TerroirNoir3

Engineria was delighted to meet Second of Equals!

Arc 24 from our first author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @Ankylosaur's All That Glints 3: Super Ego Maniac. Mission 1: A Meeting of the Minds. Sometimes you need to kick back and meet with your friends, especially since Araminta came back from helping out some newbie hero called Storm Warning and has been worrying about her. A coffee with Hornet from Wyvern was on the To Do list. Been putting it off for a while. You know how it is. Busy busy busy! So we're having a coffee in the Arrow Diner in Atlas Park's Downside. It's not the best part of the Park but it's great coffee. "Dhahabu?" Asks Hornet. Yeah, that's a place. Pretty but so different to here. And I woke up a while back to find a floating painting talking to me! He mutters something about being thoroughly sick of Nerva and maybe a few floating bits of artwork are just what he needs. And then Aurora Pena just...appears. She's immediately all bidness. I dunno. Do Praetorians EVER take time off? I suppose they have so much to prove after the war. She recounts how she took the Soothseer stone to Dr. Frost at S.E.R.A.P.H. The same one she's planning to use to disrupt the Apparitions we encountered before. Hornet is puzzled by me talking to thin air but he's piecing things together from my side of the conversation. Then Aurora vanishes. Not that Hornet ever saw her according to him when I gave him a quick rundown on the chat. He offers to give me a lift to Steel Canyon in his Arachnos Flyer. His what? That's you and the Meteors now. Is Recluse having a yard sale or something? Nevermind. Off to Steel Canyon! Hornet lands and says he'll wait for me before putting his feet up. I get a PING mentally from Aurora telling me that some of the 5th Column have captured her while she was waiting for me! You'd think a psychic would be impossible to sneak up on! Ok, I'd better go rescue her------WAIT! Is Hornet angling for a date?! Waiting for me? No, no. Eyes on the prize, Engineria. Go rescue Aurora. Ah, there she is. Ok, Vamps can be trouble even for psychics. But vamps don't take well to being irradiated! (Nor does anyone else for that matter) Ok, 5th Column nada and Engineria FTW! Aurora, what's the skinny? She was taken completely off guard. Hmm, you Praetorians need to lighten up a bit. You're so super focused on your thing that other stuff gets lost in the peripherals, you know? Ah, she's not listening. Well, let's go find Dr. Frost then. Again in this S.E.R.A.P.H. building. Hang on, I checked this out earlier for my own curiosity. I just need to scroll a bit through my phone to find the shot. SEE?!! It's a bank half the time! Ok, it's a mysteriously closed bank. And there was that one time that I was doing a job with the Meteors when it WAS a bank, but they gave me some goggles so I could see the S.E.R.A.P.H. entrance. So we go inside and I see Officer Butler from Longbow. She's waiting for us. Ah, that's nice. You do know there's random 5th Column literally outside? Anyway, let's go see Dr. Frost about this stone thing. Or stone. "Stone thing" sounds like a pillar or monument or something. She too is straight down to bidness. We're gonna monitor things from here while Aurora heads out to start the disruption. Scanning on a nearby console we can see that as Aurora does her thing that in fact the appearances do decline. That's good. But in the middle of the overall decline there are spikes in Skyway and Boomtown. Boomtown? Oh that's not good. Lots of Clockwork there. And here too it seems! Blast. And then some actual blasts! How the hell did they get by Butler? And Aurora has been blindsided by Clockwork! See? Too much focus on one thing and out of left field you get bopped on the noggin! Not that that hasn't happened to me too over my career. Hang on Aurora, I'm a coming! She's thankful though and after clearing around us suggests that we jet back to Hornet and get out of here to regroup. Sounds like a plan. Climbing into the flyer we see Hornet has slept through all of that. Lucky man! We lift off and I fill in Aurora about the spike in activity...and then both Engineria and Aurora see Katie Douglas. Another psychic projection. Hornet glances around as the chat changes before shaking his head and keeping his eyes on the controls. Katie wants to know what's going on. Aurora fills her in. [Mission 1 = Classic. Classic @Ankylosaur intro mission. Small scale but lots of set up. Good stuff! On to Mission 2!] Mission 2: Mental Highways. So with Katie filled in on Aurora's op, we get an update from Katie. As the Apparitions started to lose their grip on Primal Earth, they latched on to anyone with some psychic ability. And with defences weakened these folks were safe ports for the fleeing spirits. As for the Clockwork, they are already infused with psychic energy and some sort of mental magnetism happened, causing them to be hosts too. Ok, we have Boomtown and Skyway to check out. Aurora is going to gather her allies and check Boomtown. Katie will come with Engineria to Skyway. Hmm. You know, "Divide and Conquer" doesn't mean we split up. But on we go. Hornet drops us off in Skyway and heads for Boomtown. Skyway is chaotic. Possessed Citizens and Clockwork are causing havoc everywhere. And they've stunned and grabbed Katie! I free her and we proceed to look for allies. In particular Synapse and Mynx should be here in the park, but they're missing. That's not ok. No no no. Somethiing that can take out Synapse is mucho bad. Hang on, Katie. I gotta call Buddy and tell him about this. One of the Freedom Phalanx getting captured is rare. Well, rare-ish. And I took a pic of it. Right, let's go rescue him. I'm sure he'll be fine about that. Not in the least bit arrogant or anything. Task Force? I did one with you last week! (I think it was last week) Did that not work? Or is this an escalation? Anyway, there's our next target, Colonel Bolton of the PPD. Let's get him! I wonder what happens when you speed boost Synapse....oh. Well, Buddy Bolton is rescued. Engineria and Katie stroll up and join Synapse and Bolton. We're fine, Synapse. Feel free to zoom around smashing everything. You know, I don't even know why you need other people for a Task Force! Now, didn't you have a companion in the park? Where is Mynx? Ah, over there. Let's go collect her. Why? Well, it's the right thing to do and also I'd like some more numbers when taking on Babbage. Yeah, Babbage. Spotted him lurking....can something that big actually LURK? Well, attempting to lurk. Lurkage was implied. But first Mynx. She's a bit ungrateful. Ok, maybe not ungrateful but that comment about Bobcat? What's with that? Also, I need to talk to Marchand. Me helping the New Praetorians while not a secret, isn't fully public. Now that the gang is all here, well, the Skyway gang, we'll find out what Aurora is up to in Boomtown later, let's go kick Babbage in the nuts and bolts. Yah. Hmm. This will be tricky. Or not. I knew speed boosting Synapse would be an issue. I just knew it! Ok, everyone follow the blurry man! And BOOM! We dismantle this version of him pretty fast actually. Or rather Synapse is pretty fast, Katie whacks him with psi and me and Mynx do our thing. And clickety clack, down he goes. Skyway is free for now of the threat. C'mon, Katie. Let's leave these to sort it out. We need to meet Aurora. Still mysteries involved though. Aurora projects herself to us. (I will never get used to that.) She, Marauder and Riptide are in Boomtown and have entered a warehouse where a VERY powerful psychic presence is manifested. Then we get a crossed-line call! Another projection appears! Praetorian Vanessa DeVore! She too is hunting Penny Mayhem but not to destroy her, but to save her daughter. Complications! [Mission 2 = Need I say classic @Ankylosaur again? I will anyway. Good stuff. Plot develops and the world building continues. Plus the by now almost trade marked technical moments of allies leading you to other things. Liking it!] Mission 3: Clockwork Madness. Vanessa is mentally hitching a ride! She can see what Aurora Pena sees in the warehouse. (I wish I could see it, but I'll be there soon enough.) The details are that Clockwork parts are everywhere. It seems Aurora's attack on the Apparitions left the Clockwork weakened enough that Panny Mayhem was able to control them. Oh goody. Katie needs to recover so it's just me to assist the others...and Aurora reports that Marauder and Riptide are down! Awakened are there too! Then Aurora's voice is gone. Ah clackety! Time for Engineria to mount a rescue. Oookay. I'll just scoot carefully around this corner and...ah. Hmm. Time to call Buddy. And it's early in the day too! I mean calling the cavalry BEFORE it gets heinous is a bit odd but...well, you look at what's facing me! Oh hell that was intense! Whew! Deep breaths, Buddy. Ok, now let's find our friends. Penny can lay here for a bit. Buddy, old pal of mine, I think...bear with me now, I think...we may have counted some chickens before they were hatched. Just saying. More of her! I mean sooo many more of her! Not good! Not good at all. Buddy, get your ass out of here. I'll go stealth and take to the air to find the others. Call you again if I need you! And I skim over them and soon find Aurora Pena held in some sort of mental energy chains. Oh, I'm wishing I still had Buddy with me, but he doesn't do stealth and his armor would be shredded by the time we'd got through however many Pennys (Pennies?) I just flew over. Ok, nothing for it but to land, Atomic Blast her, rip her Endurance out to stop her hitting me and then hope! Oh! I have a thing! A quick scrabble in the old utility belt brings up a set of Envenomed Daggers! Yay for tiny tiny advantages. Or something. However...pat on back. Careful to avoid smoldering shoulder pads, that actually worked and now Aurora is with me! The Soothseer stone? You couldn't figure out a way to use it on her BEFORE that? No? Rats. Ok, that's my life. Venturing further into the warehouse we find Marauder and free him from yet another pissed off Penny! Also, so sleepy now. In a minute, big guy. Snoozing here. Ok, so who is left? Riptide? I love that guy. He's not a fish, you know? Calling him one will not go down well. You will not get invited to the Annual Praetorian Remembrance Day celebrations. And there he is. With a speed boosted Marauder and Aurora beside me we soon have him free. But up ahead somewhere is the Clockwork Queen! And by up ahead, I do mean just around this here corner. Have a look? Buddy, tell Araminta to come over to our old place and get the regeneration engine online, plus coffee. And some Drenched Donuts. I'm gonna need all of...oh, a hot bath! (Both of them are gonna hate me later.) Ok, with everyone charged with speed boost and density from my Kinetics, we dash in. Bravely. I say bravely but I mean in a blind panic. I have just downed about 4 Break Frees just in case. Not getting killed while snoozing! Argh! Cornered! And why is she calling me Rusty? Playtime friends? Hey, Marauder and Aurora? Can you help me and Riptide? Any time now would be good. Thanks. And with a mighty clackety clack the Clockwork Queen is in pieces! Deep breaths. Deep, deep breaths. And just for the record, JEEZ LOUISE, Aurora! We wander out. Getting Marchand on the phone with a text. Across Paragon the possessed citizens are returning to normal. Ok, that's good. Despite the fact she is standing beside me, Aurora does her mind visiting trick...oh, it's a conference call because Katie and Vanessa arrive in my head too. I barely have room for me in here! Vanessa is shouting. Inside my head. Ok, not at ME, at Aurora, but I'm the one who is going to get a migraine! What has been done with her daughter?! Ah, it might be my head but over to you, Aurora! [Mission 3 = Well, that was a drag out, knock down, free for all of a mission! Great stuff indeed! Loved it. Very challenging!] Mission 4: Madness Takes its Toll. [More ASAP]

