Emergence: Kaiju Invasion HUB

[Andrew the Gojifan]

In case my message didn`t get through, I`d like to volunteer Thanatos to be the kaiju that gets nuked.

Just a suggestion, but you might want to develop him a bit more before actually dropping that big a hammer on him. Establish why the Chinese government considers him threatening enough to warrant such an extreme response, you know?

I'm also still a little confused as to what's going with Gabriel. Where is he, is he on the island with the team? Is he embedded in China? Who exactly is he talking to on the phone?

1. I am currently writing a segment that does just that
2. Retcon time! You referenced him in the first post I think and that threw me into chaos. I`ll change my posts and have him be with the team since he is a geographer. Regarding who he`s talking to, I have the idea that it`s someone who knows about Mokushi and is cluing him in, if this is the case, would Blade or anyone else that knows about Mokushi want to kill him and his informant?
By the way, can Mokushi and Hanjiru sense the thoughts of other kaiju and humans?

Right, so... Mumbai got a lot darker than I'd intended. That's why I always try to avoid 'dark' in my writing- my imagination's too active, and I get in way too deep.

So, I'm just going to make this my 'baseline' for major kaiju rampages, assume something like this is probably happening somewhere, and never revisit this kind of POV again.


(In case the timeline is unclear, both the start of the F-15 scene and Carnaris' emergence happened just before the full two hours, with the latter scene in Mumbai advancing this two-hour new time period forward another half-hour or so, so any scenes taking place immediately after the jump would be happening concurrent with the start of the attack on Mumbai. Sorry if that's confusing; I'm operating on less sleep than I'd like to be).

Added in 1 hour 36 minutes 36 seconds:

I'm also still a little confused as to what's going with Gabriel. Where is he, is he on the island with the team? Is he embedded in China? Who exactly is he talking to on the phone?

Also, references to Andrew twice in the last post- I assume are supposed to be Gabriel?

That was my original name for Gabriel until I decided to be more original

[Zarm]

Another update from Stephen. He mentions that "Our prediction didn't take into account the appearance of Spider Colony, or Thanatos' surprising speed toward Beijing. As for Ghagon, the U.S. is awaiting independent confirmation of the Russian claim that Ghagon has been entirely annihilated, so for now both it and Fennikusu (registered at the last location before we lost radar contact) are listed as ‘last seen at.’"

That seems to be the status of a number of kaiju, as many have gone underground or otherwise obscured their locations. The ones in which the kaiju are not seen as due for imminent movement are still being listed as 'confirmed' locations for the time being.

[KaijuCanuck]

To all the players with kaiju in what I'm calling the 'North American Theatre', how would you feel about the creation of a shared task force being created out of the US and Canadian militaries? It seems like something that would happen if this were ever to occur in the real world... and also it will help with a subplot I'm trying to run. I don't imagine this task force would exist for an especially long time, probably just until the UN characters are able to successively create a global command centre for anti-kaiju operations, and then the NA task force would probably be absorbed into that. If you guys are good with that, I will introduce the idea in my next story post. Probably Mexico would be included as well, but at the moment they have no kaiju in their territory so their role would be of an observer for now.

[Zarm]

Works for me.

[JAGzilla]

What he said.

[KaijuCanuck]

Cool! So I've already talked to Zarm about this a little, but I wanted to pick all of your brains because this would have effects for the whole continent. Right now, the US and Canada have learned two things about the kaiju. 1. At least some of them can have their movements directed (ie: Tyrosus pursues anything attacking him), and 2. kaiju can hurt kaiju (covert US intelligence gathered from Russia, where Fennikusu destroyed a bunch of Ghagon). My idea is for them to put together a massive offensive called OPERATION FRICTION, intended to dislodge the kaiju and, where possible, send them on collision courses with each other. Now, I'm putting this out there because some of you may already have your own plans for the kaiju, and I don't want to step on them. Also, I want to make it clear that the success of each part of the operation will be totally up to you, because I don't want to step on your interpretations of your kaiju. All-together, Operation Friction would go like this.

