TerroirNoir3

I'll be taking a little break over the holiday season, so it'll be a while before Araminta and Engineria return. In the mean time take care everyone!

That looks interesting!

So I tried one with the girls. It came out mostly right. I didn't want to do more in case it lost cohesion.

That's exactly how I remember him!

What a great idea! Looking forward to seeing the entries! Good luck to all who enter!

Well that'd be great! But my machine would also struggle to run it! I'll try doing one for Araminta some time too. And maybe one of them together. In the meantime back to the reviewing!

Thanks! Tried it and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, since Engineria here is the main star of all my AE reviews.

Trying the generative art thing. It's more in line with "actual" Engineria than my avatar!

What are you using to generate these can I ask?

Araminta's Adventures. Hello gang! Araminta here. I generally have a quieter life than Engineria. Remember that I said I was reading through a lot of material salvaged from Praetoria and that that was being converted to AE data by Neil over in Steel Canyon? Ok, that happened. And let me tell you it's not at all what I expected! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Webb of Destruction Trilogy - Part One: A World Devoured by @NyxiaSnow (@Nyx-Astraea on the AE console) There's a lot been said about Praetoria over the last few years, especially since the end of the War and all. Plenty of books written and plenty of articles and podcasts and whatevers done. Most of them concentrate on the War and interviews with those who took part. In fact plenty of the Incarnate supers from here who fought in the War are still active. According to Engineria (and some of the conspiracy podcasters), thanks to time shifting and all that, some are still fighting the War or have just begun to! Engineria has access to an entire archive of what one of her alternate selves did prior to the War! Crazy! And will we ever see the trial of Tyrant Cole? Been waiting on that for a while! Meanwhile the refugee issue remains and gets politicized because of course it does. But I'm not here to talk about that. Praetoria was supposed to be some sort of ideal state wrested from the wastelands of an Earth under siege by Hamidon. Thankfully that hasn't happened here yet! But how it got like that? Well, I lucked out on some "yard sale" material from Praetoria. A box of something marked "data slugs". Lots of reading and examining of odd bits of tech. I like tech and bots, and the Praetorian Clockwork fascinate me so I was interested. I didn't get what I was looking for though. I got...well, see what you think. Neil at the Steel Canyon AE converted a lot of this to an AE render and let me experience it. Thanks to being seat of the pants wired up, there were no safety parameters. So I had to be careful! Mission 1: Operation New Hope. Part 1: Hard landing. Praetorian Earth 1964. Ok, I'm not sure whose identity I have assumed because that part of the file is degraded. Neil did a scan on me and the girls and overlaid us into the program. But I'm here in Brest. I, Araminta, don't know where that is so I'll have to check. Europe I think. The Super Corps of America has received orders from President Cole - PRESIDENT? - to save strategic resources around the world. I'm met by a Captain Riley who tells me our job is to extract a scientist from behind enemy lines. Enemy? Who are we fighting? Ah. We're fighting Devouring Earth. Ok, I can see where this is going! I'm the super powered support for Charlie-6, a team of crack soldiers who will be undertaking this mission. Do we not have enough supers to fill out a full team? Maybe not. He gives me a folder on the team and I scan through it. Now I'm on a plane with the team. Ok, I can fly so that's useful! (Glad Neil remembered to code that in!) I land and call the girls to attention. Up ahead I can see Captain Riley himself. The others are sounding off on the radio. We'll have to regroup before we can find this scientist. Ok, let's do this. I've said before that it's hard to be stealthy when you're being trailed by several rather powerful robots, so I don't bother. As long as the team keeps their cover I can get to them and eliminate any interference. I rendezvous with Captain Riley. Now we need to gather up the rest of the team. Despite scanning their files before leaving I didn't get a chance to really speak to them on the plane. Hopefully they're holding out where they landed or have taken cover. We get jumped by Devouring Earth and the girls and Riley are both faster than me at responding! They cut them down in a hail of bullets and rocket fire. Nasty. Some of these Devouring Earth seemed to be terraforming the ground. Making it more theirs I suppose. Up ahead Riley points out Lieutenant West so we make for him and join him in his own battle against the DE. Took my time? You all parachuted to different places! I couldn't fly after all of you at the same time! Mind you, I could really use a cup of coffee right now! (Have to congratulate Neil on his work here, this is completely immersive.) Wishing I had some coffee all the while, we trudge through the landscape looking for the rest of Charlie-6. Devouring Earth are everywhere and intent on perforating me personally it feels like! I've taken a particular dislike to the Granite things who suddenly sprout tiny Rubble creatures after you kill them! Fortunately the girls clean those up pretty fast but they're damn annoying. Ah, there's our Specialist. Russo is Italian. Which is majorly interesting since Italy chose nuclear suicide in the fight against the Devouring Earth, but he wasn't there at the time. Probably weighs on him. Sheesh. That and some serious desire for vengeance. We collect Staff Sergeant Williams and Sergeant Sommer next, before we get a call from Ghost. She needs backup! Up the hill, team! We storm the rise looking for Ghost, and oh my, that Devouring Earth gets flung back under our firepower! Look at it go! Moments later we are reunited with Specialist Trainer AKA Ghost. Now we just have to find Muller and then we're off to see the wizard! Or scientist! And there he is. I'd like to say he sounds smug here but I can't tell with the German accent, so I'll take it as niceness, because it can't hurt! With our medic in tow we gather in for a briefing. We're heading south to a nearby village. Passing along the road the team bicker amongst themselves like people who have known each other for some time. I'm definitely the noob here so I stay quiet unless spoken to. Coming up to our objective, Riley sends Ghost and Deadeye (That's Russo) ahead to reconnoiter. Target ahead! [Mission 1 = Very different sort of introduction to Praetoria. Loving it. Had to find a way to fit it into a "live" play through, hence the AE thing. Fortunately COH itself provided an in game reason that allows me to do that. And also I am sooo glad I didn't have this on 4/8!] Mission 2: Operation New Hope: Part Two: Is there a Doctor in the house? Riley gets in touch with our base in Brest. Our extraction target is a Dr. Brian Webb. (Wait! I've heard of this guy! Or not this guy in particular, but the Primal version. Reichsman killed him and his team way back! See? I was paying attention in class!) Once Ghost and Deadeye return Riley makes plans. Me, Riley and and Williams AKA Tank, will head in while the others create a diversion to draw as much of the DE away ass possible. With half the team on diversion duty, our three (and all my girls) head down into the village to see what's what. Ok, let's rock! Not sure if that's an apt phrase with all the Granite creatures around but the sentiment still works. Also, it's 1964, so ...ah, screw it. Let's rock! Tank is off the leash and about to lay into the DE as fast as he can! I rapidly call in the girls and back him up! Big weed, huh? Well sure. Hit them with everything you have, Tank! Also, where did Captain Riley get to? As we fight our way through the streets of this tiny village (I don't even know its name) I see a body lying in the middle of the street wearing a lab coat. Webb? Maybe. We'll check in a minute once we've dealt with these monstrosities. It could be Webb. Tank covers me while I go and check it out. I stick the girls on defensive perimeter watch. Holeee! As soon as I reach for him he rears up like someone possessed and goes for me! Moaning like something out of a zombie movie! The girls automatically slide into attack mode and cut him down before he has a chance to touch me! Whew! Not Webb. But he did have a packset (some sort of walkie-talkie) on him. It's still operational! there's a voice crackling over it! "Pierre? Is anybody out there? Devouring Earth breached the defense, they're coming in!" That sounds bad. Tank, we need to find Riley! We clear a way to Captain Riley up some nearby steps, DE are all over the place! Tank is laying in to things all around him, ably backed up by me and the girls. Not seen Webb? Me neither. Although we did see a peculiar