Yes, though my Demorecord skills are very rudimentary.

One last one then, just to watch Araminta's eyebrow rise!

Just before I really get in to this week's work 🙂

Well, I look at them on my tablet, which unlike my main computer has a phone level screen, so the images look so much better! Much sharper in detail.

Re-reading some of my reviews (vanity) I think I've picked up some phrasing from the three main writers I've been playing through, all to their credit, just by osmosis exposure to their work.

Appreciate that! Unique review format? Well, if you look at my early reviews they're a little more traditional but I decided along the way that my Main, Engineria, would progress to 50 primarily through these AEs, so I leant into them all being her adventures rather than me TerroirNoir reviewing as a player. Obviously there's a few out of character asides and spoiler hides (as in your arc) but that's how things evolved mainly. And Araminta Levin was announced a while back as a future Main (if you read through some of the reviews you'll see why) and this is her first foray. Hoping you do write more. There's no TerroirNoir AEs out there but I think I've learned a few things from the writers here along the way.

Ok, I'm back on some awful work hours for a bit. I only got @Zakur's lovely arc posted because I actually ran it yesterday (Sunday). Later for a little while fellow AE lovers!

I think I've hit 372 missions! 367 with Engineria and 5 with Araminta.

Ok, I have done a write up. But as Araminta Levin and not Engineria. Just testing the waters with my other character.

