The decision has been made. LILITH Japan orders the Outsiders to mobilize to pursue the Imugi.
Given that they are in a foreign country, they are largely dependent on LILITH Korea’s resources. In response to the decision, the Korean branch provides some assistance: the Outsiders are given just enough vehicles to help transport them, essential supplies, and only a few operatives to help guide them. This is the most the Korean branch is able to give, as they must focus on relocating people and restoring peace following the attack.
LILITH announces that the Imugi is currently resting near Gangneung on the east coast and they must move quickly. The effects of Rift poisoning will grow stronger as they approach the source; a sign that they are close to a kaiju. Upon reaching the mountains just outside the city, LILITH informs them that they are right on top of its location.
However, there is no Imugi to be found. After searching the area, Outsiders will discover the source of the trace and the poisoning: eggs. They will find about twelve eggs. When they report their findings, Seokdang will curse. In their rush, they had followed the wrong trace. They didn’t track down an injured and resting Imugi—they tracked down the Imugi’s nest. So where is the Imugi?
Not long after, Outsiders will receive an update on their implants: the Imugi reappeared in Seoul. After seeing the corpse of its mate, it went berserk and attacked the city again. While many of the citizens were evacuated to nearby Incheon and remaining shelters, just as many perished, with the death toll at 168,000 and rising. LILITH’s Korean base is destroyed.
The Imugi was last seen flying north, but the Korean government prohibits the Outsiders from pursuing it again through their territory. By choosing to pursue the kaiju, the Outsiders have abandoned humanity and thus will receive no further support. They are ordered to leave the country immediately.
LILITH Japan will order them to collect as many eggs as possible and continue to the abandoned city of Gangneung, where they will arrange pick up and return to base in Tokyo.
▶ AFTERWORD.
Thanks everyone for participating in our first major Event Decision! We hope you had fun discussing what to do both ICly and OOCly.
After failing to capture the second Imugi and also failing to save a large portion of Seoul's population, characters will be shipped back to Japan. The events of the TDM will springboard from there. Feel free to use this post to thread out any aftermath threads if you would like.
All tags on this log are worth 2 points and will count towards August AC.
[Raidou looks down, ashamed at the accusation. He doesn't like feeling or acting like this, but he has no idea what or how he's supposed to do now. How he's supposed to continue ever feeling normal again.]
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I... just...
[He doesn't know. He doesn't know what to do or say or anything.]
[ it is both a curse and a blessing that choso lacks the social graces instilled in most of the japanese population, being barely human himself, for it allows him to meet Raidou’s gaze head on and without doubt. ]
You should not be alone in this time. Yuji could use the company, and I want to keep an eye on you where I can easily reach.
SORRY i just remembered something i wanted him to ask
[He looks away, ashamed for how he's acting, how he's feeling, that he can't just keep moving along like he should be. People still need them, no matter how he feels about it. And acting like this is only concerning his friends.
If he had to choose who to weather this particular storm with, Choso and Yuji would be it. After a long moment of consideration, he nods. He slips out the door, ready to follow Choso.
On the way over to their room - not a far walk, sure - Raidou finally speaks up just as they reach the door. His voice is small and distant.]
[ the relief is hard to hide, so choso doesn’t bother. with a deep hwuff of breath, he starts off for The Room. the room precisely ten paces away.
as they approach, he pauses at the doorway to glance at Raidou as the boy speaks, head tilting slightly with the question.
what, in these extraordinary circumstances, constituted as self-centred? ]
Are we all not so?
[ the return question comes with a hiss of the opening door, a glimpse of strange shelves and a couple of roombas puttering about within. ]
Every living thing holds itself at the centre of its world. Humanity dresses it up in different worlds, and breaks it into fragments to better fit what it must.
[Raidou enters the familiar room, and takes a seat at the very edge of the bed, as if to be as unobtrusive as possible.]
Something.... someone said to me.
[He doesn't want to call the culprit out.
Somehow, his voice is more quiet and flat than ever.]
I have tried my best. Over and over. But it's not been enough. I understand that we are a team. We got together, we make decisions as one. But I do not wish to be a burden on my team. I cannot become a reason they continue to fail.
[Hands on his lap turn to fists.]
If that makes me self-centered, then I suppose I am.
