#mk nightrider lore

[mk-nightrider]

- Earthrealm Special Forces - Outerworld Research and Control Agency -

Ever since Shao Kahn's failed invasion of Earthrealm, there has been a pressing need to document and study the abilities of species from other realms as well as the rising issue of meta humans emerging across the globe. At first this responsibility is left with Earthrealm Special Forces (ESF) as part of their overall mission to defend the realm. But after the Reiko Accords, it became apparent that ESF were unable to balance this responsibility with their primary directive as a defensive strike force. The key deciding factor being how easily Kotal and his then trusted fighters D'Vorah and Erron Black were able to escape and subvert ESF protocols and then abduct Earthrealm citizens.

Thus, the Outerworld Research and Control Agency (ORCA) was established. Their mission; the research, cataloging, containment, and control of those with extra-ordinary abilities that are or may be a threat to Earthrealm's safety. The agency is split into two main divisions in support of this mission. Control and Support. Control is the main division and does as one might expect, leading the charge on addressing antagonistic forces, outerworld persons, and meta humans. The Support division focus on the opposite. Their scope being the identification of citizen meta humans to help them live safe and normal lives as well as supporting and augmenting allied outerworld persons and meta humans. As a result, secrecy is paramount to ORCA. With all subjects being referred to only by code names and alpha-numerical designations in their documents, the agency dreads the possibility of their data leaking into the hands of an organization like the Red Dragon. With their penchant for human experimentation, they'd surely use the data to abduct and recruit for their sinister purposes.

While technically subordinate to the ESF, they have their own command structure that stands equal with General Blade. Still a fledgling agency at the time of the Outworld Civil War Refugee Crisis, the narrowly missed destruction of the realm by Quan Chi and Shinnok only helped prove how necessary this agency was and saw a new wealthy of funding diverted to their missions. Now they maintain several high security facilities with the most notable being as follows; The Pod, ORCA's headquarters and dedicated research facility located in an isolated section of North Dakota at a decommissioned missile base. Fort Charles, located in Colorado, it already housed a supermax facility for ESF. Now ORCA manages the it. Using it to contain low level threats and to funnel higher level threats to more secretive locations. Locations such as... Brook's Range. Located in Alaska and sharing a name with the mountain range that contains it. Dug into a mountain side and with surrounding inhospitable icy conditions, this facility keeps mid tier threats well contained. Blackrock. Disguised as a disease research facility off the coast of New England, deep underneath is one of their most secure facilities reserved for the highest level threats.

The system that ORCA uses to categorize what threat level an Otherworld Persons or Meta Human may be is called the Threat Evaluation Conditions (TECONS). Based on the Alert Condition systems such as DEFCON. While the system focuses on powers as a led determination in threat, a persons connections or willingness to cause damage, as well as difficulty to contain can also play a part in their determination. This system is not limited to enemies and is also used to classify allies. Tier 1 - Otherworld persons without powers or low level meta humans who's powers could cause minor damage and casualties. Could be easily subdued or contained by a skilled agent. Examples: Johnny Cage, Kabal, Erron Black, Mavado, and the civil war refugees. Tier 2 - Persons that could cause grave damage and casualties. May require a team in order to subdue or contain. Examples: Sheeva, Baraka, Kenshi, Kano Tier 3 - Persons that could cause exceptionally grave damage and destruction. Containment may be exceedingly difficult. Examples; Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Skarlet, Kotal, D'Vorah Tier 4 - Persons that could cause damage on par with natural disasters. Examples: Tremor, Sindel, Fujin Tier 5 - World Enders Examples: Shinnok, Shao Kahn.

A very special thank you to @bdfightclub/ @mkdecimation for their help in developing this idea and for the use of their Blackrock location as one of ORCA's locations in the Nightrider universe.

If you like the idea of ORCA and would like to incorporate it into your Mortal Kombat AU, please do! Just remember the golden rule of credit where it is due. Mostly because I would love to see how other people utilize this agency.