Araminta's Adventures. Hey. Not everything is about my buddy Engineria. Some things are about me and my bots. There's Laura, she's the big one; Mary, Janet and Alice, not so big but still tough girls; then there's Violet and Veronica, all protectory, and last but not least, Keri, my floaty friend. Engineria and I used to share an apartment (we still share an SG base) but there's only so much room when one of you is a Master Mind, so I moved out. Nice place in Atlas, not far from the cinema. Anyway, while Engineria is off being famous (yes, I know she says she's a "mid level supe in a city of bigger supes" but she's pretty well known in some circles), Araminta here (that's me) is more laid back and takes things slower. I've still done a few things though, enough to have some decent contacts, the odd Task Force for Positron and the FP, all that. So, here's a little thing that happened to me recently. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Carve One's Own Destiny by @Zakur (@seravius on the AE console) Mission 1: The New Kids in Town. So I received a message from a hero I didn't know, someone called Storm Warning. And I've been getting more work like that since I stopped sharing an apartment with Engineria. The two things may be connected but I'm not going to bring it up when we bump into each other while restocking the racks in the SG base. How many Boresights does one person actually need though? So, I go and meet Storm Warning. She seems surprised that I actually showed up. And she thinks that I am crazy famous. I mean compared to herself as she says she's not really known around Paragon. So anyway she fills me in on what she thinks is something that could cause big trouble here. It involves a weird sale, an abandoned building in Brickstown and a villain named Hollowfrost. Hollowfrost, huh? It's, if you'll pardon the bad pun, a pretty cool name actually. I get some background on Hollowfrost from Storm Warning, and with one thing and the other we have a location for him. Will I help? Sure. Let me gather the bots from the SG...no, they'll arrive fast, I don't need to go there. Then we can go. And we're in. We being me and the girls. It's quiet in here. For once in my life it seems an abandoned warehouse is actually abandoned. Novel. No sign of this Hollowfrost. Storm Warning hasn't seen him either. Exactly. Mysteries can be solved with some investigation. It's not always shoot first and so on. Let's have a look around. Come on. We examine a computer nearby but it's been wiped. Scrubbed I believe is the term. Although it seems quite recently. Although we have set off a Zenith Hoverbot somehow! It zones in on us from among the racks but the bot girls deal with it in their own special way! Further investigation finds a used portal projector. Hollowfrost has definitely escaped. A spot on the floor nearby has a chemical residue of some sort. That'll have to be analyzed when we get back. So, no sign of this Hollowfrost but maybe we'll have some leads once we put everything together. Araminta and Storm Warning meet up to discuss things. She's slightly embarrassed that things were anti-climatic. It happens. She suggests looking into the robots might give a solid lead perhaps. [Mission 1 = Good set up of the mystery. Contact is characterized well and comes across as more than a "Go here/Do that" cipher, which is always great to see. On to the next mission!] Mission 2: The Center of the Plot. Time to investigate the Council's connection to Hollowfrost. Storm Warning (though she seems to prefer being called Bella), has a contact with (to my mind) seriously good intel. Within a few minutes of calling him we have information that a known Council base was raided and their robots stolen. Well, it seems Hollowfrost has no fear of retribution from an entire fascist organization! That shows he's either supremely arrogant and powerful or supremely arrogant and delusional. Although I have to say, from listening to Engineria recount some of her more outlandish adventures, those are not mutually exclusive. So, our plan is to hit that same place and see what intel they have on the theft, find Hollowfrost's footprints so to speak. Ok, typical Council base. They seem to like this sort of cave structure. I'm surprised they haven't fallen into Oranbega actually. Ok, some enemies ahead. Have to deal with them. The girls take him on and yet he still manages to fire through their protective cordon and hit me! Not good. Fortunately I've some gymnastic ability and spring back into a defensive position by the time he's dropped. He has some access codes on him so that'll be useful. And Storm Warning arrives late. I wonder where she was? Ok, Bella, let's explore further. We run into some resistance along the way but it seems that this Council base isn't at full strength after the Hollowfrost theft. I mean, I don't know if anyone knows what a full strength Council base is like, or their real numbers, but it seem sparse compared to other ones I've seen. We deal with them though! Nearby we find a console and the access codes get us straight in. Excellent. Plenty of sensitive material but there's a noticeable gap in the data around notes for a reverse-enginered serum of some kind. Council Super Soldier? They do like that sort of thing. We find the Archon, a guy called Keller, who confirms Hollowfrost's presence here. Between myself and the girls and Storm Warning we beat him down. He gives up the ghost and informs us that the serum was somehow connected to Marauder! Marauder is...let me get this right. Marauder is a member of the New Praetorians, but he used to be a Praetor on the enemy side during the Praetorian War. I've heard he's a doppelganger of Back Alley Brawler. LOL, and you know, I've NEVER seen them together! Anyway, that's a lead. Time to regroup and think. Bella/Storm Warning is well clued up on the Marauder link to the Council. He had been juiced up on a serum to be able to fight Incarnate level enemies. If Hollowfrost has got his hands on this serum then that's a worrying result. Not to mention stealing the base's automated defenses, which takes some chutzpah! I agree with Bella. Something needs to be done. [Mission 2 = The investigation continues. Good pacing and Storm Warning's characterization develops further. Looking forward to the rest of this.] Mission 3: The Cold Dark. So, as Storm Warning recounts, Hollowfrost didn't strike at the base alone, he had what is described as a swarm of creatures with him. Bella's "guy in the chair" delivers on intel about these creatures. I really need a guy in the chair! Though for Master Minds, I sort of am the "guy in the chair", although also getting shot at. These creatures were seen in Kallisti Wharf using Ice and Dark powers, identical to Hollowfrost's powerset, particularly near a lab on the East side. That side has some Arachnos presence which might be a problem. To be honest Bella, I don't go to Kallisti Wharf much. I've got mid 30s Security Clearance so while KW is classed as a "peaceful" area, I'm wary. But if that's where he is then that's where we go. In the middle of our planning I notice Bella is a bit off. And her guy in the chair seems to behave more like her boss than her backup, so ...yeah. I've been my own boss for a while, and living with Engineria has helped in boosting my confidence and profile, so I get things done myself. I wonder if she would be happier purely solo or say working for Hero Corps on a full team, where her boss isn't expecting results from her and her alone. But on we go. Despite all that we still have a villain to track down, so we speed over to Kallisti Wharf and straight to the lab. In a bit of luck, the attack is still ongoing! Storm Warning is a smart woman though, and has a plan. We just need to let one of the attackers get away. We mop up a few minions and then the plan is to let the Swarm Leader escape with the tracker on him. He's visibly the strongest of them so his escape makes the most sense to me. Although that particular plan nearly didn't work when my girl Laura nearly vaporized him with a blast beam! Dial it back! Ok, now to find out why they were even here. We have to fend off some Arachnos while we're here but you know, are they going to complain to Black Wing or something? Ask for help? Actually, they MIGHT. Just to screw with us! Not an issue right now though. And hopefully we'll find what we're looking for in here. The safe contains a drained Incarnate Shard. And only one. The rest are missing! Oh dear. Incarnate Shards + Super Soldier Serum? That's not good. Let's get out of here, Bella. Talking to Bella later, her mood is visibly somber. She deliberately perks up a bit when she sees me staring though. But she's worried about all this. From what I can see at this point she's never had something this big face her before. That's understandable. But she's obviously smart. Yes, I'm smart but it's mainly with robotics and AI, not with this sort of thing. She thinks Hollowfrost is probably working on an Incarnate Serum. Well, used on himself that would be terrifying enough, but suppose he sold it like Superadine or something? Imagine Incarnate Trolls? Oh dear. [Mission 3 = The building of tension continues. Really enjoying this. It's driving along at a good pace and each mission is linking and adding to the mystery.] Mission 4: Hollowfrost. Bella answers her phone. Guy in the chair? It seems like it. Hollowfrost is hiding out in an abandoned Crey laboratory. Bella is anxious. This is the time to apprehend Hollowfrost and the big moment is facing her. Well, facing us. (And my bots). She gets a little bit fan girly with me and says it's an honor to have worked with me. Thanks! You're not so bad yourself! She's still worried that this could all go south though. I don't tell her I step into EVERY mission feeling like that. And if she ever meets Engineria, then...well, let me say it wasn't just lack of space that caused me to move out of the apartment. The ozone of burnt armor and hair. Blood all over the bathroom. Plus finding her friend Buddy asleep IN FULL PPD ARMOR on my bed. MY bed. Anyway. We get to the place and it's cold. The unnatural cold from certain powers. He's here. Bella gives me a warning. We run into several of Hollowfrost's swarm minions. At least they don't seem to have been upscaled to Incarnate level! That would be bad! The lab is devoid of any visible Crey presence. But's it's not derelict yet. Things are still running. I wonder how many of these places Crey actually have across Paragon? More than are officially listed with the Securities and Exchange Commission I'm betting! And there he is! Our efforts have paid off. Ok, let's see if he has powered himself up yet or if (fingers crossed) his serum is still in the development stage. And we get lucky! His serum isn't ready yet! And you've been expecting me? I don't like that at all. So we tackle him and do him some serious damage before he takes to the air to snipe at us! I was not expecting that! Cold blasts rain around me but the bots knock him out of the air and he falls to the ground. He's been muttering about Storm Warning for a few minutes too. Hollowfrost's last words were about his master claiming him. And then he died. I didn't hit him THAT hard! Weird. Once we've taken him down we get into a fight that shouldn't have happened. I thought we'd wiped out his minions but he had unexpected back up. I deal with it but Bella goes down and gets out via mediporter. Then it's time to leave. On the way out I find an empty crate. It used to contain the Incarnate Serum, quite a lot of it in fact. And now it's empty! Not good. With Hollowfrost dead who has it? Bella is distraught though. I get a teary and sincere explanation of her time as a hero, how new she really is at this entire thing, and she's ashamed of herself. But she has a determination in her I've not seen before. Something beyond the "perky junior hero" that I first met. One of her issues is she thinks she's on borrowed time and it sounds like she wants to do at least one great thing, or even one GOOD thing before that chance is lost to her. Good for you, girl! [Mission 4 = Great mission. Loved the resolution and looking forward to the finale.] Mission 5: The Chains we Loathe. It seems that Crey base wasn't ENTIRELY abandoned. Guess who has the Incarnate Serum? If you said Crey R&D you're not getting a prize because that was too easy. This time I'm going in on my own. Well, me and the bots. Bella can't be there. We have the location so it's time to take the fight to Crey. Paragon Protectors enhanced to Incarnate Level. That's not good. I mean as far as most of the public is concerned, they're just supers who work for Crey. And I think some of them might actually be just that. At least the ones who appear on TV to talk about their work. That Erin West is on a lot these days talking about the Altruist people. This lot here don't seem particularly altruistic though. Positively antagonistic to me! Finding that serum is paramount. Not to mention any recorded method of making it. I hack into one of their databases. No sign of that intel here. Time to move further in. Well, I suppose it had to be here. I'm in a large open laboratory surrounded by what appear to be cloning vats. And yes, there's a Paragon Protector guarding the place. I'd better deal with her before searching further. My god but this one is tough. And my Scans say she's only a Yellow! Does Crey grade their colors differently than everyone else? If they do then no wonder people have trouble with them! OOF! That got me right in the chest! Thrown back. Fortunately the girls continue firing on the Protector and bring it down. As Engineria would say, ACK! With the Paragon Protector's weird final words ringing in my ears, not to mention all the actual ringing in my ears, I stumble over to a safe and open it up. Jackpot. Now? Now I have to decide what to do with this stuff. For the time being no one, not even Bella, knows I have it. I'll stick it in the SG base for now. Engineria is already an Incarnate so she won't even look. As for Bella. I hope I see her again. That little hero did good. She just needs to build her confidence. [Mission 5 = Excellent finale. Can't say more without spoilering things.] Verdict. Play this. Go and play it now. I mean RIGHT NOW. Yes, it does take a few liberties with the so-called "Ocelot Rule", but in my opinion the arc is well worth that. Signing off of now. Araminta Levin's Adventures are not so regular as her friend Engineria's. (@Zakur, I hope I haven't spoiled anything here. Great work and hope to see more from you in the AE!)