spire thing at the end of the village. Let's take a look at that. Yeah, it's kind of ominous, isn't it? Let's fill it full of lead and see what pours out. On second thought that might be the worst thing...oh, everyone's already shooting it. Time to join in then! Right, what have we discovered? Oh, that the dead rise and attack us when that is destroyed! See? I told you it could be worse but did anyone listen? Nope. Anyway, time to regroup. No sign of this Webb guy but we did have the packset with someone calling for Pierre on the other end. Ok, no telling if they're still alive. The DE were clawing at a set of doors. Maybe we should, I dunno, knock? Ring the bell? [Mission 2 = I like the way this is aid out. The missions come as part of one long event interspersed with the group having a huddle to plan the next move rather than a staccato in and out effect like most AE missions or in game missions. Different but cool.] Mission 3: Operation New Hope: Part 3: Step into my Parlour. So we head into the building. Once we're in we can see it's badly damaged. Riley tells the others to set up a perimeter and to guard the entrance while he and I proceed onwards into the smoke filled zone ahead. And we're tackling Devouring Earth right from the off! Along the way we search for any and all intel that might be useful. There's a few consoles still working so I examine them. At one point I manage to activate some auxiliary defences that turn out to be some sort of prototype robots. (I know Clockwork when I see them!) They help us with several infestations of Devouring Earth before we leave them behind. We're simply moving too fast for them to keep up right now. But if any appear behind us then the Clockwork will attempt to deal with them. That's good for us I reckon. The DE are literally everywhere! Riley is pushing ahead of me and I'm zapping him with Elec to Amp him up and to keep his health level. It's working too as he just blasted that Guardian into hundreds of shards! Oh wonderful. Looks like we're going down then. Ick. Well, nothing ventured, nothing shot in the head by an Assault Bot. Once we're down to the next floor we fan out and keep moving. Fighting all the way we reach yet another set of damaged elevators and once more descend a level. And then ahead is a smoke and flame filled room. If Dr. Webb is in this building then he's in this room. Or at least we haven't found his body yet if he's dead. I don't think the Devouring Earth eat humans, despite the name. Then we find him! I grab him while Riley and the girls are holding off a pack of Devouring Earth. Data? Ok, but if it gets us killed then I'm gonna be back to haunt you! I grab the data and then the lot of us retreat back through the building (hello Clockwork!) [Mission 3 = Oh wow, it just does not let up, does it? I am really enjoying this rather different approach to AE. Others could take some hints maybe. Great stuff!] Mission 4: Operation Threshold: Part 4: Battle in the Big Apple. The AE metric fast forwards me through two months! OMG. So many things but boiled down to this essentially. Well! What do you say to all that? This will all go in my notes on Praetoria. Whenever I get out of this simulation, although it doesn't feel like one! Now however Captain Riley is looking for me. Dr. Webb has a mission for Charlie-6 and Riley wants me with them. We're going to New York to recover Webb's technology from his Portal laboratory. The snag is New York fell to the Devouring Earth so it's going to be ...tricky. Add in frequent storms bringing irradiated air south from Shroud City and, you get the picture. Oh hell. Pretty much hell actually. And we're on our way. We're just about to jump, the red light is flashing, when our plane is hit by a Devouring Earth Thorn! We're going down! The plane tears in half! I fly down and land and assemble the girls. Now to find the rest of the team and Webb's equipment. (What a start!) Well, the first thing I see is another of those spire things. When we found one in France it caused the dead to reanimate and attack us! Ah, I have the girls. I'm gonna shoot it. Just in case. We have to eliminate a few devolved citizens. They're too far gone. I've seen their symptoms described in essays on Praetoria. It's the Tellurian Plague. Thank the stars I'm in a reconstruction! Imagine if I was actually here! Oh hell, this place is grim! It's working our way down the streets now. I can't see any of Charlie-6 yet. They're here somewhere. None of them can fly though so let's hope they made it down safely. In the meantime I see a crate ahead of me marked with a Webb logo. While I'm checking it my packset squawks into life! It's Dr. Webb. "Hello? Is anyone on this frequency? Specialists Russo, Trainer and I are still alive. You're alive! And I see you've found a crate already, look for more, we're in P.C. saving data." Ok, now that's good news! P.C.? Oh, Portal Corps! Gotcha. So, that leaves Riley and Tank and the Doc and West and Sommer to find. Wherever they are. And according to intel there's even a Resistance group out here somewhere. If I see them then I see them, they're not top of my To-Do list right now. You know, I bet that's one of Charlie-6 over there! Ok girls, lock and load! We're going in hot! Yeppers! It's Riley! We cut down the Devouring Earth around him and free him. Once he's patched up and ready and I've filled him in on what little I know we set off looking for the rests of the team and more of Webb's crates of tech. Not all the team has been as lucky as myself and Captain Riley though unfortunately. Muller is hurt and he's been breathing in irradiated air and god knows what sort of spores that cause the Tellurian Plague. I zap him with some Elec healing all the same though. Can't hurt, can it? Shortly after that we are lucky enough to find Sommer and Tank near each other and free them from the green mist that binds them. No sign of West yet. And we still have...wait! I see another of Webb's tech crates! When we open it Dr. Webb contacts us again. (I don't know how you're doing the radio chatter @NyxiaSnow, but it's well done and very cool!) Only two more crates now and we find them in short order but as we do Webb tells us that the Devouring Earth have broken in to his location! Trainer is down! Then contact is lost. Of course this happens at the same time that Muller coughs a lot, his eyes glaze over and he attacks us. Before I can stop them the girls have riddled him with lead! Oh hell. Poor Muller! And Trainer is gone too. Not a good day for Charlie-6. We've got the tech though so we need to get to Portal Corps as fast as we can. Time to hightail it! But where is Portal Corps? Ah, we follow the large line of Devouring Earth converging on a particular building. Then Russo appears from behind some rubble! He fills us in on what happened, ending with Webb himself is maybe still alive in there trying to start some machine up that could save us all. Well, we were going in anyway. [Mission 4 = And the hits keep on coming! Wonderful storytelling in this arc. Loving it.] Mission 5: Operation Threshold: Part 5: A World Devoured. Captain Riley takes charge. The plan is ass a super (and my girls) I have the best chance of finding Webb and getting him out alive. Plus whatever machinery activation he needs. Charlie-6 is going to stay here and hold off the Devouring Earth as long as possible to give me time to do that. Sheesh. And then me and the girls are pounding along corridors, fighting off Devouring Earth everywhere as we go. I mean they're everywhere! I have no idea if Webb is even still alive in here. Laura burns through a Lesser Devoured ahead of me and we keep going. Down around the corner we're ambushed by Devolved humans, all suffering from the Tellurian Plague and all wanting to kill us. Possible eat me too, I dunno. We put them down. And they keep coming! Down hallways, chased by the Devolved, turning corners and attacked by Swarms and all sorts! Until finally we open a door to a portal room and would you believe it, Webb is STILL ALIVE!! We cut our way in to him, burning and firing and frankly kicking anything that gets near us! Seeker Drones fly out and do their thing too! And then a momentary lull as we reach Webb. With Webb secured for now I start calibrating the machinery around the room under his instructions. First a console, then a scanner device. And finally the portal itself needs to be booted up. The packset squawks at me. Charlie-6? The Devouring Earth are coming. Hamidon's forces on Praetoria are coming. And the exit is back towards them. Webb grabs my arm and shouts at me that we have to go, now! The portal is live! He jumps through and vanishes. Oh well, here goes nothing. I send the girls through after Webb and then...and then I'm tackled from behind and thrust through the portal! [Mission 5 = Whooo! Ok, loved that. Loved it.] Verdict. This is an AE that does its own thing and does it really well. I'm very much looking forward to the rest of this story. To the rest of you, go play this now! Araminta signing off.