[ despite Raidou’s efforts to be small and out-of-the-way, choso ruins the attempt when he ambles over to plop himself down on the floor. right there, right on the rug at Raidou’s feet. ]
Why are you a burden? In what way? All I have ever known from you are your great efforts.
[Raidou has a hard time looking at him, eyes on his lap. He's wrestling with many things that roil just under the surface, and he doesn't know where to start. It also means talking quite a bit, something he isn't good at and not in the mood for either.
But, his friend is concerned. His teammate, his frequent partner in battle. Choso genuinely wants to know.
Raidou takes a cleansing breath. While his voice is quiet, everything is still delivered levelly, as if simple factual statements.]
You had to come rescue us during the yama-denki battle. Because Yuji had to work to help protect me, because I wasn't strong enough myself to do it. So I stayed out of the Las Vegas battle. Doing so seemed cowardly after the fact. [And the things he saw while working in the medical ward will haunt him for years.]
So I joined again. My sword against the imgui was like a pin prick. And then...
[A pause, and Raidou squeezes his eyes shut. He doesn't need to explain what happened next. He had voted to chase, thinking that they would be safer to defeat the creature before it returned.]
Before I arrived in Neo Tokyo, I was protector of the Capital. The Tokyo of my own world. But I failed it as well. Deceived by someone who needed me out of the way. It worked. Now it is his for the taking.
[He knows he couldn't have seen Seimei's betrayal coming. He had the backing of the Yatagarasu Organization, and was a summoner like himself. No one would have seen it.]
I want to help others. But it seems as if my efforts are causing more harm than good. When I put forth my all into battle, people say it is too much. I get injured or need rescue. When I say out, it seems cowardly to me.
[His jaw tightens for a moment.]
I am not sure where this leaves me. I do not want more people to die because of mistakes I contributed to.
[ what can choso do in this time, where each and everyone one of them have buckled under the weight of decision? it is not in his power to wipe away these troubles, nor is it his place to, but this, it's different. here, the Summoner was in need, and like yuji, needed more than mere solutions or fixes.
so choso listens. settled at Raidou's feet like a demon dog at heel, legs crossed and back straight, he listens attentive and rapt with eyes tilted up.
listen: the Summoner has always fought for the people, here and now and there and then. listen: the Summoner has been fighting all this time, and his sword is now pointed toward himself.
choso's hands reach out to rest over Raidou's, cold palms on warm knuckles. ]
[Raidou's brow furrows at the question, thinking on it seriously. The comforting gesture is at least able to get him to relax just a bit.]
My lack of strength. I am trying to improve as much as I. can. I had just started new training regimens right before the mission. I should have started sooner.
[He got too too complacent here. He got lulled into the trappings of a normal life, what little of it they could have here, work and school and hobbies and friends. He should have committed more. It's time to cut back. Choso maybe be disappointed if he heads to work later in the week, to find that Raidou has quit his job in the izakaya kitchen.]
Would strength have stopped Imugi from coming for the city? Would it have stayed the electric current of Yamadenki? Yuji’s strength failed under circumstances that no amount of strength or training would have overcome.
[ talking, it’s hard! the words push and jumble behind his teeth but choso must sort them out, must arrange them in the order he needs them to be to reach the ears of this bleeding thing. ]
Was being saved so humiliating? Are you ashamed that your power lies in another’s hands? When we made our pact, I thought that it was to take the place of the demons you lost, to do everything I had been to preserve yours and Yuji’s lives.
Why are you the only one who must bleed for a sin all of us have made?
[It's always been difficult for Raidou to ever get his words out properly too, and the more Choso goes on, the harder it's getting.
Raidou is always the first to say they're a team here, that the Outsiders always pull through and work together. Until there's problem, then suddenly, the weight of them seem to be on his shoulders alone.
Emotions threaten to escape, and Raidou closes his eyes tightly, jaw clenching tightly. Choso is right, but it's difficult for him to face.]
I... I am the shield for those who need it. I gave up my life to protect others from harm. No matter the cost. It is my reason for being. If I can't do that, then what...
[Then what was he supposed to be? He doesn't know, and he hasn't known since he arrived in this strange new world. Torn between the duties of a summoner hard-wired into him, and feeling as if he didn't deserve to be called one any longer due to his failures.
