Concerning endgame: The invasion and beyond

[theearth]

CONCERNING ENDGAME

For the final CR/plot meme, please go here
For the returnee registration, please go here.

SCHEDULE OF THE INVASION

A lot of things are happening at once. This is intentionally so - people are supposed to split up, so pick and choose! That you have to limit the involvement of your character to a reasonable amount is a rule.

Day 1: A snake! OOC date: 29th of April
Day 2: An invasion! OOC date: May 5th
Day 3.1: The invasion spills and a counterinvasion! IC date: May 10th
Day 3.2 - For those people that are GOING TO SPACE IC date: May 16th
Day 4: Now the day is over, night is drawing nigh IC date: May 22th-24th

More information and a description of the invasion can be found here.


THE INVASION'S OUTCOME

You are still welcome to submit this form for your characters, if you haven't done so yet. As per the poll's results, this will be decided OOCly. For the purpose of tallying resources to determine how well the numbered will do in defending Earth and maybe even overcoming the Enemy's mastermind, but also to coordinate what goes down, please comment to this thread using the following format:
<b>Character:</b> Name | <user name=journalname> <b>Capabilities:</b> List not only combat powers but also other powers/abilities that may be of interest (sometimes things that can do something are rather surprising!) and resources, be they money or people that they know or areas that they're familiar with, etc. <b>What role(s) would/could they play:</b> Combat or evacuation efforts, mission control or talking to enemies, political coordination/diplomacy or transporting troops, whatever comes to mind. Please also include if you have any preferences/anything already plotted out. <b>Location:</b> Not everyone can defend Locke City, or the Enemy will just invade everywhere else. Characters can of course retreat to another location or travel between places to give more of an element of surprise to their attacks, but <i>take into consideration that the invasion is scheduled to only last three <i>IC</i> days</i>, so there are logical restrictions to how much characters can move around. <b>Options for others:</b> You have five gundams but only on pilot? Your character can fly but not fight so they could carry a fighter around?Please put that here and check around what others might be offering
Mods may comment to your comment with alteration requests or options for how your cahracter could get involved, but if we don't that doesn't mean that we haven't seen it/are mean, it just means that it is fine as it is. We will try to let everyone do what they want, but please understand that we might shuffle things around a bit if too many people are trying to do the same thing. Please also refer to the FAQ below and the General Questions thread if you need more information to fill in the form.


WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER?

The successor game will start the day after StE closes. LexiL has volunteered to look into running a post-StE game in the spirit of this discussion. Please go to her thread here to discuss the nature of such a game further, she definitely would like everyone's opinions and also help, if someone would give it.


ONE LAST POLL: CHANGE OF THE SCHEDULE?

The start of the invasion has been moved to the 29th. Here is a poll that will be open until the 9th. The thing that is up to voting is if the start of the invasion (currently scheduled for the 15th) should be pushed back to the 19th or 28th. Everything up to the 11th would stay exactly the same; the only change is that there would be a bit more time to wrap up plot relevant threads before the invasion and to explore Tokyo.

During the invasion, every IC day will last multiple OOC days.


RETURNING CHARACTERS

As per the poll's results, dropped characters will be allowed to return for the invasion. If you wish to bring back a character or know someone who wants to bring their character back, please make sure that the character gets registered here.


STATE OF THE GUARDIAN ANIMALS

The continued existence of the Animals is crucial to how well defended the echo areas, which are the only gateways to Earth that the aliens have, are. An area with an entirely unharmed Animal will be easy to defend, an area with a deceased Animal will be near impossible to defend.

Wise Snake (Locke City): Both Wise Snake and the smaller snakes are deceased.
Crablobster (Las Vegas): Deceased.
Silent Swan (Neuschwanstein Area): Please tell us if the swan itself is still alive here. Silent Swan is unharmed. Wolpertinger and Doppelgänger are still alive for the most part.
Santa Claus (Lapland): The main Santa is unharmed, but a number of the minor santas/grinches are deceased.
Mushroom (Christmas Island): Alive, but rendered unable to fight due to a glass roof covering it. The minor fungi are still mostly alive.
Deep Blue (Galapagos Islands): Alive.
Cousin Itt (Central London): Damaged, but alive.
The Swarm (Santarem, Amazonas): Please tell us if damage has occurred here. Slightly decimated but mostly intact. Core alive.
Kappa (Tokyo City): Will be added once we know.
Jörmungandr (space): Alive.


