Before The Coming Dawn
The first fic (chronologically) in the Daylight shared-worlds setting, Before The Coming Dawn details the events surrounding the Ringbearer Archangel as he has a prescient dream detailing the approaching extinction-level event that is Zero Hour. During the dream, he is sent a psionic message by the Ringmasters, who give him a warning that Zero Hour is going to occur across multiple worlds in the Daria Multiverse - and while the Ringbearers may not stop the events that lead to the disaster from happening, they may act in a multitude of ways to prevent the extinction of life on various Earths.
Awakening from this dream, Archangel sends an alert to Paula Trainor, who enacts various DELPHI protocols in order to save as many people as possible.
Trivia
- The fic begins three hours and seven minutes before Zero Hour occurs over New York City (which Archangel witnesses being destroyed in his dream).
- The 1985 DC Comics maxi-crossover event Crisis On Infinite Earths is referenced in the dream sequence; Archangel is reminded of the anti-matter wave of destruction as he feels the pain felt by trillions upon myriad Earths as Zero Hour occurs. Also, the rationale put forth by the Ringmasters for non-interference is similiar to that the Lords of Order put forth when refusing to allow the Spectre to interfere during the 1988 invasion of Earth by the Alien Alliance.
- The Defender Rings are shown to be capable of operation even when the wearer is in a astral form or if he/she/it is asleep and within a dream dimension, a 'dream-version' of the Ring, as powerful as the real-life one and possessing the same powers and limitations, appears on the Ringbearer's hand as in real life. The Ring is also shown to be capable of detecting pain and suffering through temporal and dimensional barriers (as Archangel could detect the deaths ans suffering of trillions in not only other dimensions, but hours before they actually happened), and also suppresses the pain to allow the Ringbearer to still operate.
- Archangel is visiting the alternate Earth known as D-823 when he has his dream. He was to speak at a symposium on inter-dimensional operations, and demonstrate the use of SMART field generators.
- In times of great impending disaster, the words on Archangel's Defender Ring are visible in Black Speech, instead of Interlac.
- Archangel's position with DELPHI is revealed; he is a special field operations commander with Project Uatu.
- This story references a Code 513 event - a reference to the DELPHI term for an extinction-level-event. This is in homage to TAG, and his use of the number '513' as an indicator of horrible occurrences or impending disaster.
- The phone that Archangel uses is a 'superphone' that operates across the boundaries of time, space and dimensional barriers. (Since the Ringbearers are aware of the Time Vortex (as shown in 'With New Responsibility', it is assumed that they are aware of various technologies from other realities and incorporated them into their own technology; the 'superphones' are a result of this.)
- To date, this is the first of only three appearances of the Ringmasters themselves; the others were in 'Michael', and 'Let Vengeance Ring'.
- The events of Zero Hour are known to the Ringmasters as 'the Final Dawn'.
