TerroirNoir
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Posts posted by TerroirNoir
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On 10/12/2022 at 11:35 PM, Getaways said:
Looking forward to having you play through these missions! While made for/by my villain group the Getaways, the missions are supposed to make everyone feel like a Getaway. These are my first attempts to create content in the AE, so I look forward to your feedback and hope you enjoy them!
I may have to add them as a fourth AE Box Set Review! We will see! Currently 60 missions in on the current set of stuff I'm doing.
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12 hours ago, Ankylosaur said:
Jim the Merit Vendor and Rhonda Jones the Inspiration Vendor are the vendors in that part of Faultline
I KNEW I knew them! I just haven't spent enough time in Faultline to really know them though. Cool!
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Arc 5 from our first writer on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is , @Ankylosaur's All that Glitters 2.2: Fortunes in Faultline.
Mission 1: The Robopal Unveiling. Delia Huntley is happy to see Engineria again. It looks like Big Brother Construction/Langston are moving on up in Paragon. After Boomtown and Steel Canyon they've got a contract for work in Faultline. Still using Goldbrickers as security however and that's just asking for trouble, or at least for Delia and Wyvern to investigate. Plus the protestors are still around, and the PPD and so on. It's one big cherry bomb waiting to go off. Now they're unveiling a whole line of bots a bit like the Mr. Security we saw before.
Ok, over to Faultline to have a looksee.
And straight out of the gate I run into Ms. Cuisine.
Now that sounds ominous. Trust me, I'm from Langston. Right, sure. Let's move along and see what else is going on while I search for some Goldbrickers to put the shakedown on.
Oh hi, Faultline! Jim Temblor here in his best togs. Looks like getting a few local celebrities is meant to have credibility rub off on Big Brother/Langston I suppose.
You stay there, Jim. I'm going to continue on with my search. Lot of people around. Plenty of protesting workers too actually. AND PPD. Yeah, they're probably on edge and expecting trouble here.
No one hostile to Engineria yet though. Makes a change! I might enjoy this little stroll after all. I'm getting blasé, aren't I? Yeah. Any minute now some power armored creep is going to try to put me through a wall, or set me on fire, or whatever those sonic guns the Goldbrickers use do.
Oh, there's definitely a variety of types of these Robopals. Here's a firefighter variant!
Oh, hello? No, I don't know you. Do I? There's something familiar about you but I can't place you. Sorry, friend!
And here we have a Mr. Fitness. You know, peaceful and all as this is, the constant refrain of "Trust me, I'm from Langston" is ramping up in the creepiness stakes.
Sorry, Rhonda. We may have met but I'm drawing a blank. I could pretend I remember but that would be more awkward. So, let's go see Doc Delilah up there. Her I know.
Hey, Doc. How are ya doing?
You never said a truer word. And there's a Mr. Butler up ahead. Seems like Langston are covering the market with all these types.
Oh, but the massively strong and potentially uncontrollable, bots are fine, yeah?
Rhonda and Engineria meet Fusionette along the way, and decide to head back to Jim Temblor to see if there's any fun to be had. Fusionette has threatened to kill Jim because he told her it was a dress up affair, and here we are wandering around the street! LOL.
Well, that's gonna go down well later with that particular couple! Your girlfriend shows up and you talk to the other girl! OHO!
WAIT! I spy a Goldbricker called Bam Bam! Let's give him a visit.
Heist plans you say? Sounds like criminal activity. Sounds like criminal conspiracy at the least! One for all and all for one! Come on, gang!
That's fine. That's fine. You two stand there while me and Fusionette do all the work. I can see her blasting another Goldbricker from where I'm lying.
UNPROVOKED? I think not my shiny foe! You very much VOKED!
Go Fusionette! That's her energy blast hitting Bam Bam from the side there!
Ok, Bam Bam and his friends are happily unconscious. Time to find that heist plan we heard him talking about. I seem to have picked up Mirror Spirit along the way too, or one of the others has maybe. Or she was hiding in a puddle. She's normally around here anyways.
HEY! What do we have here, my friends? Definite heist plans, with the location marked. No idea WHAT they're going to steal though.
Time to report back to Delia then. Later gang! Drinks are on Jim Temblor! Fusionette says so!
Returning to Delia she examines the find and is puzzled. The Goldbrickers appear to be raiding an old ruin usually inhabited by the Lost. Very odd. Next stop for Engineria is get to that site!