FAQ
How strong are the enemy soldiers? Strong. Think something like a boss fight on medium to hard mode, for every single one of them (think Darth Vader to your Luke or a Balrog to your Gandalf). The Enemy's intelligence will adjust the strength of their soldiers to their opponent's to a degree and send stronger soldiers the way of stronger characters. Their strength lies in: Speed, durability, strength and one special power - that can be superspeed or telekinesis or any other superpower.
Can the enemy soldiers combat my special power X? Yes and no. They come in groups of hundred, and every group has a different ability. If your character is lucky, they will not immediately run into a group whose abilities negates your character's special ability X, but they are coordinated well and will send a group who can to their place as soon as they figure it out. Example: Your character can summon ghosts that are invincible because they are intangible. After that registers with the Enemy's troops, they'll send an unit your character's way that can make intangible things tangible, so after the ghosts took out a number of soldiers they'll suddenly encounter opponents who can kill them.
My character can go to space!/Can I my character fight the spaceships? EXCELLENT. Once Jörmungandr has shown up, they will able to fly up in a straight line until they hit the outer parts of the atmosphere and then fly all the way around the planet at that altitude. They should however be careful to not leave the echo boundaries. And yes, they can fight the spaceships. The ships are armed! Their guns are strong enough to hurt the serpent in the sky (which has a similarly hard to pierce hide as Wise Snake and the Crablobster). On the flip side, the spaceships are as stable as an average Star Trek/Star Wars/etc ship with its shields down. Good metal, but nothing supernatural.
How will the Animals (and their smaller parts, like doppelgänger, santas and wolpertingers) react to my character? Not at all. They battle the Enemy's troops without paying attention to what they might wreck or kill in the way, but won't attack anyonething from Earth, either.
• What will doppelgängers do once the invasion starts? Once the invasion happens, the Silent Swan part will take over the doppelgänger's brains/actions insofar as they will see only one goal: Defend Earth, and specifically the Neuschwanstein echo boundary, at all cost. What the rest of their personality does with that goal is up to the players. This means that they should be found in the Neuschwanstein area as that is what their purpose is, but there is a bit wiggle room if there are other factors (mind control by a third source, being imprisoned, etc).
Can my character talk to the invaders? Yes! Some may even express regret about their wrecking havoc, but do it anyway, because staying true to their orders conquers all other considerations.
RETURNEES - Will my character receive any echoes upon having their echoes return? No! BUT they will witness Jörmungandr's pink light, so they can have a tier 2 right upon entering the game. They can also receive recurrence echoes throughout the invasion. Please request your character's echoes on the echo page just like you did while they were in the game!


Please direct questions regarding any of the above to the thread below and not the post in general. Please do not use this post for plotting among yourselves and go to the final CR/plot meme instead.

Comments

General Questions

[theearth]

[peacefulwinter]

What happens to our doppelgangers when the invasion starts proper? You mention that they attack without worrying about what's in the way, Numbered or otherwise, but I can think of at least one or two off the top of my head that wouldn't act like that normally. Are they just going to end up autopiloted by the Earth Entity, or will they retain their free will and take the fight to the aliens as they see fit?

[alilyinthemoonslight]

For purposes of plotting and positioning of what is sure to be a number (HA) of characters, I and others are still quite interested in what was discussed over here. Still, in trying to assess for it we are coming up just a LITTLE short in terms of how to really try to coordinate for it. What's going to be the best way to approach that? (Particularly, I'd like to draw in as much discernible help there as possible, but we seem just shy of specifics on just what everyone can do there.)

How are the Animals?

[theearth]

Please leave all information regarding if/how much the Animals were harmed/killed here.

[alilyinthemoonslight]

...nothing in particular has happened to the swan itself, has it? Since you mention saying if it's dead or alive but I haven't seen anything discussed about that beyond the statue smashing attempt?

[oncedevil]

As far as I am aware the doppelgangers were/will be successful in protecting Silent Swan from damage.

Re: How are the Animals?

[ursoreckless]

Shou has some political sway thanks to his family being tied into the money/banking/government system in Japan. I don't know if it will help, but he is definitely going to use his family ties/influences and speak at the government to keep them from bombing Kappa, citing that yeah it did destroy a lot of property and people, but so do earthquakes and tsunamis, and bring up references to such national fictional heroes like Godzilla and the like as references to how sometimes some destruction now might mean less destruction later.