I played it, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I may try to include it in my TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews (I've got it screenshotted). But I need to have a think about how to do that without spoilering the plot and with this arc that will need some careful thought. Between just glossing over some stuff or using spoiler tags. Anyway, it gets my recommendation!

No offence taken at all. I sometimes wonder that myself but I don't expect an audience. I just wanted to share my fun of playing all these AEs. If some people read and enjoy it then that's good. If they read and don't enjoy it? Well, ok, it's not for them. If they don't see it at all? Not much I can do about that!

Yeah, you're mostly not getting that from me! LOL.

If you want bad writing have a look at what the AE offers! The amount of dross I have to wade through to find good stories is incredible. So, for those who think they can do better, try there and then see if you can match what HC's output is, and no, I'm not automatically saying HC's output is amazing or anything of the sort. Ok, you won't have the same resources to do certain things but players make allowance for style over substance. At least in my experience. (I deliberately haven't mentioned farms because farms are farms, they're not story.)

No problem. Yeah, there's a violation of the "Ocelot Rule" but Engineria brings her own Ocelots so what ya gonna do?

The next arc on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews will be part of the Interludes, Side Trips, and One-offs, and is @sponazgul's The Return of Despoticus. (@First of Equals on the AE console.) There are times when I don't know why I get up in the morning. And when I do get up I seem to be in someone else's apartment. Still, they have nice drapes and some decent streaming services. And a floating painting that talks to me. OMEGOD. Yeah, that's what it calls itself. Is everyone sitting comfortably? I'll begin. Mission 1: In the Clutches of the Ultrahorde. Omegod introduces itself ... well actually it doesn't. It claims to know me and obviously any unawareness I have of that fact is due to Cosmic Awareness. Yeah, that sounds wrong. Run that by me again. Ah, with great Cosmic Awareness comes an equal and opposite Cosmic Unawareness. Does it? Ok, it definitely seems to be working then because I have NO memory of you. Now, for reasons that basically amount to innate curiosity, I decide to play along. Mainly because it hasn't tried to kill me yet and that's always an up in my opinion. So, Mr. Omegod, or is it Ms? Mx? Nevermind, dish the skinny. Do I not remember defeating the Ultrahorde of Despoticus on the Rings of Saturn? Yes! Yes I do....no wait, that was a guy called Galaxian and it was on a meteor shard or something. Ok, no I don't. Carry on. Oh I trounced him, did I? (Remember "trounced" for the autobiography, good word that.) Except now he's captured some of your champions and you need me to rescue them. Well, sure. Let me ...this is definitely not my apartment. Gimme ten minutes, yeah? I need to go home and change. You CAN follow me to my apartment? Oh you can. Good. Just not rescue your own people. No, no, I understand, can't be everywhere at once and all that. Shortly after all that I'm standing in something charmingly called the Prison Pit. My left hand? No no, it's fine. Are you sure you weren't talking to Praetorian me? No? Ok. Ion Eyes. Interesting name. You apparently need rescuing. Ally oop! A collection of solar-powered bucky balls in a suit. Hnnh. Ok, you meet all sorts in this line of work I suppose. Like, don't feed the Blarf in Pocket D 'cos it'll try to eat YOU. And yes, I prefer it when I'm at full strength. And can I recommend the sandwiches at...wait, can you eat? Forget it. There's various minions of the Ultrahorde slinking around. Meteroid creatures and Murderbots and so on. Bit of a mixed menagerie really. Ah, Homeland Securer! I think I saw you on the cover of Padlock Weekly! More murderbots and little beasties, none timorous so all the more to annoy. Up you get Homeland Securer. Talk about me behind my back? To who? The Meteors? Hornet? Whippy? Just lay there then. Finally there's Warrior Titan. He too has these Ultrahorde pests around him. A few selected Rad Blasts clears them off though. Ok, WT, what's your deal? Radioactive you say. Not ideal but I have a smidgeon of immunity/resistance to that particular ailment. And Omegod needs talking to. [Mission 1 = Exactly as the writer's notes set out. You get to wade through mobs like some sort of super powered being against lesser mortals. Nice start. Love the comic book touches too!] Mission 2: Clueless Captive. Clue Lass has also been captured. CLUE LASS? Oy. Despoticus has long wanted her as a protégé but has given up on candlelit dinners and brochures about work benefits. Well, you would, wouldn't you? Although I'd just put an advert in the Hero Corps Gazette or something myself. Or what's that firm in the Rogue Isles? Minions. Yeah, there. Anyway, Omegod, where is she being held and how do I get there? Hmm, very Arachnosy. Oh, that's not good. Weaker? Well, despite what Omegod thinks or imagines, I know my limits and I'm still a mid level supe in a city of much more powerful supes. And..ah fer crying out loud, what is HE doing here? He can be such a PITA. Oh. That's why. You wait, Sands. You wait. I still have Ghost Widow's phone number. I can make your life hell. In the meantime... ...I'm just gonna lie here and get my breath back while I fiddle about with my mediporter and utility belt. Yeah, that'll teach you. OW. While I'm down here, did I see a WIFE OF DESPOTICUS back behind you? I mean what? Ok, I'm back. I don't want to have to call Marcus or Buddy for this one but I may have to....WAIT! I have a thing in the utility belt (email)!! It's an Ultimate Insp! Ok, it's not much help but it racks my power level back up a bit. Wait, I missed a part of that! No, actually I do not want to know! (Note to self: Take Nemesis Staff off my rotation! Did not mean to hit that.) Funny how the red beam didn't affect you, Sands. Or is that something to do with you being Arachnos and this place also being Arachnosy? Yes? No? But yes, you're "doing well". Too well in my opinion. Of course doing well against Sands means sweet fanny adam when you get hit multiple times in the back by monsters at the same time that more Arachnos Drones are summoned. Tsk. Down I go. Oh, Omegod, there's a special hell for you if I have any say in the matter. And Sands makes the mistake of standing too close to the door when I come bursting back in all Rads blazing and him bouncing off my Repulsion field. Now scuttle off to the Rogue Isles and I don't want to see your greasy hair for a long time. Oh, Invinci-Belle is it? Well, maybe I won't mention that to Clue Lass. Or maybe I will! Still have to find her though. On I go. I scout carefully ahead, watching out for members of the Ultrahorde. I see a Bride of Despoticus (or two) and a Widow of War. This is a very strange place. Not to mention the monsters chatting to each other about the Comics Code. Is that her? Could be. All Omegod did was send me a mental image of what she looked like. And it does kinda look like her. From over here anyway. Now, without Sands and his Drones these Ultrahorde beings are a tad easier. Not much but a tad. Ripping Endurance and Health from them using Kinetics keeps me alive, and then I continue to blast them with Radiation. BOOM! Yeah, you're not Clue Lass. I heard you. Kinda busy here so see yourself out, ya? Thanks. And it's time for a breather. A quick examination of the Insp tray reveals...two Break Frees and one of those combo Red/Yellow things. No idea. Clue Lass is finally found in an end room, again surrounded by Despoticus's Ultrahorde minions. Ok, same tactic. These guys aren't smart, and I've taken enough hits to the head today to say that neither am I, so nothing complicated. Kinetics ripping and Radiation blasting here we go! And moments later Clue Lass is free! And there's flowers strewn across my path, and little birds are putting up drapes and...Ah, I need a lie down. And this girl needs a better beau than Arbiter Sands! Right, time to talk to Omegod I suppose. Even Omegod is confused by which girl is which or even if they are clones or different versions of the same person from different points in time. Sands appears to be cheating on his girlfriend...with his girlfriend. I'm glad I'm single at the moment. But Omegod has become aware (cosmically) of Despoticus's Evil PlanTM. [Mission 2 = Oh hell that was tough! I am strong enough to weather someone like Sands normally usually, but not when he has a narrow corridor full of monsters also hitting me. The Ultimate Insp in my email was a stroke of luck. Ok, technically it didn't work but it let me weaken him enough so that when I came back my regular attacks dropped him. Whew!] Mission 3: Facing Despoticus. And even as Omegod and Engineria converse, Despoticus's Stellar Dreadnought speeds to Xennocentia V. That's where now? No, can't recall visiting. You say I did many times? Are you SURE you haven't met Praetorian me? Or some sort of doppelganger at the least? Because let me tell you, I for one HAVE met them, so...anyway. Cosmic Unawareness is it? Fair enough. (There was that one that was working with Whipsmart as well.) Device you say? You think he has a device that is weakening me? Well, let's fix that problem. In my current state? I've been worse. No, honestly. I have. So Stellar Dreadnought it is and.... ...can you at least let me finish a sentence before TPing me! Ok, where am I? SEE?! This is what happens when I get TP'd in like that. Right into monsters! And now I'm angry. And...I don't have an Ultimate Insp in my utility belt either. Hmm, shoulda remembered to get one of those. Will you two stay down! Ok, Despoticus is...oh, that's a LOT of Force Field. A heckuva lot. And he's not alone in there either. Ok, I have a DIFFERENT plan. Bear with me, it has some similarities to previous plans in that it WILL involve Kinetics and Radiation, but I'm going to run in (and this is a vital bit) NOT IMMEDIATELY DIE, hit him with Fulcrum Shift, rip his endurance so he can't hit me, Irradiate him and then Rad snipe the bejebus out of him. All the other things with him? Repulsion Field is on. Let them bounce off me. (Hopefully!) AND...GO! And engage all the things! BOOM! RIP! BAM! OTHER SHOUTING! (Oh hell, it's working! It's working! WOOHOO!) He's getting the bouncy treatment too! I cut him down to size and then mop up the rest of the Ultrahorde minions before my armor simply depletes its power cell. Omegod? I wanna go home. Ah, hello. So that's that wrapped up. One tiny thing. I'm still weakened. We need to fix that. Oh, you know where the Disempowerment Device is? Why does everything have to be said EPICALLY? Ok, one of his sstrongholds. Let's get to it then! [Mission 3 = And Despoticus goes down! The crowd goes wild! Engineria for the win! Good mission with a great fight. Much more even than Arbiter Sands, but I'm thinking if you didn't have my exact power set or a variation it could be fiddly. On to the finale!] Mission 4: The Lost Power. Apparently I have my own Revenge Squad. That I did not know. Should I be flattered? Worried? Is that something in your eye(s) Omegod? Tissue? No, not tissue in your eyes, I mean...just TP me, ok? Revenge Squad doesn't have Infiltration though or I wouldn't have gotten this close. Ok Not-Me, let's see your moves. Show me what you got! Nice throwdown! Is it Dark powers you have? If you'd trained with MY powerset it might be you bouncing me across the corridor now, but you didn't. That's a score for OG Engineria I feel. That's exactly what I was saying! She IS like me! And I might have guessed there would be more than one person in a squad. Ok, where's the rest of them? Ah! There you are! And OW OW OW! I was expecting more Dark. She does not have Dark! OW OW OW! Held! ACK. Pop a Break Free. I burn through her armor with my eye beams! (And now that I see that I should test my own armor against them!) She goes down in a heap and mutters about revenge and avenging. But around the corner is the thing I came here for, the Disempowerment Engine...Device...contraption. Look, that thing there! I'm very pleased to announce that it is now a bunch of irradiated bits of metal and plastic. And I am feeling MUCH better. Although a bit hungry. Omegod is PLEASED. I think he is. I'm an INSPIRATION! Well, I try. And once I've had a lie down and used my mediporter, I try again. [Mission 4 = Lovely epilog to the arc. Kudos! Loved it.] Verdict. @sponazgul hasn't delivered an AE for everyone. I know folks that will get riled by Mission 2 for instance, but the overall arc, trending from super being, to still being a hero despite being underpowered? That scores highly for me. Well done! Next up on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews as part of the Interludes, Side Trips, and One-offs, will be @Jiro Ito's On the Claw-Tipped Wings of Betrayal. And immediately next up is @Ankylosaur's All That Glints 3: Super Ego Maniac. [But due to work I won't be able to get to those for a few weeks, apologies to all.]

