12/28 Instance: Spacebugs Invasion

[Svartfreja]

Timelined for a few days after [Instance]Emo Crater.


<Carol> It started with a phonecall. The Brood ships had arrived and were approaching rapidly. They'd already passed the moon's orbit and would be in the atmosphere within a matter of hours. As soon as she'd put the phone down, Carol left her seat and headed the short distance to Cessily's office. She almost remembered to knock, the door was half open already when she did.

<Cessily> "Carol-" the silver mutant began, but one look at Carol's face was enough to tell her this wasn't a drill. Cessily stiffened in her chair and laid down her pen. "They're coming, aren't they?"

<Carol> Carol nodded, "They'll be here in a few hours. Time to get to work..." They were never going to be really ready for this, it was their first invasion after all.

<Cessily> Cessily nodded and stood up, then pressed the button on her desk phone to sound the school-wide alarm. "I hope the students will be safe underground," she said, before stepping up to her closet to pull out her uniform. "I didn't think this would really happen."

<Carol> "I hoped it wouldn't... but I knew better..." Carol sighed, pushing a hand through her hair and stepping into the office to close the door. "Fury's mobilising SHIELD as we speak."

<Cessily> "Good," Cessily said as she dropped her regular clothes over the arm of her chair. "Do you think it will be enough?" she asked Carol, turning towards her while zipping up her uniform. "I mean, do you think they have a chance against those things?"

<Carol> "With Broo's upgrades and the weapons they've been building in that fold out lab... we're in a better position than we were..." She chewed her lip, glancing in the direction of the hall, "We just can't be sure the weapons will get through their armour...."

<Cessily> "I guess it comes down to doing what we do best then," Cessily replied and managed a small smile. "Going up against all odds and hoping we save the day somehow again."

<Carol> "There's a little too much hoping for my liking..." Carol stepped close to her girlfriend and took her hand, raising it to her lips to kiss the back of it. "We have to beat them."

<Cessily> "I know." Cessily closed her hand around Carol's, squeezing it as if to reassure the both of them. "And we will. Somehow." Leaning close until their foreheads touched, she pressed a gentle kiss to her girlfriend's lips. "We beat them when Hydra used them against us. We can do it again. I know we can."

<Carol> "I hope you're right..." She reached out with her other hand to pull Cessily close and wrap her into a hug, "Be careful, okay? I don't want anything to happen to you."

<Cessily> "Don't worry, I doubt even monster bugs from outer space like to eat metal." Cessily put on a wry smirk, before giving Carol another squeeze. "You watch out for yourself, too, okay? I know you're one tough gal, but you can get a little confident for your own good sometimes."

<Carol> "I know my limits," she gave a half shrug, nuzzling Cessily a little, "But I'll be careful... you never know, they might get confused - there could be two of me."

<Cessily> Cessily grinned. "If there are two of you, these bugs will be too busy getting their insect asses kicked to have any time to get confused."

<Carol> Carol laughed, "You got that right! I'm going to kick all their scaley butts back into space."

<Cessily> "Come on, let's show them they picked the wrong planet to mess with." Cessily took Carol's hands and made for the door. "After all, we invented Raid, and have actual Spider-people."

<Carol> "Man, I will be so happy if Greer's super-Raid actually works..." Carol followed Cessily back into the hall, "Also... have I ever mentioned how much I love you in that uniform?"

<Cessily> Cessily looked over her shoulder while making sure to put some extra sway into her steps. "Once or twice, yes," she replied, a grin lighting up her tense expression. "But you're welcome to show me once this is all over." She shook her leather-clad behind a little.

<Carol> "I have to wait until after?" There was a note of complaint in her voice, "I might not be able to concentrate now."

<Cessily> Cessily paused, a thoughtful look on her face. "How long did you say until we get invaded?" she asked. "A couple hours, yes?"

<Carol> Carol nodded, "Yeah... that's loads of time," she gave Cessily a small grin.

<Cessily> Cessily turned around and stepped up to Carol, wrapping both arms around the other woman. "Then I suggest we use it wisely before the world is about to end. Again."

<Carol> Carol's grin grew and she pulled Cessily back into her office.


[Time Passes]


<Carol> Preparations were complete and eyes were on the sky as they waited for the first glimpses of the ships. Three bright orange balls of light appeared in the atmosphere, the size of them obvious even at such a distance. SHIELD teams were in the air and on the ground, backed up by staff and the more sturdy students from the school and SHIELD's own mutant personnel.

<Cessily> "You know, I'm so glad we used that opportunity, because I'm not nearly as confident we'll live through this anymore," Cessily said, looking up at the lights in the sky, steadily growing larger as they approached the Earth. "I didn't expect them to be that big."

<Carol> Carol looked at Cessily for a moment then took her hand and gave it a squeeze, "We'll be okay." She offered a smile.

<Cessily> Cessily returned the smile, putting all confidence she could muster into it. "You're right, we will." Her gaze returned to the sky, where the alien ships set the upper atmosphere ablaze as they descended. "But many others won't be. I worry about everyone we won't be able to protect."

<Carol> She nodded, "Yeah... me too... we have teams at all three sites so... hopefully that number won't be too high..." She watched those that were capable of intercepting the ships as the came down take to the sky and sighed, "That's my cue..."

<Cessily> "Good luck." Cessily reached out to pull Carol close one more time, pressing another kiss to her girlfriend's lips, while around them the long range missiles soared into the sky to intercept the invaders. "Go kick their asses." She smiled. "But leave some for us down here on the ground."

<Carol> "I'll see what I can do," she returned the smile then pressed her face against Cessily's neck for a moment, "I love you." She stepped back then and took off for the ship that was coming their way.