Also will bring up the whole Japanese samurai code of always Country first, Clan second, Self last and ask them exactly what are they trying to protect, their own reputations, or the world as a whole?

[oncedevil]

Also it looks like we're going with having cornered and fought the Swarm a little bit but ultimately failed to do much to it before getting distracted with invasion things. So, ultimately, possibly slightly injured but alive.

Poll: When should the invasion begin?

[theearth]

The invasion will last roughly 3 IC days but much longer OOCly.

15th

[theearth]

19th

[theearth]

28th

[theearth]

The invasion's outcome

[theearth]

[dragon_blossom]

Character: Marina Santana | dragon_blossom
Capabilities: On the ground, Marina has relatively (usual combatant magical girl levels of durability) magical armor, a magical sword, spells powerful enough to slay strong monsters of your usual JRPG/fantasy anime setting, and the skill to use it all effectively.

More importantly, Marina can turn Seles into his giant robot form and ride him. Depending on what echoes I manage to put in for, she should at least be able to cast much larger, stronger versions of her spells through him. He's extremely durable and fast; if I get flight, he'll have that too. Marina doesn't have much in the way of other resources or knowledge, just combat ability, and a decent knack for coordinating in a fight.
What role(s) would/could they play: Marina will likely be best suited to combat. As was discussed, the telekinetic brigades are the most effective enemies against her, so I'll plan for someone to bail her out if she gets pinned down. From there, she'll likely be using the fact that Seles can naturally enter and leave mech form at will to launch hit-and-run attacks on alien forces.
Location: Not sure yet. Likely Locke, but she's most likely to follow the Precure wherever they go, although she's quite willing to follow the fight to one other spot that needs more backup.
Options for others: Seles is a big ol' mech, and her control over its fine motor skills should be enough to carry one person in either hand safely.

[alilyinthemoonslight]

Character: Lily Tsukuyomi | alilyinthemoonslight
Capabilities: Lily has the ability to transform into Cure Moonlight, and subsequent super forms. Super strength, agility, durability, flight, beamspam, ability to summon a giant woman to punch the hell out of things, ability to TURN INTO a giant woman to punch the hell out of things once I do those echoes.

A Precure's power has a purifying effect, as well. Those with dark, violent, aggressive, or evil ambitions can be cleansed into a good and pure soul. This is the means of disposing of monsters most of the time in Heartcatch, but has shown to affect both normal people if they get caught in it, or outright villains in the course of the series. There's wiggle room for how that would work, precisely, if at all anywhere.

...oh, and yeah. She can - or will be able to - function fully in the vacuum of space.

What role(s) would/could they play: Whatever she can do - primarily suited for combat, if given the opportunity to try and talk down any of the aliens (as was discussed in the plotting post) she WILL take it. All of the Precure have shown interest in the things that were brought up there, pertaining to that and their ability to purify, so there's that too.

Location: Likely starting in Locke, but with the ability to spread out pretty liberally. Lily will stick with the Precure as much as humanly possible, as their powers are stronger in combination, and well. Fiancee, sister, friends. Through the Heartcatch Mirage, she has the ability to teleport between Echo Zones freely, so there is a large bit of "being able to cover wherever they need to/can."

Options for others: That whole... teleporting thing! People who are not Precure can make use of her portals! Beyond that, will be ready to do the standard superhero magical girl rescuing thing where needed!

As well, the Great Heart Tree and its ability to create Precure is a thing that exists - though I think we don't have many more "powerless pure hearted young girls" floating around here.

[oncedevil]

Character: Anthony Sparado | oncedevil
Capabilities: BATTLE READY, rapid healing and extreme durability make him very difficult to kill, and inhuman strength and speed. He has fully leveled Trickster Style which allows for a great amount of maneuverability and avoidance, as well as a short range teleport. He has Rebellion his sword and Ebony and Ivory, his specialty guns that can fire rapidly and survive the pressure he puts on them. Emergency Devil Trigger, if taken too close to death he'll hulk out and slaughter whatever threat happens to be nearby. Unfortunately it doesn't last long and tends to leave him pretty worn out after. Not to mention the battle-lust he's going to be allowed to let go full bore during this. Gonna be one happy devil.