Snap! This is literally the next thing I'm doing! LOL.

Not all of them.

Arc 23 from our second author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @cranebump's Gravity. Mission 1: Velocity. So D.A.T.A. Been a while since I was there but I get a call from Rick Davies to mosey on over and check in. Seems my bona fides are still fidey. Rick is his usual self, friendly but efficient and focused on the task. So anyway, Crey...Ack. They'll just lawyer us, Rick. Like they ALWAYS do. Chris Jenkins will roll out all smug and lay down some documents and then we'll go home. (Jenkins owes me some, but not enough to overcome a Crey pay check.) Oh. This is different. Go on. So intent on bringing them down by slowly going through every tiny detail...they recruited Machine Maiden. She can tap into anything, hack it and get out. Alas, something hacked her back on the last job and now she's gone haywire. Which considering she's normally a pacifist is something. The job is to shut her down and bring her in. Gonna have a little bit of help too from MARK IV. (I met him once over in Founders Falls I think) He'll upload a worm and I whack her over the head. Right. So I ain't the brains in this operation. Nice to know I'm appreciated. So in I go. Hang on, robots? Crey doesn't use robots, they're all up in your face about power armor and protectors and so on. And there's some remaining human staff to rescue. FROM the robots? What's going on here? They go down to Engineria's finely crafted artisanal Rad Blasts all the same though. So, Team Lead....Ok, just run off then! See if I care! I dunno. He did say that whatever caused those old bots to break out of their crates is probably affecting her too. At least I think he said that. There was a sort of yodeling doppler effect as he ran down the corridor. Right. So who's next on the agenda? Constance Truheart. Now there's a name! You don't see those sort of names these days! (Well, yes, we just did but go with me here.) Another batch of organically reared Radiation and Kinetics, hand delivered by Engineria to robots across the board. And stay down. So, Constance. Can I call you Constance? Ms. Truheart. What's the skinny here? Yep, bit of a mystery there. Rick said as much. Rick Who? Oh, Rick ... O'Shea. You've probably not heard of him. And over there is the Chief Custodian. I'm a coming! Stop hollering, you'll bring the roof down or something. So I rescue him and he claims that there's nothing important here, it's old cold stuff from years back. And have I seen Constance because they have a hot date? Ah. No. No I haven't. Sorry. Sheesh. Priorities! Not seen MARK IV yet, so I move further into the building. Ok, found him. He's...scanning the bots? I hope that helps. So MARK IV, where's this upload spot for the worm? And the objective is set and off we go. Jeez Louise, MARK IV does NOT mess around! I think he left a dent in the wall from that bot's head! Oh hell! Singularity! I'm hoisted into the air and zapped! Not good! MARK IV is on hand to punch this Sounder Prototype into iron filings though! It doesn't take him long. Scarily short in fact. I am glad he's on MY side. Anyway, we proceed around the corner and he starts his upload while I activate the power system. Then I have to pacify the pacifist and drag Machine Maiden home for a nice long lie down and some milk and cookies. Because of COURSE it's going to be that easy. Why wouldn't it be? Stop looking at me like that. ACK! Also, not Paul! Not Paul! Who the hell is Paul?! Mother of...my Endurance just vanished! Not good! Blues blues blues! Popping blues like candy! Now have an Atomic Blast! Oh, you didn't like that, didja? Thought not. Moments later she's down and off I go with her over my shoulder. Well, I say moments later, there was a brief incident with some Paragon Protectors but they got what was coming to them. Rick Davies has no idea who Paul is. And he's not exactly sure how Machine Maiden functions, so can I stick around for a bit just in case? Yeah, why not. Get me a coffee and a sandwich though. [Mission 1 = Timer! @cranebump loves a timer. But it did add to the tension of the mission. Nice mystery there to hook us too. Looking forward to part 2. Good stuff indeed.] Mission 2: Inertia. So, Rick fills me in (Good sandwich by the way). Machine Maiden has rebooted herself following her shut down. She should be fine in a few weeks. It seems that the "guard dog" she hit in the files was connected to some scrapped Crey projects. Well, that Custodian did say it was old and cold. And Paul? Yeah, Paul is Paul Summerfeld, a former Crey employee now doing time for his part in the Revenant Hero fiasco. So it's possible those files were his and if we could get them then that would help in our case. I love how he keeps saying "we" and "our" here, as though I'm part of this. I sense I'm about to be though. Wait for it. Wait for it. There we go. So, we have the location of some hard copies. Vital stuff in an age where things can just be digitally erased. So Engineria and MARK IV will go in. MARK IV will set off the fire alarm, then we find the files, firebomb the place and get out. Wait, firebomb the place? Aren't you supposed to be the "good" guys? Yeah, yeah. I know I have done stuff like that before, but not for you! Fine fine. I'll go. But I don't like it. Have more of those really nice sandwiches ready for me for when I return. What? How is that extortion? So we go in. MARK IV sets off a fake fire alarm and ....I suppose that's gonna be connected to why the place burns down? Well, I hope the assessors don't find explosive residue. Or if they do I suppose it could be from literally anyone Crey has pissed off in the last 20 minutes, never mind years. Camaraderie you say? Sure. Get me a sandwich. We move deeper into the warehouse. I spot a couple of computers but I leave them alone. We're after hard copy files after all. And there's a filing cabinet! Come on , MARK IV, let's have a looksee. Hmm, odd. What do you make of this? And don't be robotically literal and say a hat. Ok, let's set the explosives and get outta here. First spot is just next to us. Yeah. I suppose SOMEONE was going to respond to that alarm. I thought we'd have more time though. Pity. Hit them, MARK IV. Once we'd dealt with them and pushed them out of the rear loading bays into the yard (What? Like I'm gonna leave these schmucks to burn to death?), we set our explosive and then look for two other good spots. There's one. And then on the way out we set the final one and head for the exit. When we're gone the place goes up. Job done. Time to visit Rick Davies I think. Rick has heard of Dr. Zeist. Oh, DOCTOR Zeist, is it? Big into cloning. Rick will touch base with D.A.T.A.'s director about this. Zeist is the next lead. [Mission 2 = Short, sharp and to the point. Like it! Also, another timer! It coalesces rapidly and I can see why this arc got a Dev Choice.] Mission 3: Momentum. So after contacting the director Rick tells me (munch munch munch) that Zeist is apparently freelance. That's Crey-speak for "Who him? No, we have nothing to do with him, officer", in my opinion. But he hasn't been on the books of Crey for a while now. Though his current whereabouts are weird. Night Ward. I mean how (pass the chips) do you find out stuff about there? Monty and the gang in the Midnighters maybe? Or Azuria is just next door. As if I hadn't just had a whole bellyful of Praetoria recently. At least this place is just ("just" she says) dead, and not overrun with Hamidon. Anyway. I've finished my snack so time to go investigate I suppose. So find the Doc, get his files and anything else he might have. And Rick gives me what he calls an e-shunt to beam stuff to him electronically. So like an Aether-Drop, ya? I don't remember Night Ward being so...cavernous. Still, we're obviously in the right place because I found some Drudges. They're never friendly. So I am forced to give them a beating. I dunno what exactly happens to them. I mean, I