Those hands underneath Choso's shake from the fists that are clenched so tightly.]
[ choso’s hands clamp down on Raidou’s; broad palms strangely soft, bereft of the callouses and scars of those who have spent their life honing a craft, strangely cold, but unwavering when fingers curl around the Summoner’s. ]
You did not make the call. No matter who voted what, it was LILITH who made the final decision. It was LILITH’s data we followed. You were not the one who led Imugi to Seoul.
[ his grip tightens, a careful squeeze; even so, it’s a tight thing, monument to the strength that lies in his hands. ]
You are not alone here. This is not the Capitol. This is not your time, or even mine. Here, we are together. We are shields. Let me be yours.
[Many have said the same to Raidou, but it's so hard to sink in. Something about Choso's particular choice of words seems to cut through that static that is his lifetime of training.
He's never been close to people as he has here. The fact that Choso is allowed to be so close, hands curled around Raidou's, speaks volumes about his progress here, and how he feels about Choso. He trusts him.
Together is the mantra he and Yuji use; he used the same with Bakugo to rally him from the depths of grief as well. Together, he can keep going so long as they're together. Why is it so hard to accept hearing from someone else?
Emotions may not show on his face, but they show in other ways. He takes a shaky breath, and nods, opening his eyes to meet Choso's. The nod gains a little more conviction when he does so.]
[ ‘a friend’. such a strange little word, so alien until recently, but used in correlation to himself despite everything. not a tool or a soldier, not a curse or a fellow conscript, but a friend.
his hand on Raidou’s squeezes back, infinitesimally. ]
I should be thanking you as well. For accepting our pact. For continuing to regard me so highly. For trusting in me to fight with your power.
Thank you, Summoner Raidou. I will not let you stumble on alone.
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synflux2024-08-22 04:03 am
no subject
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I... just...
[He doesn't know. He doesn't know what to do or say or anything.]
no subject
[ it is both a curse and a blessing that choso lacks the social graces instilled in most of the japanese population, being barely human himself, for it allows him to meet Raidou’s gaze head on and without doubt. ]
You should not be alone in this time. Yuji could use the company, and I want to keep an eye on you where I can easily reach.
SORRY i just remembered something i wanted him to ask
If he had to choose who to weather this particular storm with, Choso and Yuji would be it. After a long moment of consideration, he nods. He slips out the door, ready to follow Choso.
On the way over to their room - not a far walk, sure - Raidou finally speaks up just as they reach the door. His voice is small and distant.]
Choso. Do you think I am self-centered?
no subject
as they approach, he pauses at the doorway to glance at Raidou as the boy speaks, head tilting slightly with the question.
what, in these extraordinary circumstances, constituted as self-centred? ]
Are we all not so?
[ the return question comes with a hiss of the opening door, a glimpse of strange shelves and a couple of roombas puttering about within. ]
Every living thing holds itself at the centre of its world. Humanity dresses it up in different worlds, and breaks it into fragments to better fit what it must.
Why do you ask?
and sorry again bc phone tagging betrayed me.
Something.... someone said to me.
[He doesn't want to call the culprit out.
Somehow, his voice is more quiet and flat than ever.]
I have tried my best. Over and over. But it's not been enough. I understand that we are a team. We got together, we make decisions as one. But I do not wish to be a burden on my team. I cannot become a reason they continue to fail.
[Hands on his lap turn to fists.]
If that makes me self-centered, then I suppose I am.
no subject
Why are you a burden? In what way? All I have ever known from you are your great efforts.
I do not understand.
no subject
But, his friend is concerned. His teammate, his frequent partner in battle. Choso genuinely wants to know.
Raidou takes a cleansing breath. While his voice is quiet, everything is still delivered levelly, as if simple factual statements.]
You had to come rescue us during the yama-denki battle. Because Yuji had to work to help protect me, because I wasn't strong enough myself to do it. So I stayed out of the Las Vegas battle. Doing so seemed cowardly after the fact. [And the things he saw while working in the medical ward will haunt him for years.]
So I joined again. My sword against the imgui was like a pin prick. And then...
[A pause, and Raidou squeezes his eyes shut. He doesn't need to explain what happened next. He had voted to chase, thinking that they would be safer to defeat the creature before it returned.]