Ah. No it wasn't 100% clear to me. That is probably on me though. I read it more like Engineria and her team had entered the building and then been staggering through the missions with her memory fogged to hell, not sure how she got there and hearing the voice through her headset. It's why I never mentioned the contact at all. I think it worked though! And I had to reread my post to find the Yeats thing! I see it now. Sadly that was not intentional 😞

The next arc on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews will be part of the Interludes, Side Trips, and One-offs, and is @LordRassilon (@Valeyard on the AE console)'s Heart of Words Part One. After some serious decompression and off-loading some of my weirder jobs to Araminta (ask her about her virtual time travel to Praetoria some time!), I finally got around to meeting up with Professor Skeffington Lewis. Well, I grabbed a coffee on the way out after picking up my armor from Icon. All buffed out! Mission 1: A Race for Answers. Professor Lewis works for C.A.B.A.L. Oh, another one of those. You know, I always thought there surely must be more than just the ones we see in City Hall. And here we are. He and his team scour the planet for arcane artifacts and relics, making sure that they are kept out of the hands of...the unworthy? Hmm. Okay then. Who decides the worthiness? You do. Hokay. I bet you butt heads with the Midnight Squad on your travels, not to mention the...what are those British ones called again? Dawn Patrol? Possibly. Ok, Professor, what's the deal here? Psychics are falling into comas? Anything to do with the amount of Awakened trooping around Kallisti Wharf these days? No? And the more powerful ones, Numina, Penny Yin, are so far untouched. So people my level (according to my security status with City Hall I mean! I'm no psychic!) The comatose are registering no synaptic activity at all, as if they were truly emptied of consciousness. Ok, that's weird. And you've...with an 8 Ball?...narrowed it down to a building in Boomtown. Ah man. Boomtown. Well, at least it's not Crey's Folly or the sewers. I have learned to really hate getting my feet wet when working. So I get the address. Not that that does much good. I'll have to take a detour to City Hall to get the old maps of Baumton to get an idea of the area. As I head out the door he mentions I should look for a potted plant. And to think I thought I handed off the weird cases to Araminta! Well, here I am. Boomtown. No sign of Council War Walkers or Babbage so far, so that's a plus. In I go. Door isn't locked either. I stealth my way through the building, up some stairs and along a hallway until...ok, Clockwork. Not unusual considering I'm in Boomtown and I did just mention Babbage. And Lewis talked about Valkyrie fighting the Clockwork King near here. Wait, those voices. Turn up the gain on my headset. Crey. I can hear Crey Tank armor. And they're talking about the Countess and share prices? Dammit! I was so busy trying to hear what those Crey were saying I totally missed seeing the Clockwork patrol that I just walked into! Rads on and take that, you wind-up toy! Of course it all goes even further south when those two Crey tanks I was trying to eavesdrop on come around the corner and decide that, you know, I'm not welcome. Oh, I was feeling unwelcome BEFORE you two got here so don't think you're original in that! I do manage to drop the pair of them though. SOOO glad I had my armor repaired. It's like new! Now, where the hell were they going before they ran into me? Time to have a little scout around. Nope. Nope. Just lots of Clockwork intent on frying me. No thanks and down you go in bits, amigos. Wait, that looks interesting. What pray tell is down there? I decide to investigate, ridding the world of more Clockwork as I go. I think I've disassembled every single one I've met in this building so far. Which is fine, it's not like they're alive anyway. You know, I've been expecting a bigger Clockwork thing for a while now. I remember that from one of those courses Positron did for newbie heroes when I started out. Although he did spend a hot minute complaining that Synapse was supposed to be doing that one and he was just filling in. I have news for you, my clanky pal, you are going to be disappointed. Well, maybe your master is as I'm not sure emotion is a thing for you. Psychics and the Clockwork King? Yeah, that rings a bell. Object did you say? It's not a potted plant, is it? OW! This guy is one tough tin can! Hey buster! I literally just had this armor fixed so lay off on that, wouldja? Nope. Grind up the Rads then! And BOOM! Oh, and lemme just rip some speed and power from you with Kinetics. Kthnxby! JEEZ LOUISE! Will you drop already! He is wearing me down! I'm holding out against him but he's relentless. Still I hammer him with Rads and his health starts to slalom downhill rapidly. Thankfully for me because I'm clean out of Green Insps. Oh thank the stars! Whew! Okies. Now, where is that object he was talking about? Time to do a little spelunking. I find a pile of rubble nearby where the big guy had been standing before I interrupted him so rudely. And what have we here? Some sort of rune stone. I reckon this is the source of the psychic disturbance here. Time to head back to Professor Lewis and check in with him. The professor doesn't recognize the glyphs on the stone but he says he'll do some divination magic on it. In the meantime he has somewhere else for me to investigate. [Mission 1: Great start! Wacky contact (Read the bio!) with a mysterious yet entirely plausible organization for Paragon. Psychic and Clockwork. Good stuff! On to the next mission!] Mission 2: Old Enemies. Well it escalates. I mean I'd have to expect that wouldn't I? I can count on the fingers of no hands how many missions I've done that just went well and so on. So Professor Lewis informs me that Penny Yin (Penny Yin!) is now under observation in the Founders Falls hospital. Should I send flowers? (At least it's our Penny Yin and not the mad one. Or wait, no. Maybe I'd prefer the mad one to be in a coma somewhere.) And Lewis's 8 Ball exploded. That would explain the weird staining around him I suppose. Well, I hope! He's particularly interested in news of Countess Crey seeing as she's known to be a powerful psychic herself. As for ol' Clockwork King himself? We have no idea. But now he's sending me to an old Crey facility in Overbrook/Faultline. While I'm in there Lewis is going to be contacting others, including Synapse, who used to work for Crey. He did? I need to read more in the Freedom Phalanx library about their founding. And here I am. Oh! Good news! One of the BIG GUYS is meeting me here. Nearest I get to a big guy is Spooky Marcus. Mostly it's just me and Buddy. WHAT? I mean I didn't even SEE him! He must have just run right past me! Ok, there could be another door, let's not get ahead of myself now. I'll go say hello. Hey, Synapse! Good to be working alongside you for this. Giant huge enormous note to self to be stuck on my refrigerator in neon writing: DO NOT SHOUT OUT TO THE FREEDOM PHALANX MEMBER BEFORE SECURING THE LOCATION! C'mon! C'mon! (Should have stocked some Break Frees. Quick shuffle of three others to craft one and there we go!) And I free myself and take down those Crey just in time. No time to get complacent here. Crey are well capable of hurting me. Ok, Synapse, let's go hunting. I wonder. Oh, I have a fun idea. What happens to Synapse if I layer my Kinetics Speed Boost on to him? I mean how fast is he going to be? Let's find out! Hopefully with my own theft of Speed I'll be able to keep up. HAHAHA! Awesome! Look at him go! Oh my! I need to keep up with him somehow. I confess I didn't think this through. Oh dear. Well, after Synapse dealt with those Crey I took a look around and found a data center. Nothing of significance on it unfortunately. Well, I suppose there's plenty on it but none concerning the issue we're investigating. We do some more hunting around with these data centers and find that Crey themselves have been scanning for psychic disturbances. Makes sense I suppose. If I was Countess Crey I'd want to know what psychic shenanigans were going on around the city. Just in case. But Synapse and me having bigger fish to fillet/fry/throw back! Because lookee over here. Hopkins. Not the friendliest of people at the best of times. I've run into him before when - hey, when I was doing a Task Force for Manticore! And let me tell you he punches like a...well it hurt. Cracked ribs take ages to heal. But we haven't got much choice right now. He's spotted us and sent in the Crey Tanks to soften us up. By "soften us up" I do mean "beat Engineria to a pulp" because Synapse is just buzzing around the entire thing and landing punch after punch on everyone that isn't me. Which is appreciated. I'm still getting hit though! Oh Oh! Hopkins himself has waded in towards me! Last time I faced him I was on a team of EIGHT! Ok, we didn't have a Freedom Phalanx member with us but there was a 1 in 8 chance of him hitting me if I was tactical about it. Not so much now! My odds are...meh at best. Synapse will be with me in a moment, he's just finishing up those Crey Tanks and leaving them tied up in a corner or something. I do hope the irony isn't lost on him when I shout "hurry the hell up!" But he joins the fight and while I don't really get breathing space, I can actually breathe! Plus rip some HP off Hopkins with my Kinetics. He says he's trying to save her. Her? The Countess? That tracks with his history. You know, pal, you could have just talked to us. You really could. But no, here we are now and you are getting your behind handed to you. I hope! We take him down. I definitely catch my breath now! But we get a little insight into what's going on here too. And to top it off we find a cryogenic stasis thing containing the Countess herself! Crey put her in there to halt a deterioration in her condition. So she too has succumbed to this mystery illness. We'll...take her with us for now. Protective custody I reckon. As soon as she's well she's free to go. Ok Synapse, time to talk to C.A.B.A.L. Professor Lewis is puzzled I think, now that we know Crey is not behind all this. Hopefully the data I've recovered can be searched for clues as to our next move. [Mission 2 = Whee! Speed Boosting Synapse is a hoot! Great little mission and watching that blue and red blur go to work is so fun. Keeping up with him is another kettle of fish shaped things though!] Mission 3: Pieces of the Problem. With the Countess stored in one of the Zig's cryochambers, Professor Lewis gets back to me. He needs me to find more of the marker stones or rune stones. And where would I be looking for those? Oh, you've made a sort of divining rod spell or tracker from the ones we have. Well, I had to ask, okay? And much like the previous site with Valkyrie and the Clockwork King, this place too was the site of a battle. One between the Grimm Fairy and Ishmael, a Lost Pariah. Oh, I remember a class on that. Well, on Ishmael anyway. The more you know the better I suppose. And I have to be aware that there may be others seeking out these things due to their magic. Okies! Lewis is also puzzled by the oddness of the rune stones. The glyphs are very old but somehow the stone itself is new. How is that possible? Unless it's ...what does lava turn into? Basalt? I'm grasping at straws here. Tell you what, you think about that and I'll go and find more stones. Deal? And somewhere he's saying "I told you so." Alrighty then. Looks like the Circle of Thorns have beaten the Clockwork to it to claim that obelisk thing. Well, can't have that. Time for me to interfere in their plans. Wait! Who the hell are you? Failure? How is that a person? Is it a person? It damn well looks like a person. And it moves fast too! Mind you so do the Circle wizards! Time for me to crank up the Rads on my gauntlets and let them have it full blast! Oh, nasty. You hit hard! I do not like. Hang on, were these guys guarding the stone thing? So THREE sides then. Circle of Thorns, Clockwork and these other folks. Ok, at least I'm not dealing with Clockwork for now. And I can totally see your brain matter! Ugh! (Check out the bios! Intriguing!) However, I fight these guys off and proceed to crack open the obelisk itself. I have