<Cessily> "I love you, too." Cessily's gaze lingered on Carol as she became one of the many small dots rising up to meet the alien behemoth descending from the sky. She pulled her gaze away to address her own team of assembled mutants, X-Men and SHIELD agents alike. "Alright, let's get into positions to welcome our guests."


[Time Passes]


<Cessily> They could never have been prepared for something like this. None of them really had expected their conventional weapons to stop them, but Cessily had hoped they might at least have had slowed the coming onslaught. Still high up in the sky, the giant ship had begun to launch its vicious cargo.

<Cessily> "Draw them away from the soldiers!" Cessily yelled over the sound of alien screeching. She pulled a blade-arm out of the guts of a giant, monstrous bug. It sprayed her with its disgusting drool as it gave its death cry. "And stay together. Don't let them swarm us."

<Carol> Carol had been in the first wave and seen the ship up close. It wasn't a ship at all but some giant living creature. The inside had been hollowed out and fitted with technology so that the Brood could live in its body cavities and it had surprisingly tough skin.

<Carol> She flew around and around as winged Brood chased her and SHIELD crews fired the weapons developed for them to pick off her pursuers. There were so many of them - they just kept pouring out of their creature-ship, a never ending tide of angry insect creatures. Running low on reserves, she made sure to get in the way of an energy blast or two from both sides to top her up.

<Cessily> The human SHIELD personnel could hold their own, thanks to their advanced equipment, but the weapons of their military reinforcements didn't prove nearly as effective, and the soldiers were threatened to be overrun. The mutants did what they could, but there were only so many of them, and sheer endless waves of enemies.

<Cessily> "We have to get their attention somehow!" Cessily lashed out with all six arms, each one finding a target to impale and tear apart with metal claws, while a long silver tail ending in a blade protected her back.

<Carol> Carol looked down at that shout, trying to assess to see if she could help. But that small distraction was all the Brood on her tail needed to catch up.

<Cessily> Cessily couldn't tell how well they were doing, as she could see nothing through the mass of Brood swarming her. Countless claws cut into her liquid form, but the silver mutant retaliated in kind, and the pile of alien bodies kept growing around her as she slashed and sliced into every direction.

<Carol> Carol swore as she was slammed from all sides by the giant space insects and tried to blast her way out again. On her comms she could hear people panicking but she wasn't in a position to answer them at the moment.

<Cessily> An explosion kicked up dirt and parts of space bug, the shockwave briefly clearing the air around her. She looked up, only to see the next wave of winged alien assemble in the sky. "If we cut them off before they can touch the ground, we can buy the humans enough time to regroup."

<Cessily> "Carol, are you there?" Cessily scanned the battle above for signs of the familiar energy blasts.

<Carol> "Yeah, I- Ow! Motherfucker!" the Brood around her seemed to get excited all at once when they realised one of them had managed to hurt her. She punched the head off of the first one that tried to capitalise on that.

<Cessily> "Carol! Are you okay?" Cessily tried to find her amidst all the chaos. "How are doing up there?"

<Carol> "I'm fine," Carol replied, employing her flight powers to escape the cluster, "One of them stabbed me with something... just a scratch though..." she felt through the tear in her uniform.

<Cessily> "Please be careful! If they can hurt you, you have to watch out." Cessily speared one of the creatures and pulled it off the SHIELD vehicle before it could cut a way inside. "We're holding out down here for the moment, but there's no way to get up any reinforcements. There's just too many of them."

<Carol> "Don't worry, it didn't go deep - I have tough skin." Although, having said that, she did feel kind of weird. She checked the wound again but it was hardly bleeding. She was, however, slowing down, her turns not as sharp as they had been.

<Cessily> "Okay, but better not let them get another chance." Cessily believed to have spotted Carol far up in the thick of the battle, but before she could make sure it was her, she disappeared behind countless wings. "Here they come again. Watch out, everyone!"

<Carol> Carol turned to get a better look at her crowd of Brood followers to figure out what they'd stuck her with as her vision swam, "Guys... don't let them sting you..." She blacked out for a moment and woke up several feet lower in altitude, "I need a timeout..." she mumbled before she lost consciousness again.

<Cessily> "Carol? Carol!" Cessily still was looking for her, even when more of the Brood slammed into her. "Carol, talk to me!" The sound of gunfire and explosions and inhuman shrieks drowned out her voice.

<Carol> Carol was unable to answer her girlfriend as she dropped further toward the ground. She was still unconscious when the Brood that had been tailing her caught her and ferried her off toward their ship.

<Cessily> "Carol! Can you hear me?" No matter how many of the creatures she stabbed, more kept coming. No matter how hard she fought, she couldn't save every soldier fighting near her. For a moment she fought herself free and looked up towards the ship in the sky. "Carol, please say something."

<Carol> Cessily's voice was able to penetrate the fog one more time and Carol gave a shout when she realised where she was - at the mouth of the giant space-faring creature they used as a ship. Over her comms came the sounds of a struggle and much chittering from the Brood and then there was nothing but static.

[Svartfreja]

Feel free to post what your guys are doing during the invasion! They can be either at the site at the school (where Carol and Cessily are) or at either of the other two landing sites.

All sites have SHIELD Teams stationed with them and they're armed with weapons designed by Broo and the other reality people. Other reality people are also present and helping out where they can.

Your characters don't have to be helping fight the creatures either, they can be among those evacuated and hiding/worrying about the others. Or you can play stages like the instance above You can post them separately or, if you can't be bothered to think of a title, just post it here and we'll have an invasion masterthread have fun!