[Mission 1 = A very relaxed mission of investigation and interaction, easing us into the story. I have to hand it to @Ankylosaur, he populates a zone like no one else using the AE. Good stuff indeed.]
Mission 2: Lost Technologies. Okay, time for Engineria to check out this ruined raid spot. Oh, sounds of battle here, and Lost and Goldbrickers in the midst!
@Ankylosaur, just a heads up!
SpoilerAn extraneous "and" here.
Moving around in the ruins I immediately come across the raid leader, Sparkles. HA! Bam Bam is warming the inside of a cell somewhere by now I think, that's why he didn't show up. And Rikti weapons! Well, this gets more interesting by the minute. Time to have a chat with you, Sparkles!
Got it in one, Sparkles! Your "friend" was very helpful, if a bit sticky from Drenched Donuts!
I'm afraid so, my gold compadre. You and your lot are...well, I don't actually know if you're trespassing but SOMEONE who isn't you must own this place, so yeah. Necessary. And I do not mean the Lost.
Now to have a look around. There's a console to check, and some tech and crates and...and a big guy called Yemeth with no fashion sense! Oh ho! And he goes down like a ton of bricks!
Yeah, yeah, threaten me some more why dontcha? Rue the day? Maybe I will, but in the meantime I have reveling to do!
Ok, I discover a bunch of ConDev files, a crate full of Rikti weapons and, most interestingly, these doohickies!
Three in total, one is a personality scanner, one is a personality adjuster and the final one is a body scanner. According to notes they don't work properly. Might explain some of the weirdness about the Lost now that I think about it. Ok, time to get back to Delia and report in.
Turns out maybe Sparkles and his shiny bros were NOT trespassing, since this lab, and the other one Delia's other team were checking out, actually originally belonged to ConDev, which later became Langston. Meh, I hit him, he went down. AND...gloaty gloat, at least once in my career as a mid level super I did not land on my back in a mission! Sorry, Delia, I'll pay more attention, I promise! Just relishing not being a punching bag for once 🙂
[Mission 2 = A short investigation mission that is one of @Ankylosaur's trademarks by now. Incremental world building again and attention to detail. Good stuff.]
Mission 3: The Hive. Delia and her cohort have worked out where the Goldbrickers are operating out of in Paragon. It's a damaged building in Faultline the Goldbrickers call "The Tower". Seems they've been spotted jetting about on their jetpacks around the upper reaches of the building. Perhaps if they disgusied themselves as Sky Raiders? Anyway, time for Engineria to pay a visit.
Big Brother Bots ahoy! And with these mechs around the GBs are sure to be nearby!
Ah, they've spotted me! Got too close for my own good. I just wanted a look at the supplies they had next to them.
Ok, that's those bots dealt with. There are plenty more working away around the base of the building. I'll just stealth by them this time. Hang on. I spot a familiar but annoying figure up ahead!
Now what in the blue blazes is that idiot up to? Scalious Stone? I'd better go and see what's going on. As if I didn't have enough to deal with right now, Duke Mordrogar and his delusions of whatever are ...I dunno what they are but they're damn annoying!
And just when I was getting used to NOT being set alight. I have to hand that to the Goldbrickers, they don't immolate their foes usually. Apart from what I've heard about Smelters, but I've never actually met one so...never mind!
The Duchess? She's a demon, you lunatic! I'm only surprised she hasn't already eaten your soul or something. Frankly me kicking seven shades out of you every time we meet is doing you a favor!
I vex you? SERIOUSLY? Ok, we're done. Next time I am just sniping you from a distance and walking away. I won't even tell Wyvern you were there, I'll just shoot you.
Ok, up to the top and around we go....ah typical. Arachnos in Faultline. Actually, right now I have the STRANGEST feeling of deja vu. Whatever, it'll pass.
So, the spiders don't trust Langston. Or Dr. Aeon doesn't at least. Well, I'm going to leave you to sort out any that pass you by, while I head into the building. Later, spider bud.
Making my way inside I find crate after crate of Rikti weapons. This place is a damn armory! You could stock a Mothership with all that's here.
Goldbrickers everywhere so a bit of judicious blasting and stealthing gets me up a few more floors, until I see a room full of crates and GBs. And, heh, they see ME!