don't think they're technically alive so...whatever. Take that! And how's about you stop hitting me and we'll be friends? No? Didn't think so. Leaving their faux bodies lying behind me I wander deeper and find a crate full of wax. Except it's wax currency. The sort that the Drudges use. I have NO idea what they spend it on though? Birthday candles? Depilation? Maybe! Some of them ARE pretty bald. Ahead I see Taskmaster Dross. Might get a word with him. Taskmasters tend to be a bit, what's the word, more sanguine than their minions. Of course they'll still let their minions have a go at me so that gauntlet has to be run. Yeah. Had to take those guys down. Dross doesn't seem in the least bit bothered...wait. Are these guys MADE of wax? Nevermind! I do not care about that right now. So Drossy, my old pal. Have you seen a fella goes by the name of Zeist? Ah. Ok then. Seems Zeist was paying the Drudges for contact with a particular spirit. And everything was cosy until they go fed up with him. Ah, that does not sound good. Which spirit was that by the way? Oh that's ok. I'll just find his base by myself. Later (hopefully never!) Further along I find what appears to be a makeshift base. I have to clean some Drudges out of my way, along with those lantern things. They smart like you wouldn't believe! Ok, what do have here? Ah. A body. That'd be Zeist then. Should have expected that. What else? Hmm. video footage of Zeist demanding that the Drudges bring him keys. And they get fed up and kill him. Notes on something called a Universal Interferometer (yoink) that will be handed over to Rick Davies...and oh. A folder. The "keys" he wanted was Raymond Keyes. Praetorian Raymond Keyes. Well fiddle dee dee. Need to get back ASAP and chat to Davies. Rick has a look. Seems Zeist was reverse engineering Anti-Matter's Orbital Platform shenanigans. With help from the man himself! And he runs off to spread the good news. Says he'll be back. Time for a lay down and maybe another of those nice sandwiches. There's a lot to be said for pastrami. [Mission 3 = Wonderful little mission with lots of twists and turns. Looking forward to the next one!] Mission 4: Action and Reaction. And the soup thickens. It looks like Zeist wasn't working for himself but for someone called The Doctor. (Hey, I think I've run into her before! Or at least a version of her. Which if you're a digital person is entirely possible) Carole Friedkin. Yeah. That's the one. And the Universal Interferometer? Oh, it seems they can be used to impose gravitational fields on top of each other in layers. Ok, lost me there. I can field strip a radiation gauntlet and kinetic suit with the best of them but gravity? That's magic. Well, not actual magic. But not in my wheelhouse. And of course knowing my luck that's not the end of it. Anti-Matter's Protocols. Which would make any module infused with them basically immune to hacking. Machine Maiden bounced off an early iteration of those. So I'm off to Primeva in Nerva, where D.A.T.A. has tracked emissions from such modules. Right. Nerva. I'm starting to dislike that place. Which is why I'm in a cave system in a jungle. AGAIN. Sigh. Oh hello. Looks like the help haven't been paid. AGAIN. Not my problem, amigo. Once more with feeling. NOT MY PROBLEM, AMIGO. Ah, you'll realize in a moment or two when you're lying on the cave floor wondering about your life choices and how you too ended up in a cave in Primeva. I pass a forklift on the way. Why is there one of those here? Ah, Nemesis? Nemesis is here? I'd like to say things are making sense now but only in the sense that Nemesis has fingers in soooo many pies that I'd be a fool to think it couldn't be involved. (@cranebump, little typo there.) A comms satellite. Looks like they're really getting ready for something bigger. I wonder where it's meant to target once it's launched. Well, maybe I'll find out further in. In the meantime satellite go boom now. BOOM!. I stroll down to a large open area filled with equipment and people. There's a Site Commander shouting about stuff. Some about Roibart. That's the guy I flattened earlier. And this commander is not happy. Well, I'm about to make his day that much worse. Every silver lining has a cloud, you know? ACK. They've all spotted me! Time to go to town on Nemesis then. Feets don't fail me now! And I proceed to "diminish their capacity for action". Yeah, that's how I'm going to record this in the report. You don't think I write reports? Oh I write reports. You have to or otherwise who knows what sort of legal trouble I might get into. Admittedly I don't write reports for everything. Now to examine this gear. Hmm. Long range TP. The comms sats will be launched into space using those. Much handier than conventional methods. And over here? A crate of those Interferometers ready to be attached to the satellites. Power nodes and antimatter receptacles. That's "regular" antimatter (if there is such a thing) rather than the deceased Praetorian. It's not a space coffin. So the satellite will be able to create large but localized gravitational fields. In space but also on Earth. Time to get back to Rick Davies I think. [Mission 4 = Great little click and investigate mission. Filling in the blanks. Good stuff indeed.] Mission 5: Free Fall. Rick has a theory. And honestly it's insane. But not that insane. It's basically cloud removal. Invert the gravity around any cloud bank and bingo, no clouds. No clouds no rain. Ransom the rain time. I mean, yeah. Ok. Wasn't there an old timey villain called the Weatherman who did that back in the 70s? Or was that a cartoon I saw? Whatever. Dangerous. However, what Rick knows of Friedkin is she would never do this, so it's Nemesis who is behind it. Friedkin had her ethics but Rick thinks she's being played. So, with Friedkin being the Digital Doctor, we need Machine Maiden to get in there and deal with her. And I'm the muscle again? Yeah, figured. So with signals triangulated off we go. We get into their secret hideaway. Yeah, not 100 percent but you can handle it. And remember, I am not Paul! Engineria! Not Paul! Ok, this place is partially caved in. It's a wonder anything in here is working. We get to an active terminal though, and once Machine Maiden starts her interface I'm going to have a look around for Nemesis. Oh, and activate the containment device for Friedkin. That'll be vital. No Friedkin, no...I was gonna say no clouds but I actually mean the opposite of that. So, yeah. Sheesh, that's one chunky machine! Hmm, Arachnos design. They do like to roid out their stuff. Kinda looks like an engine block. Ok, Maiden, I'm gonna patrol and see if we have any visitors. And of course we do. I find them by being shot. OW. But you haven't brought enough backup. my Nemmy pal! And down you go! What the hell is going on out in the main corridor? Manifestations are fighting each other. I mean ok but what? Body cam records all this so I'll ask Rick when I get back. No sign of Machine Maiden at all either. So anyway, back at D.A.T.A. I have a sandwich while Rick goes over my cam footage and the telemetry results. The modules are inert. That's good. As for the Interferometers? We might find a noble use for them at some point. Also good. The Doctor? Still technically alive but internalized in Machine Maiden. Nemesis erased part of her ethical self so Maiden kinda had to become her. So if I'm understanding all that the Manifestation fight was that happening. Ok, weird. Not the weirdest thing I've seen in my life as a supe but it's up there. Rick suggests we all relax and head outside to enjoy the nice cloudy day. Ah, no. I'm not doing that. [Mission 5 = Sweet round up. Worked perfectly!] Verdict. Excellently tight story. @cranebump can do single arcs just as well as multiparters. Recommended! Next up from @cranebump is Fallout 1: The Unlock. And next on the schedule in TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE reviews is @sponazgul 's The Return of Despoticus.