He also has some pretty great hunter instincts for hunting down specific targets if necessary. Will update if any other helpful echoes happen along the way.
What role(s) would/could they play: Largely combat, though some evacuation whenever the chance arose. He'd also be trying and probably failing miserably at keeping the government from bombing Kappa, because he can't speak Japanese and can really only do the beach equivalent of tying himself to a tree and protesting. Still, he's a very difficult to kill heavy-hitter, so the invaders will be his main priority.
Location: Tokyo for the final invasion.
Options for others: Tony is pretty difficult to pin down, and could work well for picking off specific targets. He could also be pretty useful in evacuation or rescue needs. He's very capable for both close and ranged combat.

[scarlet_devil]

Character: Emilia Stacojiu | scarlet_devil
Capabilities: Very tough, regenerates quickly and has an array of abilities useful for combat, including superhuman strength, speed, hearing and the ability to fly. She can also take mist form and become a small flock of bats, and mesmerise people into obeying her. She's harmed by ultra-violet light (hence the parasol), silver, can be incapacitated by garlic and immobilized if her heart is impaled and kept impaled. While she can create more vampires, I don't know if she can pass on her powers or not. Maybe some NPC vampires with regen and superstrength?
What role(s) would/could they play: This girl? She's COMBAT READY. With Gungnir, her powers and a worrying lack of squeamishness, she'd fit this best. She's not likely to show the invaders mercy, and will shoot to kill, basically.
Location: She'll most likely start in Las Vegas, but her speed means she can get around quickly to Locke and elsewhere. She'll most certainly be helping out other Las Vegas based Numbered, though!
Options for others: She's fast, hard to pin down and can shift large bits of rubble aside where rescue from fallen buildings is needed. Oh, if anyone needs someone mesmerised, she can do that too.

[chalicejoker]

Character: Hajime Aikawa | chalicejoker
Capabilities: He's got his full range of canon horrible monster combat abilities, the most notable of whilch are his transformation to the Joker Undead and Kamen Rider Chalice: Wild Form. The latter is his canon ultimate fighting form, and he's well suited just to punching and kicking the hell out of things until they explode. Sometimes he uses fancy wind-based attacks or energy scythe attacks for this. He's got pretty much all of his combat abilities back now, and he is also immortal and does not need to sleep. He also heals quickly, and since his canon self was essentially a monster who existed only to fight, is very hard to slow down when he gets started.
What role(s) would/could they play: He's going to be best suited to combat, and he'll heavily favor that option. The one exception is that he's going to try to use his status as the mysterious "Lord of the Bugmen" in order to gain entrance to the discussion in Tokyo in an attempt to talk them out of killing the kappa. I'm planning on having this be the point at which his secret identity as the Lord of the Bugmen is blown out of the water. Once that's taken care of, he'll get right to fighting the aliens.
Location: He's going to be most heavily invested in protecting Locke and Tokyo. He's got family in and around both places.
Options for others: He'd be most effective in a group of fighters where everyone could watch everyone else's backs, and someone could call him back to Earth if he starts to lose himself in horrible monster fighting instincts. He can't really share his powers, but he can try to protect others who aren't as strong as he is.


Character: Arthur Curry/Aquaman | italktofish
Capabilities: He is basically unstoppable in the water, and he's got a jetpack and a magic trident that make him a force to be reckoned with on the land. He can breathe water, has super strength, and has a thick enough hide that he is somewhat damage-resistant. I just submitted some Echo requests that will also get him a little more combat skill as well as an immunity to natural toxins.
What role(s) would/could they play: I have nothing planned for him. He'll be drawn to combat for the OUTRAGEOUS ADVENTURE, but he'd also be really good at rescue efforts if there was any flooding involved. Gotta save people!
Location: Arthur isn't married to any location in particular but will be drawn towards places with a lot of water, for he can do the most damage there.
Options for others: If anything happens in the water, he can marshal whales and dolphins and things to assist in the offensive--if someone wants to go riding into glorious battle on a whale, he can make that happen.