Those weapons they're using are brutal! The only thing keeping me up is Kinetics Repel, as you can see bouncing them away from me, and Kinetics Heal. I'm reduced to circling them and trying to pick them off as they keep on coming! Half my green inspirations are gone already, as well as most of the blues since Repel is an Endurance drainer.
I make it though. And rest.
Then up another elevator and into a large sort of hexagonal room. And there's that chatty Mainframe again. Ok, stealth is useless, as they seem to know I am here. Must have been all those grenades I used earlier I suppose. Well sometimes you just have to throw a grenade in a structurally unsound building. Can't be avoided.
Well, I need to tackle Ben Da Bomb...ok, time out. You guys have a great look, some killer equipment and freaking JETPACKS! So get a PR person to sell you better, yeah? Well, after I've hit you a bit more.
Shrapnel? Nooo, I'm on a strict no shrapnel diet these days. Thanks all the same. Grenade?
You betcha! (barely hanging in here, no restocks of inspirations left. Note to Self: Get free inspiration power from the P2W lady)
And it's...actually I still don't know if you're some sort of connected AI thing or just some guy with CCTV and a microphone lurking in a base elsewhere. Must ask Delia.
Either way, this particular version of you is getting 'sploded!
Wait, what? Oh, that does not sound good. So, this is a diversion. No, they didn't know I was coming here. Did they? Worry about that later. Now I have some heist plans to check. Ah, there we are. I walked by them on the way in. Ha.
Ok, that's "The Tower" cleared out. Let's get back to Delia for a debrief.
Delia is also curious about the Mainframe but puts it to one side. Ten minutes after Engineria entered the Tower, a squadron of Goldbrickers attacked a convoy carrying Praetorian tech and forced a chopper to crash. Parts of upper Skyway are still a battle zone as they continue their looting.
Looks like Engineria is getting no rest, apart from grabbing inspirations from the medbay as she runs out!
[Mission 3 = Deceptive! This starts out like the previous lab mission but turns into a deadly fight across slanted and dangerous rooms. Plenty of pace and great fun. Plus that pesky Duke!]
Mission 4: My Way or The Skyway. Engineria is mostly solo on this. Delia has sent in what few Wyvern agents she had to help, and there's some Longbow there too, but neither group are on site in any numbers. Commander Sinclair of Longbow was coordinating things but she's been cut off. So, time to saddle up and get to Skyway. (I grabbed an Inner Inspiration P2W on the way. You never know!)
Ok, my team buddies are here! That's a relief. Now to track down the caches of Praetorian tech and stop the Goldbrickers from getting away with them.
Just loading up your ill gotten gains, aren't ya? Well not today Mr. Shiny! And down you go.
And for good measure, completeness, call it what you want, your truck is going too. Bye bye!
Engineria moves along the streets of Skyway, down below and up above. There are fallen crates of Praetorian tech and vans and trucks being loaded by Goldbrickers. With the aid of Wyvern and Longbow we take them out one by one.
There's Commander Sinclair! Let's get to her.
The two of us continue along, clearing as we go. Down below we can hear Wyvern fighting the Goldbrickers in different places.
Then up ahead I can see one Boom Boom Bono. Looks like a raid leader. Time to give that man a sharp visit from Rad Blast town.
He's tough though. Sinclair is battling Boom Boom's minions behind me and stopping me getting shot in the back, and for that I seriously owe her! So far I've stayed upright this entire mission!
Nope, but if I have to then I have to, BBB! And you are not getting out of this.
Sinclair arrives to heal me up! Oh, I love that girl! And then blasts BBB. He is DOWN! BOO YA!
Now we just have to mop up the remaining Praetorian tech and I can report back to Big Cheese Delia. Glad I'm not the one clearing up all the exploding trucks and so on though! Have to tell Delia that I found a map in the cab of one of the trucks with directions to a warehouse here in Skyway. Probably where these guys were going to stash the loot.
Delia is pleased at the result and immediately broadcasts the location of the warehouse to Longbow and her own agents. I'll be joining them.
[Mission 4 = Now this was a straightforward find and destroy/rescue mission. But again the place is populated well and it seems organic. On a higher level it could be manic!]
Mission 5: Gold Market. Wyvern and Longbow have breached the entrance of the warehouse and Engineria's old pal Ollerus is leading. Time to get in there and help out!
Oh wow, that's a BIG fight. (I am glad I don't have this on +4/8!!)
I activate flight and get above the crowd, scanning for Ollerus as I go.
