exceion, we are now able to provide you with more accurate information.
This attack could have been much worse had the Immortal Empire’s fleet not withdrawn when it did; they appeared to have been targeting rural areas on the planets in Exceion primarily, perhaps in an effort to herd survivors into the more populated metropolitan areas for final glassing. While still staggeringly high, casualty counts are notably lower than originally anticipated; had the attackers pressed on their advantage, it is entirely possible that the survivors of the Exceion Massacre would number under a thousand, as opposed to the several million who survived the attack.
However, the environmental damage on the Exceion system will require incredible effort to restore. The attackers deliberately penetrated the planetary crusts of all of the major worlds on the planet, leading to catastrophic, extinction-level geological disturbances. These worlds are now having widespread volcanic activity and are entering a period similar to nuclear winter as ash and debris reins down over tens of thousands of square miles. The survivors will need incredible stamina if they are to hold out until a proper relief force can be assembled. With crops effectively destroyed, planetary weather systems undergoing a dramatic collapse, and civilization rapidly eroding, time is the greatest enemy they now face.
--oOo--
Vastra’s sky glowed darkly. This was the best way to describe it. The already cold temperatures had been dropping ever since it happened, but they now seemed to have leveled off; some even claimed that it might have been slowly warming now. Temperature aside, it was an unnatural light that permeated the horizon; a dim purple glow cast macabre shadows over the frozen ruins that dotted the moon’s surface. There were no stars; no planets or moons dotted the heavens. It was the darkest of blacks, with an ethereal purple emanating from somewhere beyond the horizon.
“Still can’t reach anything.” One of the men-he couldn’t see his face well enough in the dim lantern light to identify him-called out gruffly. “It’s not like any jamming I’ve ever heard, I’ll give you that much.”
“Keep trying. I want to know what the hell’s going on.” Kes answered, as he began to rebutton his parka. Simmons had been gone for almost an hour now-
-and then abruptly, the hut’s door swung open, and a snow and ice caked figure stumbled in. Kes immediately began deconnecting the umbilicals attached to his life support system as the helmet came off.
“Any signs of Rathers or Park?” Kes asked with concern, and the figure-who was now known to be Simmons-shook his head as he shivered.
“No…at least I don’t think so…we…we need to kill the lights…”
Kes shot a quizzical glance at Simmon’s icy form. “And why the hell would we do that?”
Simmon’s teeth were chattering as he responded.
“Because…because there are…things moving out there…”