ACK. Getting a DBserver error. Was trying to update All That Glints 2: The Ids That March, can't even get on!

I did enjoy it. And while I have another break due to work coming up, I hope to get to the second Dhahabu arc to complete the set.

Arc 23 from our first author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @Ankylosaur's All That Glints 2: Beware the Ids That March. So, when last we met Aurora Pena, Engineria and her were taking a truck ride into the woods on Striga. Sheesh, that woman needs therapy. I mean she says she's not Mother Mayhem despite having housed that consciousness for years, and I think she consciously believes that, but she goes out of her way to atone for anything that Mayhem might have done while possessing her. I'll leave it at that. Tricky subject that you can't just randomly bring up. Mission 1: A Meeting of the Minds. So Katie Douglas mentally uploaded/telesent everything she and I experienced previously to Aurora. She's up to speed now with the Cliff Notes and Ii don't have to explain anything. She's been searching for Penny Mayhem since the whole Faultline thing though, and sensing the hate wave that flooded Striga she headed there, and was caught up in it until Engineria and Katie rescued her. Now, she wants my help. And then our phones buzz. As in both of them. Same message. It's from Splice! Ah. See, Splice is involved with Mr.G and a whole passel of "bad" Praetorians. Not sure how this is gonna work but let's see what she has to say. So Splice was looking for a different Subjugator than the one I found. Ok. And maybe sharing some intel would help everyone out. Aurora has Vanguard contacts too, and those could be useful. Can we meet up and ...have a chat? Engineria looks at Aurora. Mind ride? Mind ride. We/I head off to the location given. Well, that's a great start to the day. Moving through the warehouse I pass the Milipals mentioned by Splice. They're stationary and (so far!) non-threatening. Ah, there's Splice ahead. With some company I remember from Steel Canyon. Time to give her a helping hand I think. Ok, same tactic as before (Don't get complacent though!) and I Rad blast them until they dissipate. Dissipate? Diffuse? Drift away? Whatever. They be gone now. Hi there, Splice. Got your message. What's the skinny? Thorn? Have you SEEN Praetoria recently? Nuff said! Right, who are we seeing? If there's a Tinman and a Cowardly Lion and a Scarecrow around here I will not be happy. (Although I wouldn't put it past you, @Ankylosaur!) Well, I should have guessed it would be him. Ok, G, what's YOUR deal? This had better be good. You do know you're wanted across....well, nearly everywhere. Mr. G leads me on to a desk and places a formal request in my hands. Down below I can hear someone...is that Transmuter? I think it is! And we pass by Bobcat! Ah! I have reasonably good standing with Vanguard, I have since I helped with the whole Richter in the RWZ thing, and now this? This is not a good position to be in. Sigh. Ok, what is it? Don't open it until I leave. (You seeing all this Aurora? I hope you are.) And then we're done. The computer nearby contains intel about moving Subugators to the volcano on Striga. Weird. Right. I'll see myself out then. I leave and have a brief chat with Aurora in my head while walking back to where she is in the truck. I think of it like being on the phone, it's easier to get my head around it that way. Ok, gimme a minute. I open the request. Ah. Penny Mayhem ne Yin is the once responsible for the recent outbreak of viral hate. (Let's hope she never crosses over to Dhahabu!) She's currently with the Council. Plus she has taken over the Awakened. (She should look at Kallisti! They're all over that park in Flagtown!) She's also captured Subjugator 5, one of Mr. G's "people". Here's the catch. G will help us find Penny if we can free 5. However to protect 5 from Penny we need a device. And it's in Praetoria. Yeah. Told you there was a catch. Aurora says/thinks that we need to talk to Marchand first. I definitely agree. [Mission 1 = Great set up. Like the progression from the Mr. G arc in the Rogue Isles and crossing over with the equivalent New Praetorians. Nice!] Mission 2: Mental Block. Well, Aurora and Engineria meet Marchand, before all of us head over to Vanguard to see Gaussian. We're told that there are far more Apparitions appearing across Paragon and Vanguard have agreed to open the portal we need. Sneaky old Marchand did NOT tell Gaussian about Mr.G though! In the meantime we've updated the ubiquituous G with what's going on. Now (now she says!), it gets confusing. We're off to retrieve what Mr.G refers to as "hats". Tinfoil hats? I'm assuming some sort of neural relay cap actually. We'll be dashing into the CMF, hoping not to get irradiated (again, I have some immunity to that, so go me), swiping the "hats" and running back to the portal. So, in I go. Oh, I believe I've seen those sort of robots before. Neo-Tokyo? I think they are! Ok, too busy to check. (Also, this mission is on a timer!) Ok, nothing in here. But there's more of these things so I rush around checking. In between getting shot at by robots! And I found it! One "tin hat" collected, I run for the portal. Whew! Aurora (who was mind riding along with me) thought those robots were one of Cole's experiments. Nah, you're Praetorian but there's whole sections of your history you don't know. Well, for obvious reasons. She also catches me up on what the Awakened and the Apparitions actually are. Neither of which is very nice. Mother Mayhem was an unpleasant person to say the least. And she reckons that the Apparitions are drown to Penny and the Awakened like moths to a flame. [Mission 2 = Short, timered mission. This could have been done as text but frankly I think it adds to the total "vibe" of the arc so far, delving back into Fallen Praetoria.] Mission 3: Recurring Dreams. Ok, we have an email from Transmuter of all people, updating us on the volcano situation. There's a way into the vents and he's attached coordinates for us. Well, for ME. (Honestly, I probably should take a lecturer position with Hero Corps if Whipsmart isn't hiring.) We bring the Hat, stick it on Subjugator 5 and bingo bongo, she's protected from Penny's mind control. How hard could it be? Well, that's the thing, isn't it? But this time Aurora isn't going along for the ride. She's wary of having control wrested from her (and surely that couldn't be good for me either) plus she doesn't trust Mr. G. You think I trust him? I trust him as far as I can throw the Atlas statue. I get in and tackle a few flying gun bots and a Galaxy guy. Honestly, do they even KNOW they look like Luchadors? I'm surprised one of them isn't called Nacho Libre! Aha! An Awakened Mindstorm. Well, mind powers or not she succumbs to some Rads and I move deeper into the complex. Carefully does it. No need to get cocky and die in a stupid way. I slide around a corner and suddenly I'm in a small computer complex with arrays of data banks. In the middle of all that is Beholder, held captive by the Awakened! Kingdom? What Kingdom? If you're talking about Praetoria then that ship has long since gone to Davy Jones's Locker. Or whatever the Praetorian Hamidon equivalent of that is. Kiting around the equipment I take down Beholder's captors and then free her. Ah, a voice you say. Might be Penny Mayhem. Might be. Not sure whether I really want to trust Mr. G on this. Ok, he's not led us wrong so far but then again everything so far has apparently suited him so why would he? Nevermind. things to do. Trouble is, according to Beholder, that same psychic energy is going to be used to power some sort of giant robot. Hmm, looks like they're scaling up from the Teslas. Up ahead we find Dr. Arvin. Former Praetorian who now works with the Council. He's not happy to see us. Not at all. He rants at us as we fight