to take down something called "Doubt" to do so. Another of these person-shaped things. I find a glyph stone embedded in the obelisk and take it. Lewis will need more of these. Have to keep searching then. There was a little bit of trouble getting to the second glyph stone but I dealt with it. A creature calling itself "Fear" was in the way. Not any more it isn't! The rest of the warehouse is filled with COT battling Clockwork and me avoiding them where I can because I see no reason to get embroiled in one of their interminable battles. I reckon a grudge from the COT is one that will last a LONG time if you're unlucky enough to end up in "Ye Olde Book of Grudges". I have to deal with some creatures answering to "Stress" and "Pain" too. This is like that time I got stuck in the Rogue Isles doing a job for Psimon. That was psychologically scarring too! Ok, that's a third rune stone recovered. One more to go it seems. Ah, there we are. And done. I hope Lewis appreciates all this. I don't usually have to battle Fear, Pain, Stress, Doubt and so on. Well, I DO, but not physically. Ok the pain I have to...look, go with it. You all know what I meant. Back with the professor things are not looking good despite my success. Four new glyphs and one of them repeats. That's fine and dandy but what's the big to do? Oh. Penny Yin is having nightmares and Numina is trying to help her but it's not working. Or at least not yet. I'm pretty certain even though I have not had it scientifically proven to me, that psychics having nightmares is very much not a good thing. Not good at all. [Mission 3 = That was fun! Clear cut mission of retrieve the object/destroy the object, but plenty of plot layers through it and some nice running battles across the entire map. On to the next mission!] Mission 4: A Binding Contract. Lewis's analysis of my report is interesting to say the least. The emotion creatures (they called themselves the Unspoken) only appeared near the glyphs he muses. Yeah, that's right. Although I was not you understand primarily focused on that point, more not letting them kill me. That was my priority in there. And yes, they faded from existence when defeated. Lewis thinks that the glyphs allow them to temporarily exist in our world (Oh don't tell me they're part of the Mobius Strip! That non place has haunted me for a while now.) Lewis thinks there is a controlling mind behind these appearances. And with the Circle's presence that means Baron Zoria is involved. The COT want those glyphs for something. We need to know what. Time for me to go to Oranbega. Oranbega should be validating my parking by now with the amount of times I end up there. Ok, I'm going, I'm going. And while I'm in there can I have a look for the Primal Codex? It could prove valuable in deciphering the glyphs. Gotcha. So Oranbega then. Weirdly quiet in here so far. Well, I think it's weirdly quiet. It's usually got wizards and spooks flitting about and trying to kill me, not to mention Behemoth things throwing fire around. Aha! Bookshelf. Is my luck holding up? Nope. It isn't. No sign of the Primal Codex here. Ok, on I go then. It's amazing how big this place is. I mean it has to be in some sort of sideways dimension to Paragon because if this much was actually under the city then surely half of the city would have fallen into a sinkhole by now. I mean the Hollows just collapsed in and did we find ourselves sitting in Oranbega? No we didn't. Same for Faultline. What other explanation is there? That it's really really far down? Maybe. Nothing in that bookshelf either relevant to my search. Or if there is I'm not smart enough to spot it. Oh, there's another one around the corner. Success! One Primal Codex procured for Professor Lewis. Now I need to have a little chat with Baron Zoria. Of course I'm looking forward to that. What sane girl wouldn't be? Ah. I've intruded on something important I think. I'll circle around a bit before approaching him directly. Directly from behind I mean. Ah rats. He's not easy to sneak up on. Makes sense. You don't get to be in his position without having some skills I suppose. Seems I'm interfering in the grand plan. Happy to help, mon ami. Happy to help. It seems that he was interrupted before the operator put his call through! No evil overlord coming to his aid. And that's a win for me because I'm having enough trouble with him on his own! Even without his master's aid Baron Zoria is a tough old nut to crack. I'm ripping health from him constantly with Kinetics and Rad blasting him but he's still fending me off and searing me with magic! Hooboy! I could do with Buddy here now but I don't even have the breathing room to take the time to call him. It's all in and keep blasting this old dead stick of a wizard. C'mon, give it up already! I don't want to kill you, not that I can if all that stuff about soul thorns is true. Finally! My armor servos are whirring at an insane speed right now. Need to have those looked at by Araminta. Oh, what's this? A scroll. I'll give that to Lewis. Lewis is as clear as mud when he explains. I'm sure it all makes sense but I'm having trouble standing up right now so I'm getting it in fragments. The COT were taking advantage of an existing situation with all the psychics in order to finalize their pact. As for the existing situation? Penny Yin is getting worse and Numina has set up defensive barriers around her to prevent anything worse occurring. Worse? Oh, here it is. Worse as in the COT had surmised that the glyphs represent something called the First Five. The first five concepts born from emerging human consciousness. Ah. And that means what exactly said Engineria, clinging on to her own consciousness as tightly as possible. It means the COT were trying to do a deal with the originator of those things. Oh wonderful. Jaws shows up and the COT wade out to it covered in bait, because of course they do. [Mission 4 = Good romp through Oranbega. I didn't put in all the fights with COT because there were a LOT of them, and Oranbega is huge! But we're on the way to solving this mystery. Good stuff.] Mission 5: The Final Word. Well, the processed biomass has hit the spinning thing. And myself and Lewis are gagging. Penny Yin succumbed and lies deep in a coma. Plus (like I needed a "plus") Numina has vanished! But her barrier is still up. So that gives hope, says Lewis. The scientists have pinpointed a hot spot of psychic weirdness in...aha! Another battle spot. Kinda. The place where Tammy Arcanus effectively became Numina. Lewis thinks these spots are weaker, thinner dimensionally somehow. Lewis thinks that the missing minds are located there and this is our chance to free them and close the gap between the dimensions. The enemy is using Five Minds as part of its power to enter our world. You know, I wish there were four more along with me. If need be I'll call Buddy. Two is better than one. Two against Five is better than One against Five. Not much but Buddy is ....you know, Buddy really should join Hero Corps. He's definitely qualified by now. Alright! I'm going! Cool your heels, Professor Lewis! AH! Immediately attacked by spirity things! Take that! BOOM! And there's so many of them in here. So very many. Oh boobles! Countess Crey is up ahead. Or...her consciousness is? Either way she's one of the Five Minds so if I don't free her then the Unspoken King will come through and you know, that's bad. Ok, let's get this done. I dispose of the Fear and other non persons around her and is she grateful? What do you think? I think she's at the least irate and is intent on killing the messenger. USPS, that's me! I mean you COULD just gimme a chance to explain...no? Oh gawd. How is she so powerful if she's note even really here?!!! Fortunately for me she IS weaker than she normally is due to her coma induced state. How do I know? Remember me saying I took part in a Task Force for Manticore? Yeah, she was there too and at I believe full power. Ok, one Atomic Blast and then I reach for my Incarnate powers and grab an Ion Judgement! I try not to use Incarnates much because you can get over reliant on them, and I've noticed that sometimes they're not there! Like the Well thing doesn't want you to use them in that moment or something. And time travel plays havoc with them too. Just not there half the time. Ok Countess, you lay there and I dunno, evaporate back to your body or something. I have four other people to free. Oh. I've had a terrible thought. I'll hold that thought for a minute because I've found Numina! If all is right with the world she won't attack me when I free her. I can only hope! Hope vindicated! Woot! Ok, she's going to close the rift. That's excellent because it means I don't have to do that. Now that worrying thing I was talking about. Yeah, up ahead. This guy is going to go full Countess Crey on me, isn't he? Sure he is. Even so I still have to free him from the Unspoken King's grip. Sigh. Here we go! Wait! Buddy! Get in here! TP to the PPD activated and Buddy arrives. Ok, NOW let's free Ishmael. And yep, he's irate. To say the least. C'mon, Buddy, let's knock some sense into this guy and then get to the next Mind. He's tough! Throwing us back and attacking us with mind powers! But with two of us we're wearing him down. Then he makes a run for it! Crazy! I mean run to where if he's only here in mind form? Where does he think he's going? Get him, Buddy! Good man! And with that the Third Mind is freed. We trudge through the caves and after dealing with some spirity things we see Penny Yin ahead of us. I'm hopeful that she won't attack us either. And now that I'm in this position I'm glad my earlier thoughts that it would have been better if Penny Mayhem had been captured never came to fruition. Now, THAT girl would fry us with psychic fire if we freed her. And anything that could capture her...well, scary thoughts. And more of these non people, this one called Risk! We free Penny Yin and she tells us that she still can't move. Then she utters a warning! Doom awaits us! It seems this Doom is the final gatekeeper before the Unspoken King himself arrives. Doom has some companions with it, like Hysteria. Oh that's more boding. Bodey boding. Like it couldn't get any worse. I've jinxed myself, haven't I? Hit them, Buddy! We have to stop the incursion! And Rads away! Ow ow ow! Oh, ripping health from him is barely keeping me and Buddy up. But it IS keeping me and Buddy up, so there's that. And we don't get time to catch our breaths when we defeat Doom because (remember I said I jinxed it?) the Clockwork King arrives. His connection to Penny Yin seems as strong as ever and obviously me and Buddy are in his way as he sets about "rescuing" her. Buddy and I are running on fumes here! We circle in and I rip health from the Clockwork King's minions, propping the pair of us up and conveniently taking those minions out of the fight. Well, some of the minions. The rest keep hitting us along with their King. Screw it! Time for those Incarnates again. Ion Judgement on! KABOOM! And the Clockwork King abandons that body. Whew. Ok, it looks like we're successful. I hope. Penny Yin is free though and I think I have to report back to Professor Lewis and C.A.B.A.L. Professor Lewis is relieved at our success. But warns that the Unspoken King is still out there so C.A.B.A.L. must investigate further and make a plan to prevent him attempting to come through again. And how did the Clockwork King resist the mind control when the others did not? That too needs to be investigated. He'll give me a call when he has news. Well, you do that. I for one am going to have a nice long bath and a glass of wine. [Mission 5 = Great finale. The additional fights against the Countess and Ishmael really added to the danger, and the surprise appearance of the Clockwork King, while unexpected was entirely logical and within character.] Verdict. @LordRassilon has constructed a great arc here and a first AE too! This bodes well for the next two parts of the series. Looking forward to those. This is recommended! Go play it everyone! Next up on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews as part of the Interludes, Side Trips, and One-offs, will be @LordRassilon (@Valeyard on the AE console)'s Heart of Words Part Two. And immediately next up is @Ankylosaur's All That Glows 3: Nictus Evictus.

