Lexicon

JUGGERNAUTS

The Juggernauts are creatures of tremendous size, abilities, and of varying species. Their origin is unknown; Juggernauts emerge from a black pillar, the monolith, that rises from the ground. Their intent is unknown; communication and behavioral analysis has proven fruitless. Juggernauts are extremely dangerous and citizens are advised to follow EVAC procedures should one appear.

ORIGIN

How Juggernauts are created and where they come from is unknown. Multiple explanations have been proposed but no concrete facts have emerged. The public have assigned responsibility to government experiments, aliens, or religious beliefs; there is no clear answer as to the origin of the Juggernauts.
The first appearance of a Juggernaut is referred to as "Year Zero" since the world was irrevocably changed in the early hours of that January morning. The attack didn’t last long but the scant eye witnesses and destruction left behind made it very clear something extraordinary happened. The devastation was mainly centered around Garrison Sierra Romeo, a military base, with a majority of the facility being laid waste. Reports and witness statements say that the Juggernaut simply dissipated into a cloud of ash in the middle of the rampage, leaving behind a perfect round red globe, which would later be referred to as a "pearl."

BEHAVIOR

Juggernauts are highly aggressive feral creatures, however their intent for attacking a city is still unclear. Their attacks do not appear to have any correlation with city size, nuclear material, or food source. Their behavior has been categorized as being somewhat mischievous to downright malevolent in their destruction.
Opposition from DAVD’s or GOLIATHs is met with extreme ferocity, sometimes to the point of it becoming the Juggernaut’s primary focus.
Cooperation among Juggernauts is rare, but when they do cooperate, the damage is extreme, and the Juggernauts appear somehow able to communicate with each other, in a way that has not yet been discovered. More commonly, they will attack each other rather than cooperate, often ignoring advances from DAVDs or GOLIATHS.
Their strength is often correlated with the number of Pearls present on the creature’s body. As the number of pearls increase so does the difficulty in defeating them since more weak points have to be exploited. Juggernauts with 3 or more pearls are larger and also have shown to possess devastating abilities such as regeneration, energy projection, invulnerability, fire breath. Abilities continue to be discovered.

CATEGORIES

Juggernauts are classified on the "Donnyvich Scale;" each is classified under different categories based on the number of Pearls present on their bodies. The Pearls are believed to provide power to the creatures, as the destruction of these Pearls lessens the strength and abilities of the creature. The lower the category of the Juggernaut the weaker it is. Juggernauts possessing up to 4 of these Pearls have been recorded, however it is not known if that is the limit. More Pearls mean more abilities, which make the Juggernaut harder to defeat.

DESTRUCTION

The Juggernaut’s hide is tough and hard to penetrate. Conventional weapons have proven to be inefficient methods of deterring attacks. Attempts to sever the cable leading to the Monolith have also been fruitless. The cable becomes as incorporeal as the Monolith when near the monolith, and has so far been impenetrable anywhere else.
The revelation of a Juggernaut’s weak point happened during the attack on Port Arthur, it was here that the Juggernaut stumbled and fell upon a statue of a hero with a lance. Civilians on the ground reported that the lance penetrated and cracked the Pearl of the Juggernaut; the Juggernaut quickly turned into a cloud of ash and disappeared.
Upon complete destruction of these Pearls the Juggernaut’s body turns into a cloud of black ash, the cable connecting the Juggernaut to the monolith retracts into the monolith after which it floats up into the sky. Only shards of the Pearls are left behind.

MONOLITH

Juggernauts emerge from the Monolith. The Monolith starts as a black mist or ash that silently rises from the ground, slowly it forms up to a black pillar of ash that continues forever into the sky. The Monolith is impenetrable by light and forms what looks to be a black liquid wall once the Monolith is completed. The Monolith can rise through solid matter; when the Monolith disappears, everything inside is left intact. Anything or anyone caught inside the Monolith experiences a dense cloud of black ash, sort of like a black blizzard, without wind, and without much of any sound at all.
A cable made from the same light-impenetrable material tie and leash the Juggernaut to the Monolith. This limits the Juggernaut’s range to a radius around the Monolith. The length of the Cable varies from one Juggernaut to the next; no correlation has ever been found to estimate the damage radius when a monolith appears. The cable also passes through normal matter with no effect, except for a short section near the Juggernaut, where the cable is instead as impervious as the Juggernaut itself.
Multiple Monoliths have been sighted during an attack.

SANCTUARY

A large floating city sized ship designed to both engage a juggernaut and evacuate major cities anytime, anywhere.

GENERAL INFORMATION

After the attack of year zero the world was humbled by a seemingly unstoppable power. Fears of a second attack had every country scrambling for a response. One proposal was the idea of Sanctuary, where people fleeing another devastating attack, from even the biggest of cities, could have somewhere safe to go, up in the sky and out of harm’s way. This proposal gained overwhelming support, but proved too costly for any one nation to tackle. Only through the combined efforts of several countries and the mysterious pearl left by the first juggernaut did Sanctuary come to form.
World renown playboy and accomplished engineer Dr. Brontes was the first to discover the mysterious pearl’s gravity defying properties. It was through these technological breakthroughs that Sanctuary became so effective. It can travel to any city within hours and is large enough to accept refugees from the world’s largest population centers.
Technological advances have led the way to Sanctuary building a fully functional city with a dense permanent population housed mostly in massive skyscrapers. Sanctuary has slowly become a highly sought after place of residence throughout the years. Application to live in Sanctuary has become highly selective and roughly only 2% of applicants get accepted to live on the gigantic floating structure. Typically, permanent residents are high level government officials, world renowned experts, celebrities, and generally people of major influence across the world stage.
At the first sign of an attack, Sanctuary’s contingent of D.A.V.D.’s are assembled and prepare for deployment while the floating city barrels toward the site of the attack. When Sanctuary arrives at the battleground it simultaneously docks at the city’s Lance structure and unleashes the world’s largest division of D.A.V.D. fighters. The structure then stays at the Lance accepting the city’s refugees until eventually flying further away from the Juggernaut attack site.