Character: Torin | radiantchicken
Capabilities: Right now, he can fly, fire blasts of golden energy from his hands, fight with a sword (that can be summoned to his side from wherever), perform an anime-style finishing attack with said sword, induce infatuation in unwary bystanders (likely a one-shot that would need recharging), and induce dizziness in unwary bystanders (also likely a one-shot that would need recharging). He can also transform into a Power Ranger Kyoryu Silver, the Radiant Hero, and fight in that capacity.If the Echoes I just submitted go through, his robot dinosaur, Bragigas, will grow to canon size and regain his canon ability to change forms into Bragi-Oh, a humanoid fighting machine. Bragi-Oh is skyscraper-sized and capable of doing a lot of damage.
What role(s) would/could they play: He'd ideally want to engage in giant robot combat against any enemy big guns through using Bragigas against them. He's also open for diplomacy and ground-level combat as needed. I'm not really married to anything definite for him yet, though I'd really like a chance to use Bragigas in the last battle.
Location: Bragigas's range of movement means he will likely favor Locke City and the surrounding areas. On his own, he can cover a wider area.
Options for others: He doesn't need help piloting Bragigas, but anyone else on board who can provide a positive melody and reserve bravery would probably be a plus. For ground-level operations, he can fly and offer support with his Beast Batteries.

[peacefulwinter]

Character: Winter Adamas | peacefulwinter
Capabilities: Winter has three powersets that make a difference to the fight against the aliens.

For general combat, she can become Cure Diamond (as she has been for over a year now) and gain enhanced strength, durability, and speed. She's also still got her ice powers, and they include purification capabilities; she hasn't had a chance to try them out, but she knows they're there. Together with Lily (and, by endgame, possibly also Rakka and/or Jasmine, but not any other Precure, even canon ones, because there won't be time to run plot prerequisites), she can become Super Cure Diamond, who can fly and is even stronger and tougher. She can also go into space like this, which brings up my other point...

As Super Cure Diamond, Winter can go into space and fight things! She'll be a little small to make terribly much of a difference against spaceships, but it's a power she has. The real draw here, though, is the Infinity Silhouette, a form that gives the girls "infinite" power through infinite love coursing through them. It's the size of a small moon, and is capable of rapid, perfect movement in space, along with powerful melee attacks that also have purification capabilities.

Winter is going to burn one of her pink-light Tier 2 Echoes on one big wallop of a final gambit: the Miracle Bouquet Lights. They're little LED magical lights on pink sticks, tipped with an ornate piece of clear plastic. These allow non-Numbered to cheer on heroes (normally the Precure, but it'll end up being whoever they're thinking of at the time) and give them more power! This'll mostly get used to help prop up the girls when they're in trouble, but there are... other ideas, too. (I'll talk more about this below.)

What role(s) would/could they play: Winter has access to a lot of roles! She's well-suited to combat, given her durability and specialized powers, but she's also good for talking people down, or helping to get people moving. No specific power set is useful against her, so she'll be flitting around and trying to support as many people as she can. This'll also be the catalyst for her to realize that at least a couple of people look to her for orders, and it'll finally make her the pink Cure leader she's been destined to be since she first took student council office two years ago. Winter's goal is to end the invasion with as little bloodshed as possible, so if she gets wind of ways to stop it without fighting, or even to have a shot at talking to the Enemy's leader and trying to end things through diplomacy, she'll be all over it.
Location: Winter and Lily are going to be spreading out as they're needed; they can jump between Echo zones largely at will. They'll be starting in Locke because that's where they live, but that won't last forever. The girls are space-capable, so they may be among the few characters spending time in orbit, also.

Options for others: There are two ways Winter will be useful to other characters! There are things here that can help characters Winter isn't physically near, so everyone should look at this! I'll cross-post some of this to the plot post.

One is her usual thing of being everywhere and helping in combat as best she can. She's coming off a grave wound, so she's going to be a little more careful, but she'll slip and take big risks more and more as the invasion goes on. She'll be looking to help in minor ways, too; one of my plans is for her to make a multi-foot-thick dome of ice to help protect civilians that can't leave Locke, among other things. There's the whole teleportation thing, too; the girls make portals anyone can use.

The other is the Miracle Bouquet Lights, which are not technically her, but it's close enough. Anyone with a Light - Winter's going to Echo back a large wooden crate of them, and they're maybe as wide as a AA battery, and about twice as long - can use it to help any character, not just the Precure. The user in question need only wave it through the air and wish for a particular person's (or persons') success. Energy produced by the Lights is, individually, not very strong. But the Lights are designed to bring entire towns, cities, regions, and countries together to help heroes save the day. The Lights can work more than once, too. An entire world's worth of Lights is enough to revive a defeated Precure team, give them a new form, and empower an absurd special attack; a group of supporters will be enough to revitalize a character and improve their abilities, or maybe soup up a special attack. Just keep in mind that there's no time for the Numbered to use them during combat - they're designed for NPCs and non-combat Numbered to have a way to help.