1. Land and air attacks to drive Dracochelys east towards Tyrosus
2. Land and air attacks to drive Tyrosus west towards Dracochelys
3. Bombarding of mountain passes to guide Trintaurus west, towards Ignus Lung.
4. Blowing up of volcano crater to dislodge Ignus Lung, and then to somehow drive him east towards Trintaurus
5. If located, attempts will be made to send Hanjiru towards Trintaurus and Ignus Lung as well (provided she remains in the Alaska/Yukon area)
6. Pincer movement around Lake Eerie (Americans from the South, Canadians from the North), to try and force the Kroaken out of the lake and send her west.
7. Combined naval flotilla send to Hawaii to dislodge Soldera. Depending on what works, force Soldera into open ocean, or force her east to the mainland to fight whoever.
8. Locate Sangrasotz and send him somewhere.


Thoughts? Ideas?

[RamshackleRanger]

Looks great to me!

Soldera may be hard to send a fleet of metal ships after, seeing as how metal combusts when in contact with her microwave cannon, but if the have some sort of plan to counteract that(Maybe a missile in the gullet?) then it should work.

[JAGzilla]

Launching something on this scale right now seems a bit premature, with events currently unfolding at breakneck speed and so little known about the kaiju and how they might interact. But if done in steps, it makes sense. The actively moving kaiju (Trintaurus and Dracochelys) seem like they should be top priority right now, and trying to steer them somewhere is a logical strategy. But I imagine that any currently unmoving kaiju would likely be left alone (if carefully monitored) to avoid provoking them and just adding to the chaos. They could be dealt with once/if things calm down.

As for the Kroaken, she's actually already handling the westward travel herself, as will be shown once I get my next post finished. Sangrazotz will also be moving again shortly, though early stages of the operation might get underway before he does. We'll see.

[Zarm]

Combined naval flotilla send to Hawaii to dislodge Soldera. Depending on what works, force Soldera into open ocean, or force her east to the mainland to fight whoever.

I figured Dirannosaurs, on route to Hawaii, would be the logical choice.


It does seem like (on further reflection) it might make sense to have another time jump- of a few more hours this time- and then the nuke, and perhaps following that failure, jump to day 2 or 3 at least for the military to organize, evaluate their options in light of the failure, and then put together enough of a plan (possibly by this time, the U.N. would have a command center up and running to coordinate a more global scale for this?) and get things going. (And I agree; a focus on kaiju near population centers and actively moving would be a priority; likewise, those that have shown a tendency to move and/or harm people. It would be triage- I suspect the U.S. might be happier for, say, Ignus Lung to hang around a volcano than wherever he might decide to move to if they dislodge him, for the moment.

BUT, that isn't a necessity; the U.S. and Canada have plenty of smart people- maybe they'd put their heads together and get coordinated quicker than I envision. They have plenty of case-studies to work off of, gathering plenty of statistical data on what works and what doesn't. I'd still recommend a good 5-6 hours for the brass to actually look at their data and formulate a plan, and focus on driving city-adjacent kaiju away first and foremost (I suspect that would be any government's priority- just get them away so that the governments have breathing room to figure things out).

But, also, I could just be rambling and you could ignore me.

[Billzilla1974]

I'm going to have Ignus Lung move (eventually), I've just been busy with College. I plan on having him come across the now evacuated Anchorage, and showing off his unintentional destructiveness.
Actually on second thought, I might as well do that now. *edit* I'm assuming the time skip is 2 hours, so I'll just have Ignus start moving now, presumably arriving at anchorage by the next time skip.*

[RamshackleRanger]

Combined naval flotilla send to Hawaii to dislodge Soldera. Depending on what works, force Soldera into open ocean, or force her east to the mainland to fight whoever.

I figured Dirannosaurs, on route to Hawaii, would be the logical choice.

I'm not sure soldera would really last against Dirannosaurus, and im not sure Dirannosaurus could handle the heat of the seamount.