Those Goldbrickers are putting up a hell of a fight! But Wyvern aren't taking it lying down. Oh, there's some guy talking behind me. Not Ollerus though. Who are you, my friend?
Seems like the Goldbrickers are in over their heads. Which is odd considering they have jetpacks, but I digress. Time to get into the fray, Engineria, and kick some heads in!
Bombastic Joe, eh? Ok, Mr. Bombastic, totally fantastic, Mr. Lover Lover, let's see what you got!
Cavalry? Well, air corps is modern cavalry so maybe! Sorry, Joe, but you're going on the floor, not me! And there's Ollerus. Damn it. I flew by him on the way in. Duh.
So the entire warehouse is full of crates of Rikti tech and Praetorian tech, along with the mobs of Goldbrickers fighting our side.
We're looking for any clue as to who the recipient of all this stolen tech is.
In the meantime Ollerus and Engineria make their way through the Goldbrickers, "arresting" them as we go. And let me tell you again (yes, I am getting repetitive) there are a LOT of them.
But then what do we see at the end of this corridor? Not a clue but at the least a hint of who is buying all this equipment. See that Ollerus? THAT is one of the Family. Verandi in fact. Looks like this is a Mob deal.
So we round the corner and take them out. It has to be done. Circling around we come to a side room, and there against the wall is a desk. Looks like we've got some evidence beyond all the stolen stuff.
We found a shipping manifest. Most of this stuff was due to be sent to Striga and the Rogue Isles. Perhaps the inter Family war is heating up for some reason. Well, beyond what we experienced with Bloody Vicious a while ago.
And there at the end of that corridor is our Primo Culprit. Smokin' Joe. Mr. Family here himself. Ollerus my friend, we are about to do our City a service by kicking his criminal ass.
Of course he gets up. I concentrate on him and thankfully Ollerus tackles the minions. That's the sort of team work a girl can appreciate.
Well, no, I don't want a challenge, but you ain't leaving here outside of a catch wagon, so let's do this!
Nah, that was local politics, Joe. Vicious had what we needed, we scratch his back and so on and so forth. You understand.
And Joe hits the floor.
Ollerus and Engineria head back to Delia to see what's what.
Delia informs me that Longbow is doing the clear up work. A lot of the tech was possibly earmarked for Council use while more was heading elsewhere. Aside from that Delia is still antsy about the entire Robopal rollout. To Engineria that looks like people paying to have Warworks in their home. Warworks that could be switched to kill in an instant.
[Mission 5 = Rocking good mission. Plenty of rolling fights and back and forth. Loved it.}
Verdict: Loved it. The expansion of the politics continues. There's a bigger picture here that is slowly rising to meet us, like a mountain out of a clearing fog. Anyway, our next episode will be All that Glitters 2.3: Terawatts in Terra Volta.
Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is, after the commercials, @cranebump's Leviathan 2: Hollow Ring.
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On 9/26/2022 at 2:55 AM, cranebump said:
Dark Deeds is an immersive, detailed, Epic. It’ll feel like a Netflix series, fer sure.
@cranebump, I'm starting to get that feel actually. I wasn't sure what you meant at first but yeah, getting it now. I think!
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Arc 4 of from our third writer on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @Darmian's Darker Deeds: Part One.
So following a brief trip to Icon for some head gear Engineria gets to it. I get a video call from Halox Von Horn of the Meteors SG. And a curious one it is too. Longbow has "Lord Richter", who we took down in Steel Canyon a while ago, in custody but he'll only talk to me or to Axios, and Axios is on another mission right now. So, can I go to a Longbow facility and have a chat with the villain, see what sort of a deal he wants or what information he has. Oh this is going to go well, I just know it.
Mission 1: The Prisoner's Dilemma. Ok, I need to sign into the security system to get on the White List, i.e. the list that means the auto guns won't just shoot me.
Right then. All signed in. System is rebooting with me on it.
Then a brief stroll past some Longbow as I go to find this "Lord Richter" guy and see what he wants. You know, I thought he'd be in a cell rather than standing here all friendly with his guards.
OH NO! The GUARDS attacked me! This isn't at all good. Mr. Von Horn and I are going to have words!
Something tells me these are NOT Longbow, but here they are inside the Longbow base, all dressed up in the Longbow JimJams. Well, I'm not having that!