[alderaanda]

Character: Julien | espigeonage
Capabilities: O-kay!

Julien is an enormous pigeon. He's a very fast and agile flyer but can't carry a full-sized person, and he can strike with his wings hard enough to kill a human pretty easily (at very close range). His voice can be loud and carry well. This guy is one of the most well-known, recognizable, and well-regarded Numbered. He likes people and makes himself easy to like, and has various contacts in the media and government of Locke, the Neushwanstein Area, and Christmas Island. Even though he comes off as harmless and kinda silly he's not totally without respect. The unusually large intelligent but non-sentient pigeons in Locke respect him. He also has field-medic capabilities.

Also! He's regained most of Yuuya's spy abilities and could pick up the others, being very quiet and curiously hard to notice at times, hacking/unlocking skills, erm... unarmed combat, could echo some guns from the bird future. Also he could walk in someone's dreams but that's tough to set up.

What role(s) would/could they play: man idk. He'll go smash or otherwise open the dome placed around the Christmas Island mushroom the first chance he gets. Other than that? I don't know, scouting? rallying? he could help evacuate.

Location: I don't know! Locke, Neuschwanstein, and Christmas Island are the places where he's spent the most time but I could easily see him trying to help in Vegas. Or elsewhere, but he knows the terrain there pretty well.
Options for others: I'm afraid he doesn't have anything for that!

Character: Nat/Tash | alderaanda
Capabilities: Nat has become familiar with the Ghost Zone and ways in and out of it. She has a danger sense and a shield power that might keep her alive for a while.

As Tash, well! She could have a lightsaber and is a good fighter(...couldn't take Darth Vader though). She might echo a strong stationary shield that could protect a small room's worth of space. The Force can give her sudden psychic insights on anything the plot demands, which is how that is usually used. She can mind trick people who don't like each other into fighting or at least failing to guard each other. And there's telekineis.

She also has an X-Wing starfighter and could echo back her skill in it and enough Jedi mojo to be a spectacular pilot. The Incom T-65 X-Wing is a gloriously versatile machine with a balance of speed, maneuverability, and defensive shielding that should be useful. The four turbolasers have a functionally unlimited number of uses and there are six proton torpedos. It's also possible to eject and drift back to the ground.

What role(s) would/could they play: Ship-to-ship could work! Otherwise Tash has a tendency to go where she shouldn't be able to and help avert crises after they get bad but before they go overwhelming, but idk.
Location: She's London-based but is often elsewhere.
Options for others: Tash has a few other ships - Starfly One (truck-sized yellow thing with a tractor beam and a weak laser) and The Shroud, a somewhat larger ship (think Millennium Falcon) which is of a model famous for being armed, but isn't in canon. Starfly is bitty and only moderately sturdy, Shroud is very sturdy and has powerful shields. And an escape pod.

Giving someone else her lightsaber is also a possibility. what if it was made with a silmaril in it

[charcoalfeather]

Character: Rakka Yoshitoshi | charcoalfeather
Capabilities: Possesses the ability to turn into Cure Feather, a Precure. This form gives her super strength, agility, durability, flight, and a range of beam attacks. She can also access her silhouette form, which raised her power levels even more.

As a Precure, Rakka possesses the ability to purify enemies. In the Precure universe, this is used to defeat monsters and return them to their original forms. This can also be, and has been, used against other humans, mainly villains though, which can possibly purify them, depending on a few things.

What role(s) would/could they play: She can be all over the place, honestly. As a Precure, Rakka can go into combat with her friends, and possibly be support for other combatants. It's very likely that she'll try to talk to the enemies too, if she can. As the heiress of a large corporation in Japan, she'll also be going to Tokyo to try and stop them from killing the Kappa. When that's over, she'll join in the main fight.

Location: She'll be sticking around Tokyo and Locke mostly. She has family in one place, and friends and loved ones in the other, so protecting both will be....
a bit difficult.

Options for others: She's going to be sticking with Allstar Precure, but she'll be around, helping just about anyone she can in the fight. She's still relatively new as Precure go, so there may be slip ups.

She's also rich, and can possibly arrange for transportation if someone needs it.