Arc 26 from our second author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @cranebump's Fallout 3: Reassembly. This adventure continued on from my work with the Autumn Wards. It's tricky to explain and even now I'm not 100 percent sure how much of it actually happened and how much was a nightmare or a dream of something else. If you remember we had some issues with bleed over from what the Wards refer to as the Mobius Strip, and then it got hella meta. Lobart teamed up with an alternate version of his daughter, and we were aided by an alternate version of her mother, and in the end there was mention of someone standing behind all that. Someone with the code name of Papillon. Clear as mud. So we'd captured Lobart and in his files there was mention of Chrysalis, a comms app. The Wards traced all this to a location in Crey's Folly and there we ran into oddity. Yeah, oddity. I'll leave it like that. Mission 1: Zero to One. My team and I entered the abandoned Freak warehouse...well, we all entered the door but when I set foot on the other side I was alone. Already off to a good start! Oh boy. A grim place lit only by the light of braziers. Not exactly sure what the Freaks used to do here. Not sure I really want to know either. That might be mental bleach time. But there's a signal coming from somewhere in here. I just have to find the source. And there it is. It's oddly translucent, opaque, like it's not quite here. Oh hell, more bleed through from the Mobius Strip? Because that always goes well! OH! Well, maybe I should have expected that to happen. I didn't, but maybe I should have. Then another signal and another! The final one reveals that it's more of a holo-emitter. So anything in here while conjured from thin air, could have actually killed me. I had better not be complacent! Time to leave and have a think. Still no sign of my team. Were we all in separate realities in here? Each of us thinking we were abandoned and alone? We will see when I get out of this place. If I can get out of this place! [Mission 1 = Intriguing! A different start to what I was expecting but I'm all in now! Bring on the next mission!] Mission 2: Deep Work. A matrix constructed by another that I entered, that the whole team entered, but were kept apart in. All confusing. What next? An introduction to the Sacred Flame. Or a reintroduction perhaps. Dis tried to harness it but she was flawed in herself so it fell apart. Everything falls apart I'm told. And they had to shut it down but this guy I remember (Why is my memory so bad? is it because of that holo matrix or the so-called Sacred Flame? More Mobius Strip bleed? No idea) telling me that he was close. So yeah, he couldn't just let it go, could he? How did I get here? I really need to get some psi protection if possible. Who from though? I mean with all the Awakened in Kallisti Wharf these days surely someone in the Freedom Corps must be advising on how to defend yourself against that? You'd think that, wouldn't you? Or would you? Where the hell am I anyway? It looks like Eden. Oh that's not good at all. Emitters. I have to disable the emitters. Holo emitters I'm assuming. How do I know that? Got me there. I just know. I wish I'd brought Araminta with me. I think she's in Croatoa right now but I can't be certain. I think I'm back in my own timeline again too but again I can't be certain. All this not being certain is not conducive to investigation. Let's find those emitters and disable them and then see what happens. Ah, there we go. Arachnos style model it appears. Or the shell of it is at least. Oh, emitters plural. There's more of them. Hmm. My Nemesis? As in Engineria's nemesis? Rather than Capital N Nemesis? Do I have one of those? I don't think I do. Statesman/Lord Recluse, that sort of thing? Oh, I'm not the baby super I was once but I'm not on the level of having a nemesis yet. So, am I still in a holo scene or actually in Eden? Is this my memory or that of the maker of the holo scene? Am I overthinking all this? I might be. There's another emitter over there. Disguised this time. Ok, let's keep going on disabling them and see what happens. And another. And another. And finally this one. And with that they are all destroyed. Then I'm not there any more. I'm out. Where? I dunno. But that voice I keep hearing tells me I'm getting closer. As close as they got. I wonder is there a good therapist I can talk to later. Or now? Hero Corps probably has some on staff. I bet Whipsmart's people have one too. [Mission 2 = More opaque goodness. A very different style of AE, but intriguing. On to the next mission, if it really IS a mission!] Mission 3: The Undefeated Mind. I'm delusional. Memories that I am damn certain aren't mine flood in. How do I know? Because I know how old I am and what gender I identify as, and these are from an older, apparently male person. The age is the key though, plus expertise in things I know I as Engineria never had or learned. (I wonder if this is what it's like to be psychic? You imagine that it's all "Sister Psyche saves the world" when you're a kid, but what was it like for that young woman who maybe couldn't shut all the voices and memories out? How did she retain a sense of herself at all?) A name pops up. Tracee Deimos. Nope. I see a face and information flows in to attach to that image but the remaining bit of me that I recognize as me is also asking the question "Who?" She had a touch of the Sacred Flame but was pushed through a process to accelerate her power. I don't think she came out of it right. I'm definitely in need of a vacation. I might let Araminta handle a few of my cases going forward, although I still have some work booked with a Professor Skeffington Lewis, not to mention Buddy Bolton has more work for me and I'm not letting him down. Lobart was the key here. (How do I know that?) It seems that a virtual laboratory was needed (the holo scenes?) so that's what was built. What was built was the Chrysalis. Except things emerge from a chrysalis, don't they? Hmm, an overcast, almost bluish light to the sky, The kind you get on a rural road with no street lighting, and it's a dry summer night with a bright moon. Except I appear to be in Cap Au Diable. There's more emitters. These ones are disguised too. What happens when I shut them down. Am I lying somewhere in an AE suite with all this going on? What exactly happened to me after I got back to Earth from dealing with the Dark Comet? Ok, deal with the problem in front of you as my dad always said. Ok, one down. Let's find the others and see what's hidden by all these things. And I am almost instantly attacked by aerial drones and bots that are VERY intent on perforating my armor with lasers! Not good. I dive and swoop, pulling health from them with Kinetics and slowing them by stealing their speed. It barely works! Ok, after the last two excursions into what I've been calling the holo scene I got complacent. This is a wake up call. Also, I notice that when attacked I'm definitely ME. It's only when there's a period of calm that the influence of the implanted (I don't know if that's the right word) memories have a chance to work on my psyche. Adrenaline burns them out? Maybe. I'm still in here though so I'm not sure. More disguised emitters to find though. I'm definitely not my usual happy-go-lucky Engineria self right now though. Oh wonderful. There's someone IN the damn truck shooting at me. How does that even work? Or are they just sitting inside the emitter field and staring out? You know, like those hunters that sit for hours in a blind waiting for a target. That's that one down. Plus its defender. I take out a third and then somewhere there's a master control console that I need to find. I take to the air and start scanning and....CRAPPITY! ZOOM! As in AWAY! Oh, they follow. Because of course they do! I'm trailing smoke from my armor and my endurance is bottoming out. Can't seem to rip any from them at all, and I'm out of Blues. Finally I finish off the last of those flying bomb things and destroy the console. And then I'm out of this place. But the Chrysalis has cracked. Ah, how stupid am I? PAPILLON!! [Mission 3 = This entire arc so far is steeped in mood and tone, and I might be repeating myself there. I really like it but it's very different.] Mission 4: The Hard Thing About Hard Things. A mad dream about Unity. The creator of the chrysalis and Papillon combined to create something new. Honestly I'm going to need a week off after I figure out what the hell is going on here. I hope my insurance will cover it! All you non supers, let me tell you that unless you're Manticore or someone like that, being a super is expensive and I'm not just talking about getting yourself new enhancements. There's that name surfacing again, Tracee Deimos. Nope, still don't know who they are or were, other than things went BAD for them. Are they going to go bad for me? We'll see. Papillon has fused many aspects within itself to become what it is now, and it has reached across the dimensions and will seek to "upgrade" everyone, whether they want it or not. And then? Don't like the sound of that at all. Engineria 2.0 fighting in some sort of war world for supremacy? Nope. I'm cutting that right out. Check utility belt. Buddy and Marcus on call. If they're even really here. But if I'm here why can't they be here? Let's go with that hope for now. I find myself in an office/lab space. And ahead of me, finally, is one of my team! Not seen them since...however long this has taken. It could be days, it could be minutes. No way to measure time. Experience, yes. Time passed? Nope. I proceed to free them. I can't even remember their name! Oh, there's gonna be a reckoning at the end of all of this! Get out and get help. Hopefully we're not in Crey's Folly or somewhere equally awful. Further ahead I find another team mate. At least they're alive. I suppose that's a silver lining. It's a GOOD silver lining but those clouds are still hanging over us. I free them, and then another member in an adjoining room. Every step is taking me closer to the fiend behind all this, this Papillon person. If it is a person. From the mysterious voice over I've been getting I'm not so sure anymore. Oh. Johann Parker. Not seen him since...Chalikar? I think we were hunting those back then. He was a bit squirrelly even then I have to admit. Squirrelly or not he's one of us so I wade in and start cutting down his captors. These guys really do not like me. And I've not had time to repair my armor so I'm getting hammered here. However, you are still going down, mon brave! Parker! Are you ok? Wait. Your voice. It's you! You're the one I've been hearing this entire time. How is that possible? Also, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? He collapses without explaining further. Only one way to end this he said. So, take out Papillon then? Ah. Is THAT Papillon? I think I'm gonna call in Marcus on this. No offence to Buddy at all. BOOM! Well, I hit him at least. Now we've got him angry. Maybe. Does he get angry? Or is it just a calculation where he assesses the danger and removes it? The "it" in that equation being me. Let's find out. Is that your only wish? Mine is for a nice hot bath and a glass of wine and a good book. Betcha I get mine first, buster. Hit him, Marcus! Nope, old Marcus here is known for not complying. Not quite his calling card, but it's pretty high up the list of things he doesn't do. And he's got you facing away from me so you're getting as much Rads as I can hand out. Either we take you down or I burn out my gauntlets. (Gotta do some serious work on these things later!) And he goes down. Not without incident. I've never seen Marcus reeling before. Oh, he's vanished when I get taken down, that's part of the deal with the amulet I'm told. But to still be upright and so injured? Nope. Not much better myself. Ok, counter intuitively, Marcus, we need to find some more of these guys so I can heal us by ripping out their health and transferring it to us. C'mon. And we do that. Feeling a mite better I open up a console and check it for details. In it we find Parker's confession. And a warning to leave fast because there's a self destruct about to happen! Go go go, Marcus! Say, you couldn't like pick me up and fly me out of here? Like in the old cartoons? No. Ok, run! There's the door! No, I don't know what the timer is set for but I'm not waiting around to find out! And I'm out. The rest of the team are recovering. I'm going home. No debrief given here because MAJOR SPOILERS. [Mission 4 = Great ending to a thoughtful arc. Loved it.] Verdict. @cranebump is an author that ventures into narrative spaces that others don't and I think the AE is better for it. It's a delicate balancing act yet they pull it off. My biggest issue is trying to find a mode of recording it here that (a) doesn't spoiler things and (b) shows how Engineria would experience it rather than me as a player at one remove. Definitely recommended. Next up from @cranebump is The Bounce House. And immediately next up on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews as part of the Interludes, Side Trips, and One-offs, will be @LordRassilon (@Valeyard on the AE console)'s Heart of Words Part One. AFTERMATH: Engineria recounts her adventure to Araminta. Armor is being repaired!

