In A.D. 2011, war was beginning.

[pacifisted.livejournal.com]

WHO: 300,000 angry nerds and the Imports who fight them. Tag yourselves in, please!
WHERE: All around, but mostly near the Porter tower
WHEN: 7:30A May 18 - 3:13P May 20, 2011
WARNINGS: There is no fourth wall. Only Zuul. And violence. And probably bad language. And other things as well. JUST ASSUME THAT THIS LOG IS NOT FOR LIL'UNS.
SUMMARY: The Crabhammers declare war on the Porter and, to a lesser extent, the Imports. The battle lasts three days, is horrible in just about every way you can think of, and this is how it goes down.
FORMAT: However people wanna do it!

"There's no environment. Use your imagination. There's no fourth wall, whether it's the first time you've told this story about her life, or the sixth time."

Everything you need to know is here.

quick links to avoid crashy computers
in the fray
DAY ONE: 7:30 AM--10:00 AM (FIRST CHARGE, BROKEN TRAINS, TRAFFIC JAMS)
DAY ONE: 10:00 AM ONWARD (CONTINUED BATTLING, PUBLIC DISTURBANCES ELSEWHERE)
DAY ONE: 5:17 PM ONWARD (CONTINUED BATTLING, FIRES AND BOMBS ALL OVER)
DAY TWO: 1:00 AM -- 6:28 AM (CONTINUED BATTLING, ENEMY ENERGY DRINKS)
DAY TWO: 6:28 AM -- 12:00 PM (CONTINUED BATTLING, PIRATING THE RADIO STATION)
DAY TWO: 12:00 PM -- 7:42 PM (CONTINUED BATTLING, TOY RAIDS)
DAY TWO: 7:42 PM -- DAY THREE: 12:00 AM (CONTINUED BATTLING, ENEMY IMPORT-HATING REINFORCEMENTS)
DAY THREE: 12:01 AM ONWARD (CONTINUED BATTLING, HERE COMES THE CAVALRY)
DAY THREE: 6:45 AM -- 1:00 PM (CONTINUED BATTLING, CREATE YOUR OWN INSANE LAST-DITCH GEEK TRICKS)
DAY THREE: 1:00 PM -- 3:13 PM (CONTINUED BATTLING, THE MADAGASCARIAN TWENTY-GRAND HOLDOUT)
DAY THREE: 3:13 PM ONWARD (WAR OVER. TAKE PRISONERS, MAKE FRIENDS, GET HEALED, FALL ASLEEP, ETC)

not quite in the fray
DAY ONE: ALL DAY (ON THE SIDELINES, AT REST, TAKING BREAKS, ETC.)
DAY TWO: ALL DAY (ON THE SIDELINES, AT REST, TAKING BREAKS, ETC.)
DAY THREE: ALL DAY (ON THE SIDELINES, AT REST, TAKING BREAKS, ETC.)

fuck the fray
DAY ONE: ALL DAY (FORGET THE BATTLE, I HAVE HBO)
DAY TWO: ALL DAY (YOU LOSERS ARE STILL FIGHTING? IT'S AMERICAN IDOL TIME!)
DAY THREE: ALL DAY (IF YOU'RE ALL BUSY ELSEWHERE I'M JUST GONNA GO ROB A BANK)

Comments

[out_of_time]

"NO ONE ELSE NEEDS TO GET HURT!" Jack's yell merged with the last echoes of the thunder. "PUT YOUR HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEADS AND GET DOWN ON THE GROUND NOW!"

But they were already complying, those ragged, wide-eyed few still standing, hurling away their weapons and throwing themselves down on the ground, terrified. This fight was over. Jack let out a small sigh, then looked at Geddoe while continuing to cover them with his sidearm. "Get their weapons."

He was going to need a lot of handcuffs for all these. Good thing he had spares in the car.

[trueltning_fury]

Nodding once, Geddoe dared to sheath his sword and swiftly moved among the prone assailants, collecting guns and knives and kicking away any debris that could be grabbed and used as weapons. He tucked a few of the blades into his belt for safe-keeping, but the guns he tossed on the front seat of Jack's SUV, not wanting to touch them for too long. It was a safety concern; he only knew the vaguest theory of how they worked and didn't want to set one of on accident.

He stood back and brushed a glove across his brow. He was sweating a bit under the strap of his eyepatch. "I think I'd best stick with you from this point on," he huffed. "At your command."