Before I arrived in Neo Tokyo, I was protector of the Capital. The Tokyo of my own world. But I failed it as well. Deceived by someone who needed me out of the way. It worked. Now it is his for the taking.
[He knows he couldn't have seen Seimei's betrayal coming. He had the backing of the Yatagarasu Organization, and was a summoner like himself. No one would have seen it.]
I want to help others. But it seems as if my efforts are causing more harm than good. When I put forth my all into battle, people say it is too much. I get injured or need rescue. When I say out, it seems cowardly to me.
[His jaw tightens for a moment.]
I am not sure where this leaves me. I do not want more people to die because of mistakes I contributed to.
no subject
so choso listens. settled at Raidou's feet like a demon dog at heel, legs crossed and back straight, he listens attentive and rapt with eyes tilted up.
listen: the Summoner has always fought for the people, here and now and there and then. listen: the Summoner has been fighting all this time, and his sword is now pointed toward himself.
choso's hands reach out to rest over Raidou's, cold palms on warm knuckles. ]
You just said it: you want to help others.
So what really stands in your way?
no subject
My lack of strength. I am trying to improve as much as I. can. I had just started new training regimens right before the mission. I should have started sooner.
[He got too too complacent here. He got lulled into the trappings of a normal life, what little of it they could have here, work and school and hobbies and friends. He should have committed more. It's time to cut back. Choso maybe be disappointed if he heads to work later in the week, to find that Raidou has quit his job in the izakaya kitchen.]
I'll learn from that mistake.
no subject
[ talking, it’s hard! the words push and jumble behind his teeth but choso must sort them out, must arrange them in the order he needs them to be to reach the ears of this bleeding thing. ]
Was being saved so humiliating? Are you ashamed that your power lies in another’s hands? When we made our pact, I thought that it was to take the place of the demons you lost, to do everything I had been to preserve yours and Yuji’s lives.
Why are you the only one who must bleed for a sin all of us have made?
no subject
Raidou is always the first to say they're a team here, that the Outsiders always pull through and work together. Until there's problem, then suddenly, the weight of them seem to be on his shoulders alone.
Emotions threaten to escape, and Raidou closes his eyes tightly, jaw clenching tightly. Choso is right, but it's difficult for him to face.]
I... I am the shield for those who need it. I gave up my life to protect others from harm. No matter the cost. It is my reason for being. If I can't do that, then what...
[Then what was he supposed to be? He doesn't know, and he hasn't known since he arrived in this strange new world. Torn between the duties of a summoner hard-wired into him, and feeling as if he didn't deserve to be called one any longer due to his failures.
Those hands underneath Choso's shake from the fists that are clenched so tightly.]
no subject
You did not make the call. No matter who voted what, it was LILITH who made the final decision. It was LILITH’s data we followed. You were not the one who led Imugi to Seoul.
[ his grip tightens, a careful squeeze; even so, it’s a tight thing, monument to the strength that lies in his hands. ]
You are not alone here. This is not the Capitol. This is not your time, or even mine. Here, we are together. We are shields. Let me be yours.
no subject
He's never been close to people as he has here. The fact that Choso is allowed to be so close, hands curled around Raidou's, speaks volumes about his progress here, and how he feels about Choso. He trusts him.
Together is the mantra he and Yuji use; he used the same with Bakugo to rally him from the depths of grief as well. Together, he can keep going so long as they're together. Why is it so hard to accept hearing from someone else?
Emotions may not show on his face, but they show in other ways. He takes a shaky breath, and nods, opening his eyes to meet Choso's. The nod gains a little more conviction when he does so.]
no subject
squeezing the Summoner’s hands again, he continues in that soothing rumble, ]
You are not alone.
no subject
He doesn't want to disappoint them. He wants to make sure Choso can rely on him, just as Raidou is now.]
Thank you. I... I'm glad to have you as a friend, and an ally. I wouldn't have made it this far without you.
no subject
his hand on Raidou’s squeezes back, infinitesimally. ]
I should be thanking you as well. For accepting our pact. For continuing to regard me so highly. For trusting in me to fight with your power.
Thank you, Summoner Raidou. I will not let you stumble on alone.