THE LANCE

A large structure that serves as an EVAC point for the citizenry during a Juggernaut attack.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Lance structures were built in response to the second rash of attacks and the introduction of Sanctuary to the world stage. Many cities tried to build their own versions of a "dock" for Sanctuary with only a few successes. A public statement from Sanctuary itself proposed a standardized facility that any city could build, and was soon accepted with raucous support from people all over the world. Country after country vowed to aid in yet another world-wide endeavor for the safety of all.
These buildings were originally called spires until the victorious battle of Port Arthur. It was here during a desperate fight a Juggernaut stumbled and fell onto a massive statue in the center of town depicting a Knight in a heroic pose brandishing a shield and lance. By a fortuitous stroke of luck, when the Juggernaut was toppled, the statue’s lance pierced and cracked the Juggernauts pearl, which is now known to be their only weak point.
The Lance is easy to find during EVAC situations due to its immense size and bright blue glow, the glow was chosen as a stark contrast to the ominous Monolith. People are moved to the dock located at the top of the Lance via numerous large elevators. From the dock people board the safety of Sanctuary.
At the first sign of a Juggernaut attack the massive structure is lit up and is vibrant enough to not be missed even during the daytime. Sirens sound to alert both the public to its location and the local contingent of D.A.V.D. fighters of an assault. The skeleton crew that mans the structure is then increased 10-fold and is mainly tasked with crowd management and elevator operation to efficiently evacuate the city’s population.
Historically, Sanctuary has been very successful in saving major populations since the very first Lance was built.

NOTES

The base of a lance is roughly 5 football fields in diameter to accommodate mass evacuation for large cities, surrounded by rings of parking lots. The structure is wide at the bottom and then angles up in an almost exponential curve up into the clouds.

D.A.V.D

Fighters dispatched during a juggernaut attack.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Soon after the surprise victory at Port Arthur, shards from the first shattered pearl were discovered to share the same gravity defying properties as the pearl that powers Sanctuary. With this technological advance and the knowledge that the juggernaut scourge could actually be defeated the world’s first Juggernaut fighters were formed.
With the newly obtained pearl shards, Defensive Aerial Versatility Devices were made in hopes of finally being able to defend against what was considered to be an unstoppable disaster. D.A.V.D. gear as it came to be called enabled an able bodied citizen to fly effortlessly to any height and position themselves to strike at the Juggernaut’s newly-found weakness. The distinctive blue streaks they leave behind as they fly are usually met with cheers from the citizens below.
To recreate the victory at Port Arthur an attack strategy was born. The hammer and chisel formation has D.A.V.D. pilots working in teams. The two-person team must cooperate effortlessly to be in the perfect positions to achieve victory.

"Chisel" – Goal is to perch on target Juggernaut’s pearl with a clawed glove and position their chisel weapon so the other half of their team ("Hammer") can strike it, shattering the Juggernaut’s pearl.

"Hammer" – Goal is to distract the Juggernaut so the other half of their team ("Chisel") can position their chisel, and then swiftly fly in and strike, shattering the pearl.

LEXICON

JUGGERNAUTS

The monsters that emerge from the monolith. Varying in size, species and intelligence. They terrorize and destroy our cities mercilessly. Their weak points are the Pearls on their body. Eliminate at all costs.

MONOLITH

A black rectangular column that rises to the sky. Made of black plumes of ash that rise from the ground. It can appear anywhere, nothing is affected where it appears. A Juggernaut emerges from it.

CABLE/LEASH

The cord that connects the Juggernaut to the Monolith. Also commonly called the Leash. Protrudes from the back of the neck of the Juggernaut and leads to the Monolith. The cable does not affect any physical matter except restricting the movements of the Juggernaut if it gets far enough away from the Monolith.

PEARL

Large red gems on the Juggernauts. Believed to be their source of power as scientists have been able to use their shards as sources of energy. Can appear anywhere on the Juggernaut’s body.

D.A.V.D. GEAR

Defensive Aerial Versatility Device. The equipment D.A.V.D.s use to maneuver and intercept Juggernauts. Powered by Pearl shards. Leaves a blue streak while flying.

D.A.V.D.’S

Pilots of D.A.V.D. gear dispatched during a Juggernaut attack. Are equipped with either a hammer or a chisel used to break the Juggernaut’s Pearl for its defeat.

HAMMER

D.A.V.D. Weaponry. Powered by Pearl shards. Pearl Power.

CHISEL

D.A.V.D. Weaponry. Powered by Pearl shards. Pearl Power.

GOLIATHS

Large mechanical suits created by Dr. Brontes used to fight Juggernauts. Very few in existence. Pilots are assisted by D.O.G. Powered by Pearl shards.

DOG

Data Observation Gear. An Artificial Intelligence created to assist GOLIATH Pilots.

LANCE

Tall spires built in every major city to evacuate citizens during a Juggernaut attack. They glow bright blue as to be seen from miles around, a beacon of hope. It curves up like a Lance pointed at the sky.

SANCTUARY

A large floating city created on the onset of the initial Juggernaut attack. Organization hub for the D.A.V.D.s, orchestrates evacuations by accepting the fleeing populous at the tip of the LANCE.

YEAR 0

The first Juggernaut attack.