[out_of_time]

Jack finished handcuffing the surviving suspects and told them to stay still. Hopefully it wouldn't be long until the police and paramedics came for them- and the bodies of their friends, lying nearby. It wasn't exactly what regulations mandated, but neither Jack or Geddoe could stay around to wait with them. The roadblock could have been overrun by more enemies like these by now, its officers dead or fighting for their lives. At any rate, Jack couldn't raise them on the radio anymore. They were running out of time.

He got back into the car and opened the passenger door for Geddoe. "Get in, then."

[trueltning_fury]

By now Geddoe was used to riding in vehicles (where applicable) but he still had trouble with the mechanics. He had to wrangle his sword out of the way in order to slide in - at least the SUV was big enough for him. Of course, he didn't know about the prudence of seat belts...

"Ready," he said curtly, bracing himself.

[out_of_time]

Geddoe was right to brace himself, because Jack drove like a maniac. Tires screeched as he shot down streets and tore around corners on his way to the roadblock. He sensed that he didn't have a second to spare, and he was right.

The roadblock had consisted of three patrol cars parked end-to-end with the appropriate orange barricades and flashing lights. Now, it was on fire. Someone must have tossed a couple Molotov Cocktails into the cars, because they were well and truly ablaze, and their radios with them. At least all the officers seemed to be intact, taking cover behind the flaming wrecks with their guns drawn. Smoke rose high into the air above them, and was being blown back in their faces.

Jack's car pulled up behind the line and he got out. "Who's in charge here?"

"I am, sir!" A female officer raised her hand. Her face was dark with ash. "Captain, we've been attacked by people I think are former Cameron Hodge supporters. We caught the ones who torched our cars and sent them off to the precinct, but now there's at least two assholes with rifles out there shooting at us. We're pinned." A gunshot ricocheted off Jack's SUV, as though for illustration, the report echoing between buildings.

Jack ducked and frowned. There was a solid wall of smoke between the cops and the shooter, so how...

"They've got a spotter," he said. "Someone on this side of the line, relaying information to them."

[trueltning_fury]

The ride didn't completely make Geddoe as sick as he had been in the airplane, but by all the gods in all the worlds he needed a few moments to collect himself after fumbling out of the passenger side. At least the reek of burning vehicles and the crack of gunshots sobered him up right quick.

He heard Jack's assessment and immediately turned, his good eye hunting through the scores of faces illuminated by fire-light for someone who didn't look like they belonged. He knew this tactic, even if he was used to it being used by archers rather than riflemen. It had to be someone close, but with a good view of everything behind the barricade...

[out_of_time]

Meanwhile, Jack looked upwards. Sneaking the spotter in with the civilians behind the roadblock would be good concealment, but tricky observation. The people being used for cover could block the view. Now, if Jack was placing a spotter, he would... but no, these people didn't have the same training. He had to think on their level. This was an opportunistic attack, it had been improvised, not planned out. The spotter would have taken the first good position, not necessarily the smartest one. He looked down, scanned the street for places with a decent sight of the barricade...

There. Firelight glinting off a lens, possibly binoculars. Jack fixed it in his mind, then was careful not to look at it. "Geddoe. Down the street a block, corner cafe, open window. That's our guy."

He couldn't imagine the cafe was open- the spy must have broken in to set up his impromptu observation post. "Get him out of there, then give me a signal once he's taken care of. Then I'll handle the shooters." It had been a while since Jack was in a sniper duel. And this one would take place in a situation he could hardly have predicted.

[trueltning_fury]

Geddoe understood, and cautiously positioned himself so he could check out of the corner of his good eye. Sure enough, he saw the reflection. "On it," he murmured. "A signal, hm? I'll think of something."

He made his way through the officers with placid nods to reassure them that he was supposed to be there, he was not one of the invaders, heading for an alley on the same side of the street as the cafe. If there was one thing he was good at, it was ambush. It didn't matter that this was a city street built of stone and steel rather than a shrub-filled thicket somewhere in the wilderness, the tactic was the same. His leather armor made only the slightest creaks as he drifted into the shadows, his black garb helping him to blend in. Only the metal on his epaulets might have caught the light, but no one in the modern age knew to look for those tiny points of reflection.

