The Event

Some context ooc

When you originally signed up to enter the Zone you took on a debt to be paid back in credits. It was made very clear to you that if you didn't turn up at a specific time to that warehouse in Manchester some highly motivated people would come looking for you. Despite the news below, you chose to show up and were brought into the Zone in the 36 hours or so immediately prior to time in at Event 15. You heard a lot of muttering among the smugglers bringing you in that a large proportion of clients had chosen not to turn up, and they would be pursuing them for their debts later.

What Happened?

On September 8th, about three weeks before the start of Event 15 what was described as a green mushroom cloud was seen in the direction of the old Sellafield complex. News crews were on site very quickly and helicopters went up. The government operates a very strict no-fly zone around the Sellafield Exclusion Zone so very little clear footage was captured. The famous shot that did the rounds though was the last handful of seconds of the mushroom cloud forming and the start of a huge blast of wind. The footage is cut short because apparently the wind caused the helicopter to crash.

The government was very swift to call for calm and explain that a military device had malfunctioned, the explosion was not nuclear and no-one outside the Sellafield Exclusion Zone was at any risk. Independent tests verified that it wasn't a nuclear event. Conspiracy theorists went wild, with the explosion being clear proof of almost every theory out there. Official reports suggested that the helicopter crash was responsible for the only deaths or injuries experienced, but conspiracy theorists began to assert that the helicopter was shot down rather than crashed.

Four days after the explosion the entire Sellafield Exclusion Zone turned red.

What appeared to be a translucent red dome faded in over the course of about 2-3 minutes. No-one could see much through the red dome, but people within a hundred metres or so of the perimeter wall reported feeling very warm all of a sudden. No medical ill effects were detected.

Five days later it happened again. This time the government flew drones in to take readings and check there was no risk to the public. Footage taken from outside seemed to show several small explosions occuring a minute or two after the drone entered the red dome. The government reported that several individuals had been shot trying to breach the perimeter fence to get into the dome and urged the public to respect the military cordon that was there for their protection.

The red domes have appeared every few days since then, and the news cycle has moved on quite swiftly. Even a mere three weeks in, it's just a thing that happens now.