TerroirNoir3

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.

Yeah, I'm keeping this image to go alongside my avatar pic here.

Slowly getting there! There may be a break next week though as I've got some overtime to handle. Ah, that's life.

Getting prepped. TerroirNoir2 is close to 90% on attachments!