[elfstoned]

Character: Aaron Strider | elfstoned
Capabilities: Legendary swordfighting skill, horsemanship, ability to command an army of ghosts, ability to hear what's going on around him in the ground, field medicine/first aid. He's very familiar with Locke City and the individuals who live in the poorer part of town. He's got some money put away but it's not limitless. He might be able to get some people he knows, even the ones from the gangs, fighting back against the aliens. He also has a ton of athelas everywhere around the city.
What role(s) would/could they play: Combat. He'd be interested in talking to the enemies, and he will be killing more in self defense than anything else. He has his ghost army, but that'll be counteracted by the Enemy eventually and only be so effective. I'd like him to rally the people still in Locke City. What are his chances of getting into and blowing up the spaceship that landed in Locke? Will that do anything to disrupt enemy communications to the Locke troops?
Location: My plan is for Locke City, though if he needs to move, he can.
Options for others: If I get the go-ahead to blow up the Locke ship, companions there would be A++.

[dead_black_eyes]

Character: Lazarus "L" Lawliet | dead_black_eyes
Capabilities: L's intelligent and capable and his chess skills extend to the real world; he's excellent at gathering and coordinating efforts and uniting them toward a cause. He has a helicopter and can pilot it. Though he lacks physical strength, he's a skilled martial artist and has an ice stave that was made for him by Nathaniel. He has locations that can be used for a distraction (the media magnet and known local Numbered hub Espresso Yourself) and the more discreet Willow Ridge Boarding Academy, where he has assembled an intelligence center with televisions and computers tracking the progress of world events and his surveillance cameras. The teleporter is also in this location. L's good at networking; he his CR spans across social circles and many characters trust him. He speaks Russian, Japanese, German, American Sign Language, Hebrew, Greek, and Sicilian Italian, and some Mandarin Chinese. He's also a skilled hacker and forgery artist, and is adept at gathering remote intelligence. He has a comprehensive knowledge of "advanced interrogation techniques," but he also has some experience speaking frankly with official leaders with the goal of resolving problems. He has around a million dollars to throw around.
What role(s) would/could they play: L is ready and set for surveillance and mission control. I also have him signed up to go to Japan and talk to officials on the Numbered's behalf. He's no good in combat but can offer Willow Ridge as a shelter with food, blankets and medical supplies for wounded Numbered and doctors to convene at.
Location: He's based in Locke and has been for the entire game. ALL of his resources are there, but he wants to go to Japan, so he will be there for a significant part of this.
Options for others: He has a helicopter and a Bentley, a coffee shop, and a school that contains a lot of computers, TVs and chairs. The teleporter is also there! He's also generous with the pile of cash that just dropped into his lap, for as long as it's worth anything.

[gogoghostpowers]

Character: Danny Fenton/Cure Phantom | gogoghostpowers
Capabilities: A lunatic with mad amounts of superpowers. Flight, invisibility, intangibility, possession, energy blasts, energy shields, super strength, super durability, and an attack called a "ghostly wail" that's basically a godawful noise that wrecks everything in a two-block radius. He's an offensive juggernaut.

He can also spread many of these powers to others--he can turn others invisible or intangible, which means he's also good for defense in emergencies! He can also carry others quite easily while flying so those who are stuck on land can get a lift if needed.

Also he doesn't need to breathe and technically isn't alive in ghost form, so he can happily go about his day underwater or in space.

What role(s) would/could they play: Combat most likely, but if needed he'll do whatever needs to get done. He's got a versatile skillset and he'll use it however is best.
Location: Locke for sure, as it's likely going to be the first hit (or one of the first hits), but he will also cover Vegas and possibly Neuschwanstein.
Options for others: He can fly you around and offer invisibility/intangibility help to anyone he needs it--whether that means escaping something or sneaking around the aliens better!

Character: Jovan Burzek | grannyfucker
Capabilities: Uh, well, he's immortal. So, y'know, he can be pretty reckless, he don't much care.

Otherwise, he's got magic. Right now I've got an echo request pending that would allow him to materialize fairly small items (anything he can hold in his arms). This means he could pop out first aid kit after first aid kit, or gun after gun, or fuckin' rubber chickens to strangle the aliens with, whatever you want he can make it. Assuming he knows what it is and it's not too big, anyway.

What role(s) would/could they play: Evacuation efforts and providing supplies to victims as well as other people involved in the fight!
Location: Vegas would be his primary station, followed by maybe checking in on Locke to ensure his dad is safe.
Options for others: Assuming the echo request goes through: if you need something, Jovan can make it for you. He might be gross about it (I can't guarantee he won't literally pull it out of his ass) but if you need something, he can get it to you.

...and beyond!