Going to post this because it's the season! Happy Halloween everyone! Love, Araminta.

Araminta's Adventures. Hello gang! Araminta here. I generally have a quieter life than Engineria, what with still reading through a lot of material salvaged from Praetoria. When that that is converted to AE data by Neil over in Steel Canyon then I'm going to have a look at it properly. Having just come back though from checking out a zombie invasion I check my messages to find one from the mayor of Salamanca over in Croatoa, Gordon Bower. I've only been out to Croatoa once or twice so far. Seems lovely but I tend not to drag the girls around open countryside because I then spend hours scraping dirt out of the metal. But I won't refuse a call for help. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Headless Huntsman of Salamanca by @Jiro Ito Mission 1: A Call From the Mayor's Office. So I get the train out to Salamanca and head over to the town hall. No sign of Gordon Bower though. I meet Councilman Larry Vaughn instead. He tells me that my services aren't needed and I can just turn around and go home and take my robots with me. Suspicious much? I don't like how this is going. He insists though and I leave. I decide to have a look around Salamanca myself while I'm here. What's Vaughn gonna do, arrest me? He's a Councilman, not the police. He's not even the mayor. Let's have a wander around. And I'm glad I did! Down one street I can see a Mr. Polk held captive by the Tuatha! Those creatures look as big as some of the Council Soldiers! Or the Council Soldiers are on some steroid to make them as big as the Tuatha! Both are much bigger than me is what I am trying to say! Well, I'm going to rescue him. C'mon ladies! Everyone lock and load! Ok, these Tuatha are tough. I was thrown across the street at one point! But the girls took them down all the same. Now, Mr. Polk, are you ok? A headless ghost you say? That's a new one for me. Just the one headless ghost? No accompanying ghostless head? No. Ok. Ok, I've read a lot of the news reports that have come out of Croatoa over the years and I really shouldn't be surprised that a headless ghost would appear here of all places. Nor should anyone else really. But there are other citizens in trouble so me and the girls go looking for them. If this is what Larry Vaughn calls normal then I don't want to live here. Coming around a corner in Salamanca we run into a similar situation as Mr. Polk, except this time it's a Mr. Posner. Ok, girls, you know what to do now. Let's get to rescuing! We free him and he claims that the headless ghost drew all the other creatures here. Ah. Well, I don't know what to do about that. Yet! All I can do right now is save the rest of the citizens currently being terrorized by the Tuatha. Oh hello, who are you? Scruffy. And you are? Oh! Sorry. I was just about to offer you a treat. I keep a small supply in one of Laura's utility boxes. Oh you still want one? Ok. So Scruffy here is a shapeshifted member of the Midnight Squad. They heard the commotion and came outside to help. Nice to meet you, Scruffy. What say you and me work together here? There we go, Scruffy! Mrs. Kintner is our last rescuee! And Scruffy, I know you're a professional and all but don't run in front of the girls when they're firing. Hang on Mrs. Kintner, we're coming! So yeah. Mrs. Kintner reaffirms the whole deal about a headless ghost. The streets seem clear. For now. Scruffy vanishes off in the direction of the university. I've been meaning to have a look at their library actually. They have lots of books that haven't been digitized yet and some that they claim can't be digitized. I head back into the town hall and Larry Vaughn meets me at the door and once again tries to get rid of me! Says there no such creature as a headless ghost here and even if there is, well I must have brought it with me! What? In some sort of vacuum thermos? On the train? You're either hiding something or you're an idiot. Or...I finish the thought outside. Or you're really scared and there's more to this than a headless ghost. Hmm. C'mon girls, let's go sit at the train station and have a think. [Mission 1 = Simple mission but very well executed. I really liked the concept of the bait and switch with the contact and having a contact that really doesn't want you there.] Mission 2: Children of the Pumpkin Patch. So after some thinking I head back to the town hall and Vaughn is almost surprised I'm still in Salamanca. He has some words for me on that! Then he gets frustrated and admits that yes there's rumors of some sort of creature in town. Something without a head. I let the next comment ride because the people here need my help more than Vaughn needs Laura to hang him out the top window by his ankles. And then he tells me again to get lost. I tell him I want to speak to the mayor but apparently Mayor Bower is with the Agricultural Committee and is busy. Then there's some more hate from Vaughn concerning "city folks". Whatever. Girls, we're going looking for the mayor. Very countryside here. All seems passably quiet until I see some Fir Bolg over in the pumpkin patch. Field? How big is a patch supposed to be anyway? They look like they crawled up out around their bigger siblings, and that's a scary thought! Like the actual pumpkins are sleeping bigger Fir Bolg! And it turns out that maybe it's exactly as scary as it sounds because Keri makes some beepity noises and I turn around in the pumpkin patch to see....yeah, I am NOT going over there. Engineria might be mad enough to tackle Eochai by herself but I sure as hell ain't gonna! Time to do some circling. Looks like the Agricultural Commission may be on temporary lunch break right now if that monster is stalking the farmlands hereabouts! But I've got some company again! And this time I dig out the treats! Hey Scruffy, over here! Let's go find Mayor Bower! So Scruffy joins us and fits right in with the girls, and I am really gonna have to dig out the wire brushes and cleaning solution once we get out of this place. Mud in all the vents. First up we find a Mr. Walters. I reckon he's one of the Commissioners. Yep, you saw the Headless Huntsman. Did you see the mayor? Hey, come back here! He's gone. But that doesn't matter because after carefully navigating my way around the spot where Eochai is standing, doing whatever things like him do - hey, I'm not gonna just go and ask him - we find the mayor. We rescue him and he hightails it out of there. As he leaves he says we have to talk because these attacks all began two weeks ago. So at the start of the October then. Interesting. There's still more members of the Agricultural Committee to find though. Can't leave them to the mercies of the Fir Bolg. There's a Mrs. Posner! Lock and load, girls! Scruffy, ah...you do you. Whatever works. Go Full Mailman on them if that's a thing. She's scared as hell and while delighted to be free runs off nearly hysterical. The Headless Huntsman brought this on us she says. You know, if it wasn't for the fact that Eochai is standing RIGHT OVER THERE, I'd be thinking there's a Scooby gang ending to all this. I'd prefer that actually. Easier to get "Old Man Smithers" in prison than a 12 foot incarnation of Halloween that can throw fireballs at you. Finally we rescue Mr. Borwood. He's adamant that Eochai didn't show up until after all this nonsense started. Well, that's the mayor and the committee accounted for. I want some explanations so I'm going back to the town hall. I collect the frightened mayor on the way back. [Mission 2 = Atmospheric! And I gave Eochai a poke AFTER I'd completed the mission and he very nearly one-shotted little Araminta! So I hit the exit button fast! Good stuff!] Mission 3: Season of the Witch. And why am I back talking to this moron Vaughn? Where's the mayor? Oh, Vaughn says good job on rescuing those people, but what about the Headless Huntsman? He doesn't exist probably. Maybe it's something made up by some outsider to cause panic in the country bumpkins! (I swear on Keri's shiny little head that I will hide your shoes, you idiot!) As for all this happening two weeks ago? Well, two weeks ago some of the land was put up for rezoning as commercial and that caused a fuss, but Vaughn doubts that had anything to do with a Headless Huntsman. (It's you, isn't it? You're my Scooby gang ending. Oh, I can't jump to conclusions but I've got a feeling about this.) I need to talk to the other Council members. But Salamanca comes under attack from the Cabal of witches! And those Council members have scattered! There's Councilwoman Hooper! Surrounded by witches of the Cabal too. I'd better rescue her. No sign of Scruffy yet. I'm getting used to him being around. Which reminds me, I must go find Gloryhound while I'm in Croatoa. I've always wanted to meet them. Right, that's her freed from the witches. Councilwoman Hooper informs me that a witch told her that the Salamancans had somehow summoned the Headless Huntsman. She has no idea how though. Me neither. I'm still suspicious about Vaughn though. Anyway Hooper runs off to safety. I have to find the rest of the Council members now. Up next is Councilman Gardner. He does not look happy. And I can't blame him when the cabal are telling him that the pain will stop when he gives them the answer that they want! I'm coming, Mr. Gardner! Ladies, do your thing! Not you witches! MY girls! Boom! Ok, that's as clear as mud. No real enlightenment there. Maybe the next Council member will have more of a clue as to what's going on. If indeed they haven't been tortured by the Cabal already. And that next Council member is Councilman Brody. I find him standing alone, but there's dead and injured Cabal nearby and some dead Redcaps. Looks like another battle happened here before I got to Brody. Brody says they kept asking him where "it" was. "You took it, where is it?" Ok, the plot is thickening. More like fog than soup though, considering where we are. You go on home now, Brody. Hey, there's my pal Scruffy! No, don't say it! It can't be the dog who is behind all this! Shapeshifted or not. Anyway, he looks to be in a spot of trouble so I'm going to help him out. Once Scruffy is with me we have a bigger fish to fry! Because up ahead is Mary Macomber! Yes, THAT Mary Macomber. And she, that's right, MARY DAMN MACOMBER, knows who I, ARAMINTA LEVIN, is! I bet it's some psychic witch power. No way am I famous enough to be known. Engineria maybe, me? Nope. Most I get is "that girl with the robots who hangs out with Engineria." How am I involved? Ah, would you believe a phone call from the mayor? Apparently she didn't believe that. There goes the mind reading thing I was betting on. Summoned by a person here in Salamanca? I believe you. I wish you believed it wasn't me though. And if you're going to keep zapping me with magic I totally AM going to shoot you. So THAT'S what was missing! That's what they kept asking about! Mary ports away (or whatever the Cabal version of that is) and I'm left pondering. Who would have the Huntsman's head? I need to get back to town and have a chat with people. I'd prefer it to be the mayor but it's probably going to be Vaughn. Sigh. Especially since he's the only one that has not been killed or terrorized in the last two weeks it's him, isn't it? What do you think, Scruffy? Hmm, I have a dog with me. It's totally a Scooby case. [Mission 3 = Plenty of fun here! The Cabal vs Redcap fights I backed away from mostly because Redcaps are a total pain with all their tiny arrows! On we go!] Mission 4: Night of the Huntsman. Vaughn is there. And I call him on his BS. (I have no proof, I'm bluffing!) And he denies it! Argh. I need proof. Ok, I'm gonna find proof, Mr. Big Shot Council Man! Oh yeah. C'm girls, we're going investigating. Here's the thing though. I might be wrong. But we will see, won't we? Worst that happens is...I don't know actually. The Huntsman kills everyone? I was more going with "Araminta goes back to Paragon after a few days in Croatoa", but that's nowhere near what the worst could be now that I actually think about it. Ok, forget all that! Vaughn or not the Headless Huntsman has to be defeated. Or even found! Ah, that's a no from me. Nuh uh. Let's go this other way, girls. Down the hill and over there. It looks nicer over there. And on our way down the hill we meet Katie Hannon! I've heard of you! You're famous. Like actually famous. Not like Mary Macomber who is infamous. Hey, you haven't seen a dog called Scruffy around have you, Katie? Well let me know if you do. He's a friend. We have to deal with Redcaps. I mean they are literally everywhere. I've heard you see a lot more of them around when Jack in Irons is present. So maybe that's why. They're still a total nuisance though. Hmm, what have we here? Let's have a look. Right. So there was a binding ritual done here. And I've been spotted by Vaughn! He says to wait right there because the police are on the way. To arrest me for what? Trailing around a wood in Croatoa? That's not a crime. Is it? There isn't some sort of weird Croatoan HOA is there? Wait, even if there was I don't live here so...nope, I'm losing it. Ah! More damn Redcaps! Well, have some stun grenades! Enjoy your pressure-induced migraine! KaBoom! And in the middle of all these Redcaps I find Amy Jonnson! Another famous person that I have totally heard of! Yay! Still no dog 😞 Ok, Amy, you and Katie do your witchy thing while me and the girls provide basically artillery, ya? Cool. Let's go! And Mary Macomber? She's a lot friendlier than the last time I met her! Might be something to do with her knowing we're on the same side here, might be because Amy and Katie are with me right now so I must be ok, yeah? Either way I'm not fighting a powerful witch right now and that's good. What's also good is I now have THREE, count them, THREE powerful witch ladies on my side for whenever I do find the Headless Huntsman. Nope, I'm still not going near Jack in Irons. And then we find SCRUFFY! Woot! Excellent news. Meanwhile up ahead we can see Larry Vaughn. He's surrounded by Redcaps and it looks like HE needs a rescue. Much as it pains me to do it, I'm going to have to do it. Let's go rescue that guy. And he's thoroughly ungrateful. Thoroughly so. Now we have a Headless Huntsman to send back to Hell or wherever he's supposed to be. Wherever it is it isn't here. Tally ho! Come on, Witchy ladies! All girls together! Oh wait, Scruffy! Sorry boy! Shortly afterwards we find him. And with the combined firepower of my girls, plus three powerful witches, and...I actually don't know what Scruffy does but he definitely does something, we force the Headless Huntsman back against a large rock in the stream. He's mad though! Well, I think he is. It's hard to really tell with someone who has no head. But we defeat him! His body lies cooling(?) in the stream and pretty soon the witches head off in their separate directions. Me and the girls head back to the town hall, being careful to avoid Jack in Irons along the way. I was about to say it must be weird living in a place that has Eochai and Jack in Irons just walking around, and then I remember that when I first had an apartment in Paragon it was in Kings Row, and at one point I could see THREE PALADINS from my window. I didn't leave the apartment that day. So back in the town hall I get to talk to the mayor finally. Vaughn is definitely off the Council. The Headless Huntsman is gone...for now! In the meantime the mayor gifts me the Huntsman's axe for our Super Group trophy case! Awesome! (I don't tell him I don't have a trophy case but I know where I'm gonna put it.) Take care, Croatoa. [Mission 4 = Great little ending to a tight set of missions. Really fits the seasonal vibe too. Everyone have fun playing this!] Verdict. Had so much fun! Well put together and very spare in the writing, but not missing anything. That's a skill in itself. Recommended. Signing off of now. Araminta Levin's Adventures are not so regular as her friend Engineria's, but before I do, I do two more things! First of all I went and found Gloryhound and stared out at the forest of Croatoa with them. Then me and the girls went home and I had a really good cup of coffee from my new pumpkin-shaped mug. And yes, that IS an axe on the counter behind me. 🙂 Maybe I'll get a real trophy case some day but this will do for now.