[Zarm]

I'm not sure soldera would really last against Dirannosaurus, and im not sure Dirannosaurus could handle the heat of the seamount.

Which is pretty much what the government would want, I'd think- either way, one less kaiju and another weakened.

[RamshackleRanger]

I'm not sure soldera would really last against Dirannosaurus, and im not sure Dirannosaurus could handle the heat of the seamount.

Which is pretty much what the government would want, I'd think- either way, one less kaiju and another weakened.

I know, but ultimately the game is about story. And I don't think killing either rather powerful kaiju this early on would be a good idea. It would kind of take away from the majesty and threat of the creatures.

[JAGzilla]

Who says either has to die? The fight could easily end in a draw. Not that I'm necessarily advocating for Soldera and Dirannosaurus to be brought together, that's up to you and SuperPawnage. Just saying that we don't have to be thinking in terms of deathmatches this early on. I'm sure none of us wants a non-cannon-fodder kaiju dead before we even get to know them.

[Zarm]

I'm not sure soldera would really last against Dirannosaurus, and im not sure Dirannosaurus could handle the heat of the seamount.

Which is pretty much what the government would want, I'd think- either way, one less kaiju and another weakened.

I know, but ultimately the game is about story. And I don't think killing either rather powerful kaiju this early on would be a good idea. It would kind of take away from the majesty and threat of the creatures.

No, fate may have to intervene (as with the Soviet missile reviving Godzilla in RoG, or Fire Rodan's sacrifice in MGII; disrupting the 'otherwise-foolproof' plan). But I see a roleplaying game as about playing the role, wherever that may lead- and in this case, I think that's what the countries would at least try to do. That doesn't mean we have to let them succeed. The world's plans should make sense and reflect their goal- containing or eliminating the kaiju- and then fail spectacularly, as is the time-honored kaiju-film tradition.

[JAGzilla]

Okay, new post is up. I'll probably add a segment explaining things from the Kroaken's POV at some point, but for clarity, she's left Lake Erie and is heading toward Lake Michigan, currently following the Maumee River as she doesn't like to be separated from water for long. That on top of her territoriality meant that trying to drive her west of the Great Lakes is going to be a lost cause for the military if they go through with Operation: Friction, though of course they won't know that, yet. The current round of air strikes is defensive, just intended to protect Toledo.

[RamshackleRanger]

Which is pretty much what the government would want, I'd think- either way, one less kaiju and another weakened.

I know, but ultimately the game is about story. And I don't think killing either rather powerful kaiju this early on would be a good idea. It would kind of take away from the majesty and threat of the creatures.

No, fate may have to intervene (as with the Soviet missile reviving Godzilla in RoG, or Fire Rodan's sacrifice in MGII; disrupting the 'otherwise-foolproof' plan). But I see a roleplaying game as about playing the role, wherever that may lead- and in this case, I think that's what the countries would at least try to do. That doesn't mean we have to let them succeed. The world's plans should make sense and reflect their goal- containing or eliminating the kaiju- and then fail spectacularly, as is the time-honored kaiju-film tradition.

I get the roleplaying part, but really it's just going to be "Soldera fired her microwaves. Dirannosaurs fired heat beam." until one of the two retreats or dies. Plus, getting two kaiju with combustive abilities to fight around an active underwater volcano only 22 miles away from civilization seems like a recipe for disaster, one that i'm sure the government would try to prevent.

On a another note, that scene was awesome jagzilla! Fantastic way of showing how Kroaken is affecting civillian life.

[Zarm]

Okay, new post is up.

Dang, man- that was awesome, and pretty intense! I was actively nervous for Chris and his family... well done!

Also, I love the idea that either Tekuta or Makara made it onto one of the 'Five scariest kaiju attacks' videos, basically just for swimming by.