[dead_black_eyes]

If you're anything like me, you've had an amazing time here at Save the Earth during your stay, whether that's many months or just a few. All good things have to end eventually, but that doesn't mean that new things can't start, and for anyone who's interested, I'm happy and willing to help start something new following the official end of Save the Earth. Kira approached me about it and I'm absolutely thrilled to volunteer in the interest of continuing my character's story; if you are too, please join me in brainstorming how you want the sequel to be organized and handled... and try to be gentle with me, it's my first time.

Right now, my vision for a semi-post-apocalyptic Save the Earth V.2 is a changed world. The aliens have invaded and been defeated, but not without tremendous cost and sacrifice. A horrifying new cancer is spreading. Government and economy are in a state of uncertain flux and the name of the game is rebuilding what is salvageable outside of decimated echo zones. Leaving is OK, though; anywhere on Earth, Numbered characters will still be able to retain their echoes, and even if global communication is crippled significantly, the Network is still a reliable mode of communication for these individuals.

I really want to hear your thoughts, but to get us started brainstorming, here are my personal preferences for the sequel's feel:

Tone: Semi-post-apocalyptic slice of life, with aspects of survival horror thrown in. The Earth was saved, but bears the scars of an intense battle, and the ecosystem and climate have both been affected. Humans have to work harder to survive and maintain civilization and order, but they are not at The Walking Dead levels of "EVERYTHING IS GONE." The world is war-torn and more rugged and but in many ways, life can continue as usual, and is encouraged to. All characters can keep in contact via the Network regardless of their location on the globe, but following the destruction and devastation of the entire planet, some pretty extremist groups might spring up, and become a powerful draw to those who have lost their religion, their homes, or their loved ones. The majority of humans won't necessarily hate Numbered, but the minority might make it unsafe to be alone. You're better off with your friends, and I anticipate one or more groups of Numbered to stick together and form a close-knit and geographically close community.

Plot: Though slice of life is what many of our long-suffering characters deserve after all the struggles they faced in STE, these guys are asskickers and no one wants them to get bored. What I'm interested in running with is an invasive alien species that hitched a ride on the ships attacking Earth in STE's finale: an as-yet unseen, rapidly evolving microbe that has limitless potential to adapt to new environments and is making Earth its new home. Starting from the ground up, they rival other bacteria, plants and animals that have existed on Earth for millennia in being well-suited to earth, and are fast approaching sentience. They are technically aliens, but they evolved from a molecular level on Earth just like our characters did, and will behave as though they belong here... but advanced life forms take a long time to grow, so many of them will jump the gun and try to hijack earth-native animals and humans as parasites. If your character becomes infected, will they coexist symbiotically with their new tenant or seek a cure? Opportunities abound for nerdy scientists and brawny fighters alike.

Characters: If you were in STE, you've got a free pass and you're in. If anyone else is interested in joining us, they'll app in as characters receiving echoes, and can start anywhere on Earth (though it's obviously more convenient to start near other Numbered people.) In addition to apping in your classic Numbered birdman/prodigy/magical girl, I'd like to explore the option of apping as a member of the invasive alien species; whether your host is a houseplant, a gazelle, or a human college student, you'll evolve, eventually take them over completely, and wear their face as you gain new powers and abilities (these would be treated like echo requests for Numbered characters.) The exception to this is if you want to app in as a microbe hitching a ride on an existing character; then you're sharing a space and need to work it out with them!

What do you think? Are you excited? Horrified? Slightly turned-on? Whatever you feel, please leave your input and suggestions. If you'd like to offer help in any capacity, be it coding, playing NPCs, or anything else like that, feel free to volunteer, because while I have a lot of energy and enthusiasm, I don't think I can run something like this alone. :D

Re: ...and beyond!

[evowhisperer]

Just throwing stuff out here to get plotting going, but I am extremely intrigued. I dig the tone, and I like that this still leaves a lot of room for us to continue what's been going on in endgame to their logical (or extreme) conclusions.

I have a couple of questions, though, and I'm not sure if I totally brainfarted and missed it when you put it up there, or if this was a detail you wanted to work out with the rest of us (or even just hold back to bring out as a plot twist):

-Is this assuming that the Earth defeated the invading aliens?
-Whether it did or didn't, where are they after that invasion? Are they going to try again?
-Are these symbiotic-parasite-invaders going to be working secretly, like yeerks or parasytes, or are they going to be more upfront about it?