The mercenary captain slipped into the alley and then stole his way through the darkness, finding an adjoining alley that housed all the back doors to all the businesses on that side. He went almost silently on those thick-soled boots of his, left shoulder leading, until he came to the door that he figured belonged to the cafe. It was the last one before the street, if he went any farther he'd be out among the mob. Plus, it was hanging ajar - this must have been the way the spotter got in. Geddoe pushed it slowly so it wouldn't make noise, and then ducked inside. The spy really had no idea he was there. Geddoe could have shocked him from behind and he would never have known what hit him. But that wasn't what Geddoe had in mind. He had to be extremely sparing with the rune magic just now. He also didn't need to kill this person, not if there were other ways.

Jack wanted a signal? He got one. The front window of the cafe shattered as a body was thrown through it. Geddoe followed a moment later, stepping over the sill with his long legs, drawing Wild Geese as he came.

[out_of_time]

Well, that signal sent the message loud and clear. Jack lost no time taking advantage of it. Telling the other officers to take cover, he got back in the SUV, sped down the street a ways, then turned around and roared towards the burning roadblock.

On the other side, the shooters would see a police SUV suddenly burst out of the inferno, knocking the other police cars aside, trailing smoke and flame as it charged towards them. They immediately opened fire on it, bullets leaving cracks in its windshield and dents on the hood.

Behind the car, Jack slowly emerged from the smoke, police sniper rifle in hand. He'd bailed out of the car just after it smashed through the roadblock, rolling on hot pavement and coughing as the smell of burning rubber invaded his nostrils. It had been worth it though. The hostiles had exposed their position by opening fire, and with their attention on the still-rolling SUV, they hadn't seen Jack.

Running to the side of the street, he set up the rifle on top of a parked car and then zoomed in on the puffs of white gunsmoke drifting from a fourth-floor window. He saw them- two grizzled men in hunter's camo, using civilian rifles. Sporting buddies, probably, who'd grabbed their guns when the Crabhammers gave them the opportunity to hunt Import prey. Jack put the crosshairs on left-hand man and squeezed the trigger.

The target dropped out of the window. Jack operated the bolt on his rifle, levered a new bullet into the chamber, then put his eye to the scope again. The other shooter was looking down in shock at what was next to his feet. But he hadn't dropped his weapon either. Jack saw him look back towards the street and start to raise the weapon to his shoulder. He never finished.

Jack took a moment to sweep the rest of the street, checking for more shooters, before he stood up, satisfied. Down the street, the SUV finally rolled to a stop.

[trueltning_fury]

Being tossed through a window was enough to put the spotter down for the count, he wasn't going anywhere with that many cuts from shards of glass. Geddoe was quick to duck and cover at the crash of the barricade, after which he swept through the gap. The tip of his sword whooshed this way and that, disarming and maiming quite a few but saving the killing blows for those who asked for them. His unexpected appearance startled more than a few who just gave up or fled, but enough remained with the will to fight that the captain knew he couldn't spare any longer.

He reeled back and ran towards Jack's new position, sword held low to block any attempts at waylaying him. All the while he was chanting, building the power of his second-strongest spell. It took time, and once he cast it, he wouldn't be able to pull off anything stronger than a Berzerk Blow the rest of the night. Skidding to a stop, he whirled around and then raised his right fist high. The Thunderstorm welled up like a great black orb, big enough to cover the entire intersection and swallow up the majority of the fighters. The damage would be incredible, but not fatal, and divided among so many bodies, at worst it would stun every last one of them. And yet, Jack and the police officers in the field would remain untouched - such was the power of True Lightning, to discern ally from foe. Geddoe stared straight into the faces of his enemies as the spell discharged and a huge thunderclap boomed off the buildings.

Effective crowd control, indeed. But that was as much energy as Geddoe had left to him, and afterward he wilted, the tip of his sword dragging down to the pavement.

[out_of_time]

And that was that. The last attackers collapsed as Jack ducked and covered his ears. When he stood up, the street was clear and silent.

The roadblock cars were beginning to burn themselves out. Running back behind the line, Jack ordered the other officers out of cover to handcuff the stunned hostiles. He then went for Geddoe, ready to catch him in case he collapsed. It was easy to see how much that display had taken out of him.

"That was incredible Geddoe, good work," he said. "You okay?"

[trueltning_fury]

"...yeah." Geddoe propped himself up with his sword, but he wasn't about to collapse. He breathed heavily for a moment, and then glanced toward Jack with a fleeting smirk. "I think I could use a nap now."