I get the roleplaying part, but really it's just going to be "Soldera fired her microwaves. Dirannosaurs fired heat beam." until one of the two retreats or dies. Plus, getting two kaiju with combustive abilities to fight around an active underwater volcano only 22 miles away from civilization seems like a recipe for disaster, one that i'm sure the government would try to prevent.

Yeah, that... actually brings up a good question I've been meaning to ask, actually. How are we going to handle kaiju battles? I mean, I know no one is keen to have their kaiju killed off (I suspect most battles can plausibly end in 'retreating to lick wounds' to avoid that), yet it would seem that to avoid the kaiju running into one-another would be to miss a large part of the fun; if no one from each of our story threads interacts, then we might as well be writing a short story anthology rather than participating in an RPG.

That said, assuming kaiju do start running into each-other (certainly my intent, just little timescale for travel thus far- but I'd say we have burgeoning encounters all over the globe at this point, including India, Canada, Hawaii, Australia, etc.), aside from an exchange between authors to agree on the basics, how are we going to actually handle a combat?

Does one guy write it? Both, in segments? Does one guy write an attack and the other guy write the response, or someone just takes temporary control of both kaiju for a passage to describe the effect and reaction of each attack? Is it written on a more macro level, the ebb and flow of battle rather than a blow-by-blow? Is the result pre-agreed-upon by consensus only, so that no one ever loses unless they volunteer their kaiju to do so for the encounter? Is it worth involving some sort of loose stats system or random number generator just to give some randomosity to proceedings, so that the outcome or moments within the battle may actually be a surprise to authors? And so on, and so forth.


In terms of Soldera and Dirraonsaurs, I'd figured that the idea would be to drive Soldera south, away from Hawaii, and have an intercept with Dirranosaurs in the middle of the ocean where no one would get hurt. And again, I'm not saying the battle has to happen- I suspect a lot of OPERATION: FRICTION won't go according to plan. I just think that would be the logical goal for the military. They don't care about what'll make a good story or battle- they just want to get the kaiju away from opulation centers and fighting each-other, making Dirranosaurs and Soldera a logistically and geographically sensible goal (especially as, in real life and in the game world, a confrontation seems fairly inevitable when Dirranosaurs reaches Hawaii, anyhow, unless the personality of one or the other leads them to avoid it- to the authorities, better to drive Soldera out to see and have it happen farther away from Hawaii than to have it happen at the island).

In terms of story, they could simply fail to dislodge Soldera from the volcano to begin with, or lose herding control, or something could happen to divert one or both kaiju, or any number of mishaps; all I'm saying is, it would make sense (to me) for that to be their in-universe goal, even if it's not our out-of-universe intent to have happen. Obviously, neither is my call (what the task force plans or what ends up happening); I was just throwing in my two cents on who I thought the brass planning O:F would pick.

[JAGzilla]

Thanks! I intended the Thailand kaiju to be Makara, since he hasn't really done anything yet, but it could easily be either. And I figured YouTubers probably still have a limited selection of footage to work with, so list videos have to make do with what's available, even if it's not especially impressive. And Zarm, I forgot to comment on Carnaris's attack on Mumbai. Very well-written, and even with comedy sprinkled throughout, that thing did go pretty dark, given how thoroughly she was obliterating a very densely-populated city. She's got to be high on the global priority list, after that; they can't have her getting near another population center.

[Zarm]

Thanks! I intended the Thailand kaiju to be Makara, since he hasn't really done anything yet, but it could easily be either. And I figured YouTubers probably still have a limited selection of footage to work with, so list videos have to make do with what's available, even if it's not especially impressive.

That's exactly what I figured (and so like Youtube compilations). I like the verisimilitude!

And Zarm, I forgot to comment on Carnaris's attack on Mumbai. Very well-written, and even with comedy sprinkled throughout, that thing did go pretty dark, given how thoroughly she was obliterating a very densely-populated city. She's got to be high on the global priority list, after that; they can't have her getting near another population center.

Thanks! And, yeah... I wanted to involve the senses on that post, really put things at ground level... but when I got there in my head, I found out that it wasn't a very pretty place.