This player confused me for a moment, @Ankylosaur!

Ah, he plays the President of Boravia in that movie.

Thanks for sharing, @TheOneTitan! I can't promise I'll get to the other episodes but now I know they're there I'll stick them on my list. Alas it's a big list. And glad to shine some light on your work as well as others'. I started this entire thing concentrating on, I hope they don't mind me saying this, a kind of "Big Three" of writers, who seem to have somehow (hard work!) gathered a following along the way, but I'm enjoying the branch out into my "Interludes" section very much. Keep writing! Edit: And now Tachyon/Prof Dafriend is part of Araminta's and Engineria's back story!

Arc 26 from our first author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @Ankylosaur's All That Glows 2: Nictus Exodus. Mission 1: A Zag in the Zig. So after finally wrapping up stuff at Paragon U I meet up with Hornet for a coffee. He seems fine mostly. A bit tired. The Wyverning is a 23 hour a day job it seems to me. And that's when I get a phone call from Buddy Bolton. I cover the speaker and whisper to Hornet who it is. He nods and proceeds to put what appears to be eight sugars in his coffee! How does the man have any teeth left?! It seems Bolton got a promotion after our last adventure. He's a captain in the PPD now. Excellent. Heading up a tiny unit investigating more Nictus activity across the city. He's following up the sole real lead they have though, Stardust, and wants to know if I want a front seat at the interrogation at the Zig with him and Orthas. Sure. I'll just have to speak to a Zayas once I get there. I gesture at Hornet to get the bill but he waves me away, covers the tab and tip and says something about his boss being loaded. Do I want a lift over to the Zig? Why not. So we wander over to Hornet's parked Arachnos flyer - honestly, do Arachnos not know you have this? The Meteors have one too - and we take off. As we approach the radio squawks something about a car ramming the Zig's walls, Council flooding in, prisoners flooding out, and that's not good. I get Hornet to drop me down and while he guards the flyer against escapees I head into the chaos. Maestro is free? That's not what I wanted to hear at all. Not sure exactly what I wanted to hear but that is definitely not it. That's Ascendant Archon De May. And he gets his comeuppance from me, and some swiftly arriving back up from the PPD's psychic force. You stay down, you maniac. Now, I wonder is Maestro here or actually out in the city. Time to find out. Well, I should find Bolton and Orthas and Zayas first I suppose. Up ahead as we get closer to the sewer entrance, we run into Dark Equinox Archon Breque. "Dark Equinox"? Honestly, the Council and their fellow fascist Cosplayers, the 5th Column, are so full of overblown titles that I'm amazed they can get their heads through doorways. But.. Breque takes a knee to Engineria and her PPD buddies all the same. Bye bye, Breque. You came to the Zig, you get to stay for a while, hopefully a long while. He WAS ranting about Nosferatu being free though. So Maestro and Nosferatu. Well rats. Who's next then? Ah! One of Breque's gang transformed into a Darkwolf! Down! Does anyone have a rolled up newspaper? Or some spray? No? Rad blast it is then! With the Darkwolf dealt with I scoot ahead and into the main sewer entry of the Zig, up a rank tunnel and through a hole in the floor. It's smoky and grim in here and I run into a Mindstorm called Kaya. Nope, no idea who she is. (I may have to peruse my case notes later). Where I go she watches? That's sweet. Have some radiation powered blasts! I don't have time for your fangirling. Down she goes. Up around the corner I find Bolton and Zayas and free them before going looking for Orthas. And it figures that he would be held by Void Hunters! Yeah, I'm here and I'm mad. You've captured my friends and that does not put you in my good books. No siree. You two take a long nap now, y'hear. You ok in there, Orthas? Good. Found him, guys. Now, let's get out of Dodge and gather the troops, gird our loins and circle the wagons...I'm running out of clichés here so one of you help me out! I'll be veering into "Fish swim south for the winter", and if you know that reference then kudos! Wait, Raze? Do I know you? You seem to know me. Oh hell, I'm still in the wrong time era after that Cimerora thing, am I? Or are they referring to one of my doppelgangers? Well, whatever it is we're not on the same side now. Amazing how all this "forging a new way" involves hurting the innocent, yeah? Ends justify the means, do they? Not on my watch, bucko! Not on my watch! Raze goes down. Kinda had to against 4 of us to be honest. Now to deal with someone mentioned earlier by the Void Hunters, a Suarez. Haven't seen him or her yet, so I assume they're arriving to pick up their prisoners. Let's give them a big surprise! There he is! Welp, he's noticed us! Pile on, gang! Don't let that guy get away! Orthas! QB! You're up! Oh, he's tough! But again there's 4 of us and he takes a beating! I'm trailing smoke out of my armor and my HP is heading into the red. Bolton is looking shaky too. Orthas and Zayas just jeep hitting Suarez though. And we all live to tell the tale! (a) go us! (b) whew! The Dark Comet is coming, is it? Yeah, I've been hearing that for a while now. And we're gonna be there, my friend. And then it's over. The PPD have regained control of the Zig. The rest of my little gang stagger out and sit down heavily. I look across at Bolton and wait for him to speak. So Maestro and Nosferatu are definitely gone. And so has Stardust. That's when Zayas chips in with an interesting fact (that might be illegal but this Vig is saying nothing!) It seems that the Zig is in the habit of slipping short life span tracking devices into the inmates' food, and that could help track Stardust at least. [Mission 1 = As usual the Zig yard map is a great map for some excellent encounters and once again @Ankylosaur is doing some deep world building here. Looking forward to see how this plays out.] Mission 2: Freakout. Bolton fills me in on details here. The new Council are building up their forces. Still got the UPA and the Awakened are on board too it seems. Orthas is more interested in the Void Harbinger. Being Kheldian he would be. And at that point Zayas informs us that they found Stardust! He's in the Freaktown part of Crey's Folly. Well of course he is. Couldn't just book himself a room in a motel quietly. Looks like I'm off to a run down warehouse in Crey's Folly then. In I go and...hold up! What in the blue hell are you? A Shadow Freak? That does not bode well. (Not 100 percent on what boding really is but I feel some boding going on) On top of the boding I'm having a definite "Running for the bus and watching it pull away" moment here. Offworld to the Dark Comet? Oh no. Dammit! I got too close trying to listen and was spotted. Yeah, it looks like I'm doing well here. Well, I had not appreciated his several friends hidden among all the warehouse racks and shelves, who then proceeded to back shoot me. Cue the end result of aforesaid back shooting. Ow. That's right. Walk away. A bit further. There we go. I get up, he goes down and I move to tackle his companions. And they get a severe radiation burn. Oh I'm sure their implants will heal them up rapidly but for the meantime them lying there moaning is sweet music to me. Now, I know there are smart Freaks, we all do. But these guys? You have to wonder. He seems particularly pleased with the new toys the Nictus bestowed on them. I bet there's a cost to that you don't know about, my friend. Mind you, you've removed most of your original body to be like that so ...nah, forget the cost. You don't care, do you? But while we're here, I need your Endurance. Why? Because it refills mine, and because it stops you being able to hit me. Simple. And down he goes. He lets me know I have just missed Stardust. I was about to say "And you expect me to believe you?" when I overheard this nugget. I come around a corner to find the speaker and some friends clustered around a Shadow Shard. And promptly take out them and the Shard. It seemed like the right thing to do. On we go! Hmm, someone was working out the Dark Comet's path here. Maybe smart Freaks? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way part of it has been erased so I don't have the whole picture yet. Examining a nearby PC shows me an open account with a blog on one of the tabs. Lots of it look like conspiracy-speak but there's mention of a thing called a Shadow Rupture. Something bigger, possibly much bigger, than a Shadow Shard. Oh oh. No Stardust though. He and the others have vamoosed. Time to leave. Back with Bolton we go through what I've found. And Orthas chips in with the question we've all been thinking about: where did they go? [Mission 2 = Oh, that was surprisingly tough! Those Shadow Freaks pack a punch! But like I said above, I missed the bus there and was gathering follow-on clues. Worked well. On to part 3!] Mission 3: Radioactive Escapes. Bolton informs Engineria that Raze is the key here. They kept talking about Engineria being involved in the evac of Praetoria, saying that they only survived until the evac due to Engineria. Ah, what in the what now? So we get to Vanguard and talk to Gaussian. He maintains that the Nictus fled through time to Praetoria before the Fall. ARGH. More verdamnt time travel! Raze's evac records say that they fought off the Devouring Earth with the help of Metronome, Purplies and Engineria. Everyone thought "purplies" was just some Resistance-speak. Seems like they were Nictus. Yeah. Ok, but me? I was there? Apparently it's related to the TUNNEL system, which always transports people to a time before the Fall. Oh, ok. Gotcha. Fixed point Time Travel then. However we are approaching paradox time. I have to go back because if I don't then we're not having this conversation and...ok I'll go, I'm already getting a migraine. Trouble is I can only stay 45 minutes due to heightened radioactivity levels, so I had better be good at what I do over there. And then I'm tooled up and crossing over/back/to...one of those. Oh thanks a bunch, Stardust! You're a real piece of work, you know that? Oh, I'll help you out with a boot to your ass if you give me any lip! Right! Where the hell are you then? Oh that's nasty. Very much so! And there's Stardust. Right, you great lummox, let's get going...human free? What am I, a wasp? Or them? You, sir, are not right in the head. In the meantime however we have that thing behind you to deal with. Then we find the others. And I'm on a clock here. Why? Nunya Bidness! Hit it! Ok, Old Stardust here actually IS good in a fight...well, so far anyway. Did they get weaker later? Their later, my earlier. Whatever. Hit it again! Right, that ...thing, went down hard. Stay down! Let's