The catastrophe caused by the Beast.
The Empire Event was the phenomenon that resulted in the destruction of Empire City by The Beast. All known survivors were aboard on a boat to New Marais, with Cole MacGrath among them.[1] It is the most catastrophic incident to occur on American soil.
Prelude
This is gonna be a short-term visit, man. Just gonna get in, I'm gonna get some new powers, and then we're gonna come right back.
― Cole MacGrath, on his trip to New Marais.
A month after Cole MacGrath's confrontation with Kessler[2] and his battle with David Warner,[3] he was contacted by NSA agent Lucy Kuo regarding her findings on The Beast, her knowledge on its nature, and how she could help him. Her associate, Dr. Sebastian Wolfe claimed that he could help amplify his powers and prepare Cole for the Beast's imminent arrival, with the knowledge he gained as a former member of the First Sons and working on the Ray Sphere. With this in mind, Cole boarded a boat to New Marais, with his friend Zeke Dunbar and Agent Kuo at his side.[1]
Advent
The vortex that appears at Archer Square, signaling the Beast's return.
Just as the ship was due to pull out the harbor, a vortex appeared right beside the statue in the heart of Archer Square. The destruction was instant, as civilians and buildings were sucked toward the vortex. Unable to see innocents being harmed, Cole leapt from the ship and began making his way back into the city. As he opened a gate, allowing civilians to flee the carnage, he saw the visage of the Beast making his way through the city. Shooting a lightning bolt towards him, Cole gets the Beast's attention who in return threw the remains of the Archer Square statue at him. Getting back to his feet Cole declared that he wouldn't let Kessler's vision become a reality. After a long fight, Cole was able to subdue the Beast long enough for him to call down a lightning bolt from the sky, which seemingly defeated the Beast. As the Beast sunk to the water, Cole made his way back to the ship before the pier collapsed.
Cole attempts to break free from the Beast.
Just as he jumped for the ship, Cole was held back by an unknown force, and was pulled back into the hand of a partially reformed Beast. As a last attempt of breaking free of the Beast's grasp, Cole summoned another bolt from the sky, which managed to get the Beast's hands off of him and back to the water, as Cole fell with it. Cole, badly injured, was pulled back onto the ship as it departed the destroyed Empire City.
Aftermath
The Beast had just put itself back together again. And now Empire City is dead.
― Cole, on the destruction of Empire City.
Cole wakes up after his battle with the Beast.
Upon waking, Cole found himself in a bed with Zeke beside him, who was watching the news. Captivated, Cole saw the Beast, reformed, and watched as it destroyed Empire City with a single blast of immense power. News media later dubbed this event as the Empire Event and drew several theories and suggestions as to what caused the event, such as an unnatural phenomena or terrorist attack, with NSA Director Houston leading an investigation. The National Guard and U.S military was deployed to fight the Beast as it traveled southward, but to no avail, forcing the U.S. to recall most of its troops from overseas. In one of his broadcasts, Joseph Bertrand III blamed Cole for the event.
The attack also led to the collapse of the U.S and global financial systems as the Empire Stock Exchange was destroyed in the blast and the billions of dollars in damages caused by the Beast along the eastern seaboard, with many casualties reported.[1] The devastation also caused mass unemployment, homelessness, and food shortages, prompting countries such as England, Germany, and France to temporarily suspend all travel to U.S. soil, with imports of foreign oil being delayed. It was also mentioned that Washington D.C. was among the cities spared as the Beast bypassed it, but suffered from civil unrest due to the economic turmoil. During the riots, Huston was found dead in his apartment under mysterious circumstances.
The following years caused citizens of the world to become distrustful of Conduits, leading to many deaths to members of said species, which also led to the foundation of the Department of Unified Protection (D.U.P), who's sole function was to arrest Conduits (which were renamed Bio-Terrorists), and send them to Curdun Cay.