Psi-Omega 23-3
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Portal Corp has limited direct contact with the dimension known as Psi-Omega 23-3, though they do frequently send observers to see how the war there is progressing, as should the world be overrun it could pose a significant threat to Primal Earth.
Contents |
Overview
Rise of the Clockwork King
None could have predicted how the actions of a single man could come to change the world so drastically. Blue Steel, angered by the deaths of several police officers, brutally beat Russell Brandt, creator of the clockwork, to death after cornering him. The event, in of itself, was not especially heroic but nor did it seem, at the time, to be world-changing. But world-changing it was. Several years later, the clockwork returned to the city, and this time they were out for revenge.
The return of the clockwork was quiet, and heralded at first simply by heroes going missing. Newer and weaker heroes started vanishing while on patrol with no witnesses and no bodies found. As the PPD and other heroes began to realise there was a pattern, and started investigating, a number of hero bases were attacked all at once. Now with footage to see what their unknown enemy was, heroes began to rally together and actively seek out the clockwork. Pitched battled began to spill out into the streets, and though the clockwork were no match for the heroes individually, their numbers seemed endless, and sheer exhaustion began to take its toll on the city's defenders.
In order to combat the threat, the greatest minds of the city came up with various ideas, though even with the apparent and increasing threat, nobody could agree on a single solution. One particular group took a powerful psychic and cloned her, working off research that suggested some kind of psychic connection between the clockwork. The clones were engineered to draw power from the clockwork directly, meaning they could remain in the field much longer than ordinary heroes without becoming tired. The early results were promising, and soon thousands of the clones were patrolling the streets, and the clockwork began to be pushed back.
It all came tumbling down, however, when the Clockwork King revealed himself. The psychic who had been used to start the project sided with him, and overnight the entire clone army defected. Heroes who had been fighting alongside them were cut down before they even knew what was happening. Giant clockwork marched on city hall, an endless tide of sprockets and gears flooding the streets around them. The battle was hopeless, but many heroes stood their ground, giving their lives to hold the line just a few minutes longer so that the city's population could be evacuated. Twenty-four hours after his appearance, the King sat unopposed as ruler of the city, and the militaries of the world began to prepare for what might come next.
The Clockwork Kingdom
Having secured the city, the clockwork seemed content to remain within its walls. The US military surrounded the city by land, while the navy maintained a blockade to prevent escape by sea. All attempts to re-enter the city were rebuffed, and while options such as artillery or bombs were discussed, even nuclear weapons briefly, it was decided for the time being to merely contain the clockwork and undertake covert missions to rescue civilians still trapped inside.
City Hall became the throne room of the clockwork kingdom, with the Clockwork King and his queen attended by their sprockets and clones. Warehouses and factories throughout the city were lit up round the clock producing more of the clockwork machines, while the Crey labs that had produced the original clones were put to use increasing their numbers. Every entrance to the city was barricaded, watched over by paladins, while the cities districts were ruled over by clockwork barons.
The Dimensional War
While the clockwork focused on their dominion of the city, and their plans to eventually break out and expand the kingdom, the clones took control of the portal facility on Peregrine Island. They began to explore other worlds, eventually coming upon Epsilon Tau 27-3. Here, they found another clockwork king who now ruled over the ruins of Paragon City. Here also, they first ran into the clones of Epsilon Beta 21-7. These foreign clones, clad in red and black, were trying to defeat the clockwork king so that they could establish a base on the world, and the clones of Psi Omega naturally allied themselves with the clockwork and fought back. So it was that, by a chance meeting, the two dimensions became locked in a decade spanning rivalry that would eventually lead to war.
News of the meeting returned to the clockwork king of Psi Omega, who sent armies of clockwork through the portal to assist his counterpart. In response, Epsilon Beta deployed more of its clones, and the two sides paused to take stock, unsure of each others exact strength, and how much force would be needed to break the stalemate. In the end, scouts from Epsilon Beta managed to plant a tracer on a clone heading back to Psi Omega, finally gaining the coordinates of their enemy.
The invasion came unexpectedly: a million strong army of clones pouring out of portals into the heart of the Clockwork Kingdom. It should have been an overwhelming assault, the same plan that had been used to take the Rikti homeworld years before. Even with the numerically superior clockwork, the plan might still have worked had it not been for the city's queen. Using her psychic abilities, and natural link with the clones made from her counterpart, she was able to disrupt the communications network used to control the army, and even twist some of the invading forces to her will. The battle raged through the city, but with their coordination gone, the invaders were at a disadvantage. They were able, however, to jury rig a secondary network and begin to regroup all their forces. The majority of the force dug in on Talos Island, while a smaller force broke out of the city and assaulted the US naval facility on Striga Isle. One group, cut off from their allies, seized control of Power Island, shutting down the city power grid until they agreed to leave in exchange for safe passage to Talos.
A month after the invasion, the front lines were drawn. Reinforcements and advanced technology flowed into Talos and Striga from Epsilon Beta, while the clockwork king finally made contact with the outside world, sending clones to speak with the UN about the invading forces. While he was loathe to request the aid of others, he knew that if his clockwork could not hold the line, more than the city would fall. The invaders from Epsilon Beta were not only numerous, but also utilising more advanced technology. Already they had begun to construct long range teleporter facilities to strike throughout the city at will, and their fallen were teleported back for emergency treatement.
More to come