keep moving. I have 30 minutes left or near enough. No, still Nunya Bidness, Stardust. Just...oh my god. That does not look like anything I wanted to see. Now or ever. But we're in combat now so let's go! Hit him! Stardust and Engineria stagger away from that fight leaking blood and my armor is cracked and burned. Somewhere up ahead is Metronome in a War Walker Body. We're gonna need him if we want to finish this. Especially me in the limited time I have left. No winking out of existence due to paradox. Ah, found him. There were Kheldians in the Primal Earth forces that ended the Praetorian War but no part of the history mentions this. Interesting. What else has been carefully airbrushed out of the official records? We carry on, battling Infected everywhere and Devouring Earth Hamidon beasts. The streets are full of them. Then I spot Raze! Looks like I'm getting the timeline all sorted out! This is where he remembers me from. And we clear the streets. I heal Resistance fighters with my Kinetics as we pass them and they fight on stronger. Finally the time has come and I have to go, but I've been successful, at least in what I set out to do. Back to the portal! Gaussian congratulates me. Thanks, all I did was aim and hope! He's going to confer with Dark Watcher now, while Orthas is going to talk to Sunstorm, the leader of the Peacekeepers on Primal Earth. [Mission 3 = Great street fight! I didn't have it at times 8, thankfully! But I can imagine it being crazy. So that solves part of the time conundrum at least. On to the next mission!] Mission 4: Surprise Reactions. Ok, it's still confusing, the time travel I mean. So Gaussian's people sent a probe through the TUNNEL, and it ended up in the past (their "present") and before the probe was destroyed it collected intel on Metronome. He has control of most of the city's robots and he and the Nictus are holed up in the Keyes reactors. And the crazy thing is those reactors have been repaired! Wow. I read that Anti-Matter destroyed them. Another thing left out of the official records. Only robots and Nictus can survive there and the Devouring Earth, even they cannot enter. Makes you think. However Sunstorm wants to negotiate...wait, with who? Metronome? Why would he...no, carry on. I'm listening. Negotiate to find the position of the Dark Comet so as to prevent the Nictus from returning and attacking us. Gotcha. And now it gets stranger! Sunstorm doesn't want non Kheldians going, so Bolton and Orthas are going to merge and accompany him. Bolton and Orthas? Borthas? Bolthas? Orthon? Hey, I'm not merging with anyone thank you very much! Oh, I don't have to. Gaussian is sending me 30 minutes later as "back up", because he's as anxious/paranoid about this as me. I see you, Gaussian. I see you. Orthas is expecting them to be captured and made prisoner. Well, I stare at the clock for another half hour after they leave and then I suit up and get ready to rescue them. I make my way down to the reactors and carefully sneak inside the periimeter and who do I see? Well, not anyone I actually know but a TYPE of person I know! Hello you! We've met before, kinda. I cut him down and we "catch up". He's one of a contingent of Neo Tokyo bots here to sort out a Nictus problem it seems. Well, my bot pal, let's see what we can do about that! And then! And then myself and my new Robo-Friend run into Stardust. He confuses me here. You want me to stop you? Why the hell do you want that? Ok, I appreciate the gesture but a bit of enlightenment would be helpful, no? He's a bit, what's the word, verbose? Yeah, amidst trying to take our heads off he tells us that effectively he needs the Dark Comet but only for a short while, otherwise BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN. To the Nictus. That's ...why didn't you just tell us? We would have helped, you idiot. Why did you have to make it so damn awkward and complicated? Stardust and then Shadowfall further along. He's confused by all my actions. Hey, buddy, I'm living my life in what appears to be the wrong order, so you're not the only one confused here! I really am going to have to sit down with Araminta and plot exactly how my adventures slot into any sort of coherent pattern. She's very order orientated like that. Not that I'm chaotic, it's just getting some outside perspective might be good. And no, I don't 100 percent trust the Hero Corps therapists! We take a breather. Well, I take a breather, little Robo Friend just waits patiently while I do, before pointing out that someone is ahead, That someone is Buddy Bolton/Orthas. We run forward and free them from their bonds. You're definitely in the running to join the Peacebringer division of the PPD now, Captain Bolton! What say we find Sunstorm and get this entire situation dealt with? Deal? Good. C'mon then. You too, Mecha NC-3000! Friends are friends, especially in this place. The noise of the reactors is a constant hum in the back of your head. I'm surprised people didn't go mad working here. I don't have Tinnitus but I can imagine it might like that. Then again Praetoria used a lot of Clockwork workers...Clockworkers? Which one is it? Doesn't matter. A lot of mechanical people to do the jobs around here. Another of our "foes". Dark Matter. Assume the form of a Greater Devoured? You've never come across the notion that form defines function and idea? It's one of the theories behind cloning. Sure, you could clone a fully adult me (and apparently some have!) but it would only be genetically me. My mind needs to have lived all my experiences to BE me. That's why there was all that nonsense with mind uploads and so on. I think Crey was involved. Or they sued someone for saying they were? They're always suing someone. Who arrived to consume you? That sounds bad. I've heard mention of that Battalion before. The Autumn Wards mentioned it. Well, it ain't happened yet. Hang on, I'm living my life in a mixed order! Has it happened and I was elsewhere? I need to check that pronto when I get back! Dark Matter takes a knee/tentacle and is out of the fight. We still have to find the coordinates though. Up ahead we see Sunstorm. Yeah, could have told you that back in Vanguard. Too close to see, mon ami. Defer to my judgement? Ooookay then. On your head it is! You all heard him say it! We're still on a countdown here! Or rather I am. Everyone else is a Kheldian or a robot! I've got about 19 minutes left before everything goes south. And there is a console! Excellent! Coordinates found. Now one thing remains. Metronome. He's concerned with winning the fight against Hamidon. See, you don't. How do I know that? I honestly have 15 minutes left and that's not enough time to explain all this and you, Mr. Digital Presence, are in our way. We're going home, capice? So we all pile in and while Metronome simply moves his consciousness to another body elsewhere in Praetoria, this particular iteration that was stopping our escape is now a pile of scrap and we make our way to the escape point. And we're back! We have the coordinates and we can prevent an attack. [Mission 4 = Well that was a very enjoyable run around the Keyes reactors! Plenty of back and forth and being kept on your toes as the fights rolled around! Loved it. On to the finale!] Mission 5: The Dark Comet. The pressure mounts! After only 30 minutes or so waiting in Vanguard, but it feels like an eternity, Gaussian returns with confirmation of the Dark Comet. It's huge. And yes, it's a Shadow Rupture. Yes, Sunstorm confirms that Nictus could definitely invade from there. Ah rats. So we're going full Armageddon on it. Controlled detonations to shatter the thing and put it beyond use. Ok, because that's gonna go well. I've not been in space since the Galaxian thing and THAT, well that HURT. Still have scars from that. It'll be defended so we have to port to it and do it by hand. My life just gets better and better. Right, why not? I'm in. I've come this far. Let's do this. We're gonna land, clear the defenders. Once that's done the warheads will follow. We defend them and then get the hell out of Dodge. Then Vanguard kabooms the entire thing. What could go wrong? What could go wrong? I had to ask, didn't I? Jinxed myself. Ok, where are the guys? Right, that's Captain Bolton freed from the energy. Sunstorm is probably in the same predicament so let's find him and move on. Plenty of the Nictus floating around here already! Gotcha! Oh, you don't look the best, Sunstorm. That energy has fried you a bit. Well, walk it off. We're on a deadline here. Ah hell. Now we see the magnitude of what we're up against! That does not look good. I'm getting the boding again. Much boding. Sounds like an old English village. "Why yes, we vacationed in Much Boding. lovely place." Ah. I'm losing my mind! Space is BIG.! Get a grip, Engineria! On we go. The three of us proceed to deal with the Dark Comet's Nictus defenders. Not easy but we're coordinated and we're succeeding. All to the good I suppose. Finally we get to activate the homing beacon. Now we just have to wait for the warheads to arrive. It's like calling in an air strike on your own position! Just not immediate destruction. But equally dangerous. Then the warheads start dropping. We watch for each drop and run to defend it and beat back the Nictus as they seek to destroy it or render it inoperable. Finally it looks like we have succeeded. Time to port out of here and for Gaussian to detonate this death rock! We crowd through the portal and stumble back into Vanguard. There's a brief bit of decontam but we can see the following. And it's done. WHEW! And I damn well knew it. I damn well knew it. It's not over yet. However, I don't have to do it immediately. So I can deal with some outstanding matters I have elsewhere before returning to this. How? Time Travel. Gawdamn Time Travel. I need a special sort of calendar to keep track of what day it is anymore. Oy! [Mission 5 = Excellent space borne finale to this arc. Map was perfect for it and every spawn fell perfect. Can't praise this enough.] Verdict. The Ankyverse continues to grow and expand on the known history of Primal/Praetoria...and beyond! For those who love Kheldians but want a different slant then play this. Great stuff. Next up from @Ankylosaur is All That Glows 3: Nictus Evictus. And next on the schedule in TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE reviews is @cranebump's Fallout 3: Reassembly.

AHA! Well, we will get to that in a while!

Had fun running it! Thanks for writing!

Araminta is a bit...random. Much more so than Engineria! So while her own section would be nice, maybe not needed.

I dunno. Are there many other Halloween arcs?

OR..Sometimes Araminta gets lucky! HA!

I'm only two missions in so far. I'll get to the rest when the shards are back up. It does need a pass for a few typos here and there though, just a heads up. Lots of fun so far!