him but in the end he and his Council bodyguard go down. There's...what the hell is a Riesengarde? Oh, I'll find out. In the meantime there's some stuff to examine. Things like this! What's in here? Aha! Vials for an Uber Soldier. (Some text missing here @Ankylosaur I think.) Is that the Riesengarde? Oh, I reckon the Uber Soldier IS the Riesengarde! Look at this guy! He's roided out completely! Plus he's pretty much given the game away with his mention of serum from Dr. Arvin. Even so, he too goes down to Kinetics ripping away his Endurance. No energy = can't hit me! Love that. Gives me a breather every time. Well, every time it WORKS! Beholder and I also find some information detailing that Marauder and Mynx's DNA has been used for something. Oh oh. That's not good. Time to report in to Aurora Pena. We've gathered a fair amount of intel now so let's sift it and see. Yeah, Aurora is anxious. Giant psychically controlled robots, the DNA stuff, all of it amounts to pure nasty. And she reckons that Mr. G wants that Mynx intel for Bobcat. Ok then. More than I knew but that's about it. She's going to contact G and see what's what. It's not like he'd LIE to her, is it? [Mission 3 = Tense. Good action all the way through and some really lovely placement of NPCs and items. Particularly like where Beholder appeared. On to the next mission!] Mission 4: Mind Blown. Of course the first thing is...we still haven't rescued Subjugator 5. So that's still live. And hopefully she is too. If there are other Subjugators there then they have to be stopped permanently. Ah, that sounds a bit final but ok. They're uber dangerous left under the control of Penny Mayhem. Or anybody for that matter. Beholder? Aurora is on that and will keep me updated. In the meantime, it's back to finding Sub 5 and sticking a tinfoil hat on her head. Oh, the things I get myself into. So it's off to volcano city on Striga where the Council do play. Worst. Nursery. Rhyme. Ever. Place is dry and hot and all paths seem to lead downwards. So towards the magma? Great. How heat resistant is my armor anyway? I mean I haven't been set on fire for , I dunno, whole hours. Oh yeah. Definitely down. Down down down. This is gonna be one of those days. I just know it. OW! Oh, I was NOT expecting that! These guns just pop out of the gawdamn wall and shoot you! OW OW OW! Ok, I deal with that, plus the clankers around the corner. (Little bit of a PSA here for other players) So, I move around the corner and there in front of me is that giant robot thing. I saw something like this once on a trip to Cimerora, except that was not the Council, it was the 5th Column. Ah, they're all fascist scumbags at the end of the day. Oh for Pete's Sake! Those pop up guns are literally everywhere! I'm getting riddled with bullets! I have to take to the air and get to a ledge above them before whittling enough of them down so as not to be in a crossfire. Ok, a few minutes later after all that I spot one of the enemy Subjugators, Subjugator 3. Swoop down and blast her! Oh! I missed one of those pop up guns! Fortunately it also missed me! I trash the Subjugator and stalk after her compatriots. Soon 23, 19 and 11 are joining their squiddy headed sister in oblivion. And there's Subjugator 5! Note to self, don't fall in the lava again. That was not good. She floats along behind me as I make my way to the bottom where the lava venting control console is located. And with some judiciously placed Rad Blasts it is no more! Now to get the hell out of Dodge before it becomes hotter than hell! Hey there Aurora! I'm back! And look who I have with me. And of COURSE Mr. G has another ask. So, it builds and builds. This time in exchange for intel on Penny he needs another (another???) portal back to Praetoria. Trouble is the apparition rate is rising and he is our best bet. (Is he though? I mean what's Primal Penny at? Or Aurora Borealis? Ah. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned HER. That's as tricky as mentioning Mayhem. Poor Sister Psyche is dead so at least I don't have to worry about that. [Mission 4 = Oh, that's a NASTY mission. Glad I did not have it on a high difficulty level. Fighting hordes of enemies around the giant robot would be intense while also being shot repeatedly by those pop up guns! Good stuff though. On to the finale!] Mission 5: Mental Distress. Aurora has some unbelievable news. Vanguard is willing to open another portal, although Gaussian was heard muttering that if G and his gang got stuck there that wouldn't be the worst thing to ever happen. Hah! But the temporal aspect of where we are going is...tricky. The TUNNEL system only ever seems to deposit you in the past, and other methods are as unreliable too it seems. So we may not all end up in the same immediate "when". Sure sure. I don't understand it but I'm getting used to it. I think. And only then does Mr. G contact us. There is a device called the Soothseer that Mother Mayhem herself used. G believes the dissonance it causes can break Penny Mayhem's control. Now here's the catch. We have to go to Mayhem's hospital in First Ward. Oy! And Aurora says that Mother's presence so permeated that place we might even see versions of her there! Ack. ACK I say. And then I stop saying ACK and walk through the portal. (ACK) The first person I see is Bobcat. She's a bit trussed up but I soon cut her free. The pair of us prowl along (Well, Bobcat does the prowl thing) and shortly after we find Subjugator 5. Hello...dammit woman! Now I can't see a thing! Blinking for several minutes ensues. Hang on! I hear someone! We scout ahead and up some stairs through a narrow corridor and come out on a sort of mezzanine where we find Transmuter. He's grateful to see us and joins the gang. At the back I notice. HMM. Splice and Mr. G himself join us later. Quite a little army we have. And it looks as though we'll need it. THAT looks rather dangerous. Although for once we have the numbers on our side. Well, nothing ventured nothing gained. Let's GO GO GO! "Embrace the madness"? That's a resounding NO from this little supe! Not having that, Malaise...err...echo resonance of Malaise. With this many of us he goes down like a ton of bricks through a rotted floor. Yeah, that's a terrible phrase but I'm busy here, so leave me be! Of course Aurora DID warn us that Mayhem's presence might manifest itself here. And it does. As if Malaise wasn't enough. Now that's just asking us if we want to embrace the madness, isn't it? Join the Seers? Well it is to my way of looking at the world. fortunately for us this is not the real Mother Mayhem. That... that would not go so well I think. We take her down though and then multiple sighs of relief percolate around our little band of fighters. And the job is done. We have the Soothseer. Except the only person to return was me! Mr. G and gang have stayed behind! They have plans of their own concerning Neo-Tokyo. [Not going to spoiler those for other players] Aurora is still pleased. She can use the device to disrupt further apparitions. Once she does homing in on Penny Mayhem will be their next objective. [Mission 5 = A great little "collect the allies" mission. Lots of character and tone and then having them stay behind? Very different. Good stuff all round!] Verdict. @Ankylosaur delivers again in his own inimitable way! Further building out the universe we encountered earlier via the TUNNEL system and Neo-Tokyo. Looking forward to the third part of this story. Next up from @Ankylosaur is All That Glints 3: Super Ego Maniac. And next on the schedule in TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE reviews is @cranebump's Gravity.

Yeah, I admit I can get a little spoilery here and there but I think it adds to the fact that I said WAY back at the beginning that these are more "The Adventures of Engineria" than a pure review. They are what they are.