"One month, one long month."
"That's how long it took for the meteors to stop raining down on Earth. Angels and Demons alike spilling forth from the Gates of their respective Kingdoms, turning Earth into a battlefield fit for the ages. That's what the Endwar was though, wasn't it? A war to end all wars. A war between angels, demons, and man."
"And for what? The name of an absent Creator? For Balance? Because the Charred Council demands it?"
"When the first days, when the first hours of contact was made, no excuse was brought up, no battle rights were declared. War needed no such sporting obligations. The Lords of Heaven and Hell clashed in the streets and continued their blood feud after an armistice had come to an end. Man was caught in the middle of their eternal war, dying in the streets and gutters like rats. They played an oh so small part in this Endwar, with Heaven and Hell quickly coming to believe that their extinction was all but inevitable. But if that was the case… we wouldn't have much of a story would we?"
Manhattan Underground
The Underground; before the Endwar began it didn't exist. No officially anyway. It was a rumor, a conspiracy. It was built by the Freemasons, and it's doors were hidden in the old subway systems. It's doors were hidden in the underground stations - protected by alchemic wards in case of invasion.
Across the world; Underground had become haven during the Endwar.
Looking around Noah just watched as he looked at the thousands of people that were residing in the Underground. Men, women and children - countless individuals he'd never met till coming here. They weren't certain what to do, though he understood they were trying to make sense of what was going on in the world now. Demons ran wild across the globe and angels had descended to combat them. This was no fantasy of masterful illusion. They had seen them when the Endwar began, seen them with their own eyes. How could they make sense of such things without questioning their beliefs?
"You know, if we were born into regular families, we'd probably be just like them right now." Vivien muttered as she stood by her brother and crossed her arms. "We'd be questioning everything that we knew and believed about the world."
"Yeah." Noah said simply as he put his hands in his pockets as he watched a baby cry only to be tended to by its mother.
"Come on, let's get to we're needed at command." Vivien stated as she put her hand on her brother's shoulder as the two started walking off.
Turning his attention elsewhere Noah just sighed as he turned his attention to the surroundings. The Manhattan Underground; he'd been here once before, back when he was a child. The Hunters had brought him and hundreds of other children here to show them where to come should things go bad - should something like "now" happen.
"You know they could really do some refurbishing down here." Vivien shrugged as she looked at her brother. "Stones nice an all, but they could really update the look here. Put in some paint, maybe some benches and beds."
"Actually they were in the middle of doing some changes before all this started." Vivien admitted as she looked at her brother. "But I guess they'll have to put the finishing touches on later."
"Ah." Noah shrugged as the two walkd into command. Command was one of the only three places in the underground that had been given a relatively updated look. Looked kind of like the command center of a safehouse, though his best guess is that the end result would be somewhere on the lines of a military bunker.
There was a woman at the center of a room, looking at a map and talking to a few others. When she saw them though he raised his hand telling them to give her a minute as they just hung back for a moment.
"It looks like the meteor shower finally stopped, and you know what that means."
"It means that the forces of Heaven and Hell have fully deployed, so the Endwar's officially started."
"We've already taken a hell of a pounding though, we lost a lot of our satellites during the Fall, and we're having trouble getting communications through to the cells across the world."
"We need some room to breathe too." The woman stated as she pointed somewhere on the map. "Move your people here, try and get us some footing so we're not boxed in like this."
"Yes mam." The Hunters stated as they left the room and started to leave leaving the two younger members alone with the woman.
Rachel Synhart was the leader of New York's Hunter Division, as such every hunter in the Big Apple answered to her. Shel was a tall woman, maybe about 7ft and in her 40's, with pulled back black hair and light skin.
"Noah, Vivien, it's good to see you two are still here." The woman stated as she gestured them over. "Knowing you two I half expected you to go running off and causing trouble for the demons."
"Thought about it." The two said together.
"Weather was too crappy though." Noah stated as the woman just smiled lightly.
"Well then, given the weather's finally clearing up how about going out to get some exercise?" She didn't really wait for a response. "Manhattan's completely overrun, we can't make a move without them spotting us."
"So we're going to thin the herd a bid?"
"That would help us get some room to work with. As you heard though, I already have a team heading out on that. One of you can join them if you're up for it." Rachel stated before continuing. "If not I have something else in store."
"What?" Vivien asked.
"As Michael said; lost of the satellites and radio towers were hit when the Fall started, but some of them are still out there." Rachel admitted. "There's an old radio station here." She pointed to a spot on the map. "I want to send one of our technicians to see if they can get it a radio broadcast out, that way we can try contacting the rest of the world." Noah just looked at Vivien for a moment.
"You want this one?"
"Yeah, I'll go with that group." Vivien stated as Rachel nodded. "So you'll thin the herd." Noah just nodded as he looked at the map.
"Where do you want me?"
London Underground
Without much of a word a young woman just sits in what had become her quarters, her eyes closed as she pushes her blonde hair back before looking at the clothes presented before her, hanging on the wall actually seated on the table before her. Without much prompting she strips down, removing the everyday clothes she had been wearing up until now and started getting redressed.
The clothes itself is… revealing to say the least. A bodysuit made from a special nano-woven material; flexible - breathable - and highly resilient to even the claws of a Trauma demon, magically attuned to bolster her magical abilities, and reweave itself when damaged. It hugs her like a second skin, reminds her of the training clothing from her youth. The armor that goes over it; the leggings and greaves, the rerebrace and gauntlets, the breastplate were all heavily inspired by knights, with a few modern day alterations. The armor was mentally attuned to its wearer; it moved at the speed of her conscious and unconscious thoughts greatly enhancing her reaction speed and enchanted to bolster her physical prowess. When she puts the helmet on it would grant she would be greeted with a heads up display, augmenting her vision.
For the moment though she leaves it off and prefers to trail her fingers the waist cloak present before her. Like her bodysuit it bore both a magical enchantment - one that healed any wound it touched and a resilient but silk like nano-weave. It was mostly a keepsake however, one she inherited from her mother. When she ties it around her waist she takes a moment, turns her attention to the weapons presented before her as she starts hooking them to her form. Powerful magnets on her leggings hold twin auto-guns, each one enchanted so that her became bullets. The last; the one on her back holds the claymore, a massive blessed sword engraved with runes of power that burned the flesh of the wicked, be they a fallen Lord of Heaven or a feral Lord of Hell. Someone knocks on her quarters door and she just stares at her helmet, noticing the few knicks and scars it bore. Reminders of the last time she wore it into battle.
"Galahad?" A voice calls and she ignores it, looking at the helm before putting it on. "It's time."
"I know." The lady knight, code-named Galahad of the Order, admitted as she turned to her fellow knight and started walking forward. At the center of their gathered square she found hundreds of men and women dressed the same as her, the Order's knights; her brothers her sisters in all but blood. She strides forward, moving past the survivors that hadn't been aware of the Order's existence till these dark days were upon them. "Now; let's take back our city."
Alright this is a very short chapter I made a couple days ago. I was thinking of doing more for it, but I couldn't think of what to add to it. That said, this is where the changes officially start from what was previously posted. We're not doing a yearly time skip, we are starting right at the beginning of everything. If your interested in this variant, let me know.