[mk-nightrider]

- Blood Mages -

Living aspects forged from blood; they can mold it into tools of destruction, or use it as threads to stitch back together their own wounds or that of their allies. Because of this, any blood mage on a battlefield is a dire threat. A single wound caused by their blood and they could infiltrate your body. Turning you against yourself and your allies like a puppet or simply ripping the blood from your body to restore their supply and keep their side in top fighting condition. Deep though it may be, their well of blood is not infinite nor can they perpetually recycle what they use. The process to forge weapons or cast spells puts strain on the blood. Damaging it and leaving only a portion reclaimable to the blood mage's resource pools. Spend enough and they'll experience the same symptoms of blood loss as any other creature, though the chances of it being fatal are slim. Such is the speed of their altered body's ability to regenerate their own blood. A technically savvy mage may find a way to monitor their blood levels in order to avoid being cornered with little fuel in the tank, but the simple fact remains. These mages should be targeted with overwhelming force once identified on a battlefield. Force them to spend their deep resource pool and then find a way to ensure it remains below usable levels should you seek to keep them contained. Research is currently being conducted by the Special Forces R&D department on the efficacy of synthesizing Kytinn blood as a suitable counter to these mages due to it's highly toxic and delirious effects on Blood Mages as observed during the Reiko Incident on Shang Tsung's island.

[mk-nightrider]

This isn't an organized lore post. Just some general peeks and rambles into some future plans for the factions we have for the world since right now the fic is locked in on Tomek and Billie's childhood. On a technical storytelling standpoint, this is also way to get some characters in so not everyone is old as dirt by the time Billie and Tomek are old enough to be fighters. Also entry points for you fellow OC havers to "canonically" get in on the fun.

Once those kids are more grown and independent, Kano is going to go on a hiring spree. The only ones he really has left at this point are Tasia, Jarek, and Kira. Kano will also begin to investigate avenues to extend his lifespan both through technology and magic. Sure, Billie is his heir, but he doesn't plan on giving up the throne any time soon.

Dark Raiden is naturally going to be an important force going forward. Effectively attempting to quarantine Earthrealm from the other realms and using a combination of the Shirai Ryu and Special Forces to enact his new hands on and offence focused regime. Possibly also drawing in/employing other organizations to his cause. Events that will surely lead to a schism in the Special Forces as some object to Raiden's actions as too far authoritarian or outright cruel to anyone not fully aligned with Earthrealm.

Kabal will be an early defector from Special Forces. Going on to found an anarchist group similar to how he does in the Midway Era. However, since he can't just reforge the Black Dragon this time, the group will likely be called Ragnarok because it's the death of gods and monsters that exercise control over the realm. Seeking to let something new and less controlled be created.

Kotal is in a terrible state. All the things he overthrew Mileena for he has caused to pass. Weakened, desperate, and the alliance with Earthrealm shattered. Will he manage to humble himself and seek new alliances with the further reaches of Outworld, or will the realm's cutthroat survival-of-the-fittest culture see it tear itself apart without Raiden even needing to lift a finger?

Rain meanwhile

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[mk-nightrider]

The Nightrider AU is the product of a series of collaborative writing exercises and goofy "What Ifs" between @cyberneticsanguinaire and @bi-force-1 about Cyber's story Mortal Kombat: Blood Money that lead to their OC, Billie, getting a sibling, Tomek. As these things tend to do, lore quickly built up and took on a life of it's own in the form of Mortal Kombat: Nightrider. Now we want to share all that lore and invite our fellow fan artists and writers to collaborate with us and interact with Tomek and Billie.

Tomek's Profile

Billie's Profile

Lore & Stories Masterpost

Nightrider Illustrations/Sketches

While we have come up with versions of Tomek and Billie that span various timelines who will undoubtedly be featured here anyways, the Main Universe for this blog is The Nightrider continuity and there are some Headcanons and Key Events you should know about under the read more.

MK 11 did not happen in this AU. Instead it heavily follows MKX, it's companion comic, and the future stories hinted at in the character endings.

Skarlet survived the events of the MKX Comic.

Erron Black is of mixed Earthrealm and Outworld heritage. He was born in 1859.

Kabal is also alive, narrowly surviving Sindel's revival instead of becoming a revenant. What is he up to? We haven't decided yet.