Breaking News Update [video] ["Lights Out" plot post]

[legionnpcs]

[Apparently Shellee and Tammee - er, Gertix and Yil - have hit the ground running, because it's the day after they quit at Neutrino News and already they're set up in their new digs at Earthlive News, where they were hired by actual reporter Hannah Wells.]

[The two look different without their glam filters. Oh, sure they have a little makeup on, but their eyes are less enlarged and the flaws on their appearance are more visible. They also don't have a pink and blue glow anymore. And the fake smiles are gone. They have the serious and collected expressions of actual newscasters.]

[The words "Breaking News Update" scroll across the bottom of the screen. The video is a little static-ey, like there's interference, but apparently Earthlive News has invested in some heavy duty emergency signal-boosting tech.]

Gertrix: This is Gertrix Shur -

Yil: - and Yil Bak -

Gertrix: With a breaking news update from Earthlive News.

Yil: According to satellite imagery and eyewitness accounts from all over the UP, strange constructs are warping into orbit around multiple UP planets.

[Grainy video from a satellite shows strange structures floating around Braal, made of some unknown material. They're spiky and have eyes in the middle. The eyes are all directed towards the planet.]

Yil: So far, reports indicate that these constructs have been spotted around Earth, Colu, Braal, Rimbor, Titan, and Imsk, with more appearing as we speak. We'll continue listing new planets as this report goes on.

[New planets continue to be listed at the botton of the broadcast, scrolling across the screen: Daxam, Zuun, Talok IV...]

Gertrix: The nature and origin of the constructs are still unknown, but according to UPgov, they're thought to be related to the threat of Chronoblivion, as they appear to be emanating from the area of space where Chronoblivion has breached our universe. Efforts to communicate with the constructs seems to be unsuccessful, according to UPgov experts.

Yil: Unfortunately, intel about the constructs is thin due to widespread interference in long-range sensors and long-range communications between the Titanet Towers. Top UPgov scientists believe the constructs to potentially be responsible for the disruption. While communication between worlds is still possible, it's very limited.

Gertrix: [Listens to her earpiece.] This just in, UPgov has put into place a full state of emergency for all UP worlds. Authorities are advising all UP citizens to shelter in place, gather up emergency supplies within their homes, and to limit Titanet communications as much as possible so governments and law enforcement can have their vital communiques prioritized on Titanet networks.

[Click here for emergency information and links to official UPgov instructions.]

Yil: While communications are limited, the Science Police, Galactic Emergency Guard, and Legion of Superheroes are reported to now be in communication and will be dispatching to respond to the situation shortly. Authorities are advising UP citizens to remain calm and stay off the T-gate network and public thoroughfares, to avoid mass panic and allow law enforcement freedom of movement.

Gertrix: Here at Earthlive news we will continue broadcasting live to ensure the UP public is informed about ongoing news updates, as well as providing resources on emergency information, and information that will allow UP citizens to safely shelter in place.

[The news report goes on but by now UPgov and the Science Police have finally broken through the interference and managed to communicate with Legion World. Klaxons start blaring on Legion World and they don't have any more time to watch the broadcast.]

Comments

Important info post, do not comment to this

[relativityspeaking]

Attention all Legionnaires. We're now on High Alert for a 10 X 10 galactic threat. I repeat: this is a 10 X 10 galactic threat. I want everyone in uniform and ready to dispatch within ten minutes.

[She was in civilian clothes at the time the call came in, and is already in uniform. She's gearing up in her transuit as she speaks.]

Right now, we're getting reports of constructs in orbit around almost every UP planet.

[She sends a briefing that has a lot more information about the constructs than the news had, including some of Brainy's theories on their construction, possible purpose, and how they're apparently broadcasting data to the anomaly in space where Chronoblivion has latched on.]

Brainy's theorizing these things might literally be Chronoblivion's eyes, which means a full dimensional breach may be imminent.

[She draws in a deep breath.]

Apparently, the guards down in prisoner holding guarding War and the Joker say they're laughing.

We need to -

[The ship takes on an impact that makes it shake hard enough to knock everyone off their feet. Kid Q lands on her butt and calls out a report.]

Ops, report. What was that?!

[legionnpcs]

[Timber Wolf has Monitor Room duty right now. He braces himself against a console as there's another impact.]

Boss, we've got company.

[He patches through video of something that's warped into place near Legion World, right into Earth's orbit - Apokolips. Even worse, there's something lashed onto the war machine planet with strange energy traction beams, like they're keeping it trapped.]

[It's a terrible thing to behold, the creature they've captured. Massive, almost as big as Legion World itself. It's covered in spiky protrusion and masses of swirling tentacles that keep forming and reforming themselves into something non-Euclidean. Something made of swirling organic parts shouldn't have that many angles.]

[It cuts a silhouette against reality that suggests its mere existence is digging into the edges of it a little bit, like it's too solid for this universe but at the same time it looks like something ethereal, like it's barely solid at the same time. It hurts to look at for long, and the longer one looks at it, the more strange, alien, paranoid ideas fill their heads.]

[Wherever The Penitant, Chronoblivion's Herald, dredged up this creature, it wasn't from the material universe. The munitions bombardment stops as the tentacles reach towards Legion World and then inside it, passing through solid matter like it's not even there. While the actual structure of Legion World itself is unaffected (for now) the unfortunate Legion staffers that are the path of the massive tentacles are unfortunately vaporized on contact.]

[Fortunately, for most of the ship, the main areas some of them pass through are current;y uninhabited. Engine areas that don't have much staff or that are automated and the Hab deck, which is large enough that not every inch of it has people at any given time.]

[It's a close call, though. The Labs, Medbay, and Crew Quarters are all missed by less than 20-30 meters. Sheer luck saved them.]

[The tentacles apparently have more of an ability to intrude than the rest of the creature, like a jellyfishes tentacles sting more than its body does. Though its got a solid hold, as it presses the rest of its body against Legion World in an effort to consume all organic matter on the ship, the shields fortunately hold, preventing it from doing so. But still, it's got a solid grip and isn't letting go, and the shields aren't going to hold up against it forever. If they can't get those tentacles loose, it'll break through the shields and be able to scour through the entire mass of the ship.]

[googledox]

We're getting reports of multiple fatalities in areas where the tentacles managed to reach through the ship. Apparently despite the fact the tentacles are mostly intangible, they're caustic to organic material on contact.

Sensors are indicating that - sprock, they're not indicating anything. It's all junk data and nonsense, they can't get a read. Whatever that thing is, it's highly unlikely that it's from the material universe.

The tentacles have a solid grip on our power core, but its main body seems to have less of an ability to intrude. But our shields aren't going to hold against that much pressure for long. We have to remove its hold or it'll breach the shields and be able to phase its main mass into Legion World. If the rest of its body is as toxic to organic life as the tentacles, it could vaporize every living thing on board.

[legionnpcs]

[Umbra is in Ops too.]

There are already minor shield breaches appearing in multiple areas of the ship and - [The ship starts vibrating as multiple mini-ships start breaching the outer hull.]

Boarding parties from Apokolips are breaking through the hull in areas where the shield is breached!

We've got reports of Catastrophists boarding in multiple areas. All Legionnaires, prepare to engage the intruders and standby for location fixes on the boarding parties!

[She starts sending out locations to Legionnaires that are closest to each of the breaches.]

[relativityspeaking]

Legionnaires with energy-casting powers or other long-range abilities, get on your transuits and meet me in Landing Bay 4. We need to see if we can break off those tentacles from the outside.

Everyone else, prepare to engage with the boarding parties! Move out!