World's End

{{DC Database:Event Template
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 * OfficialName           = World's End
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 * Universe               = Earth-50
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 * Heroes                 = Authority, Wildcats, Gen 13, Stormwatch
 * Villains               = Tao, Kaizen Gamorra, Lord Defile, Night Tribes
 * Others                 = Wetworks


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 * Creators               = Christos Gage; Dan Abnett; Andy Lanning; Ian Edginton; Scott Beatty
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The "How"
Various heroes of Earth receive a warning, purporting to be from the heroine Void, several years in the future. She shows them a post-apocalyptic world, and requested them to help prevent it from happening.

As a result of this visitation, the Kherubim warrior known as Nemesis coerces Savant and the new Backlash (Jodi Slayton) to research possible endings of the world. As a result, they investigate various superhuman factions, usually violently. As a result of their investigations, Department PSI, which holds the remains of the High, decides to place it somewhere safe, and hands it over to the Number of The Beast (NOTB) Program.

The NOTB Program is a virtual-reality network built in the 1940s from Daemonite technology. Its original purpose was to "warehouse" an army of posthumans from that period, and train them to fight against the Apocalypse of Christian (notably Protestant) mythology.

However, the High's corpse had already been used by Department PSI to create the Reaper ballistic missiles, whose warheads contained cloned versions of the High. These clones were programmed to attack superhumans. When the High's presence in the NOTB program destabilized the whole scenario (since he had been present in the 1940s but had also been missing from the scenario) and the escaped inmates were captured by the Authority, the Reapers were let loose to eliminate the prisoners. However, denied easy access to their targets who were in the Bleed, the Reapers went berserk, fighting posthumans and superheroes all over the planet.

The Reapers were also designed to explode after use, as a plausible-deniability measure. When they exploded in orbit, they wreaked havoc on the Earth, inciting warming in the arctic regions, ice ages in the tropics, stripping away key parts of the atmosphere and starting fires that generating vast smog clouds. In addition to this, the Authority's Carrier crashed into London, creating a dust cloud that blocked out the Sun across most of Eastern Europe.

The "Why"
The origins of the disaster is unclear. On the one hand, comments made by a Daemonite, named Slyxx, who worked in the NOTB Program, indicate that they originally sent the humans the technology because they intended for some disaster to happen, but how much of it was planned is unknown.

On the other hand, the supervillain known as Tao was clearly prepared for the disaster as well. He has been seen preventing access to time-travel and reality-altering technology and power to keep the world in its present, easily-conquerable state. He has implied that he started the whole affair, but no definite proof is forthcoming.

The "What"
The Authority are active from London (currently called "UnLondon"). Jenny Quarx went missing trying to contain the power source for the Carrier, and the current Doctor vanished after her. The electromagnetism of the crash has disabled the Engineer's powers, the smog means Apollo can act on Earth only for brief periods (since he needs sunlight to survive), and Jack Hawksmoor, is confined to a wheelchair since there are no cities to sustain him. However, the heroes are trying to reactivate the Carrier's technology and fight off the machinations of groups who want that technology.

The WildCATs are operating from a HALO Corp building in Los Angeles. The forward planning of Hadrian, their former benefactor, means they were well-placed to survive the devastation, but they cannot make anymore HALO batteries and need to be wary of over-extending. As well as this, a legion of Daemonites have moved into Los Angeles claiming homesteading rights, while Mister Majestic, unhinged by the disaster, has set up a kingdom in Hawaii based on Kherubim social mores and technology.

From their satellite headquarters, Stormwatch have inherited the original role of the Authority: to build a "finer world". However, they can only process so many refugees, and are stretched thin across an entire world. As well as this, Battalion, their leader, has grown harsh and unyielding under the pressure.

Off the radar, Gen13 stepped through a malfunctioning teleporter before the disaster, and came out a month after the disaster. They are still traveling, trying to find shelter and sustenance in the wasteland. Along the way, they must fight rabid posthumans and hard-edged survivor bands.

As this is going on, the villains make their moves. Kaizen Gamorra prepared his nation against the disaster, and is now the leader of a veritable superpower. Tao has an army, and he plan to use them for his own ends. Lord Defile is preparing to push the WildCATs out of Los Angeles. The Night Tribes are hunting the remaining human population of Eastern Europe under the perpetual cloud cover. Sliding Albion has allied with the remains of the British government to preserve the British way of life. And in space, the Kherans make plans to conquer Earth.


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 * Notes                  =
 * Trivia                 =
 * RecommendedReading     =
 * Wildstorm: Armageddon
 * Wildstorm: Revelations
 * Number of the Beast
 * Wikipedia              = World's End (comics)
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