Oh, there's ALWAYS some cockroach of a survivor who makes it out to make my life difficult again. I should write a book about it. Then again, I'm a mid range nobody supe in a whole CITY of more famous supes, so who would buy it? He just ran off!
I'll get to him in a minute, first I have to get to a console and lock the base down! AHA! There it is!
Ok, Richter, let's get you back in your cell. AND there's more fake Longbow around too.
But it looks like regular Longbow is handling them. This is going to get a bit confusing I think. Back the way I came and ...an Arachnos Psych Commander with a Longbow friend. I'd better deal with you then.
And there I go! What? you thought I might make it through a mission without landing on my ass? Think again!
But I usually get back up and give the flattener a stern talking to. Show them the error of their ways. Something like that. Ok, I hit them a lot until they stop. Hmm, this guy has a piece of paper in his pocket with a lot of numbers on it. Something for the SG to look at.
So that's where he ran off to! The Longbow armory or evidence room or whatever. Not good. I fought a fully armored Richter before, but with help from Madame Maven, and he was still TOUGH. Nothing for it though.
I round a corner and manage to get in a shot on Richter, and while he gloats, so do I. YES! For once someone else is flattened! Go me!
And then, totally calmly, apparently in absolute control of this fight, he picks himself up and is going to kill me. Oh dear.
@Darmian, starting an arc with an END BOSS? Oh wow. I wonder what Mission 5 will be like.
Oh dear god that hurt! How did I not notice he had Radiation powers too? I mean in the last fight. Maybe because Madame Maven was obscuring everything in shadows I suppose. But back to the hurting. OW!
But this is still a Longbow controlled base, despite Richter's Fakes, and help arrives! Oh sweet wonderful help as I have no green inspirations left and my Kinetics Heal keeps missing on this guy.
We fight Richter across the upper floor and down the stairs, when more Fake Longbow show up, but I get the drop on him! His last words are "...Over...brook"
(I left in my health bar to show I'm nearly dead, no inspirations left and no heals working. LUCKY.)
Turns out Richter is actually dead dead. Oops. Well, it was him or me and given that choice I'll always pick me.
Time to talk to Mr. Von Horn again after that craziness.
Von Horn isn't judgey, he's glad I'm alive. He reckons that some of the disguised PPD members from Steel Canyon were the surviving Arachnos that tried to spring Richter. And Overbrook is Faultline. Since Richter is from the 1960s he'd call it that. When Von Horn looks at the numbers on the bit of paper he says they look familiar and does a little research. They're construction codes for Faultline!
[Mission 1 = CRAZY! Out of the gate crazy. Liked it a lot. Never seen a previous end boss thrown at someone like that in a first mission. Good stuff indeed.]
Mission 2: A Crack in the Earth. Halox Von Horn informs Engineria that the area laid out in the codes is off limits normally. So we have to get a boat to get to the site. Faultline has a previous record of hidden Arachnos bases so this may be an old one. He tells me to look for a hole knocked in the side of a building. As for what happened earlier, we're getting no help from Longbow as they're undergoing a review since they were infiltrated. Then we get a call from Madame Maven, a signal matching one of those from the trucks we saw in Siren's Call has been traced to the Faultline site. Time to get on a boat then.
Arachnos everywhere! Hard to believe we're in the middle of Paragon.
I think I'll take the better part of valor here and just stealth by these guys. I need to find Freight Lift J.
There we go. Ok, up to the next level and let us see where the way in is.
Ah, guards! Well of course. I should have expected guards. They're dealt with rapidly though and there we are! The way in to the base!
Oh, the entire building is off level. It makes moving peculiar.
Hmm, a barrel. Let's have a look at you.
Empty apart from some traces of fluid. Engineria gets a sample of that to bring back to the Meteors' laboratory for analysis. On we go. Finding a few more of those barrels along the way.
And that's the source of the signal. I'll need to examine that thing. Cue a fight coming then, where no doubt I will end up on my back. Oh well.
Right! Take that you spidery menaces! I need to have a look at that machine and you're in the way.
Ok, examining the machine I find that it's a distress beacon...from one of the Spectra! Ah, hell. Those guys are lethal! And there he is. Hang on, he's a prisoner of Arachnos. No wait. That makes sense. Let me get this straight. Spectra is 1960s Arachnos, but they're no friends of the present day Spiders, especially ones working for Ghost Widow. So...I rescue him? Well, let's see what happens when I do. I am gonna regret this, I'm sure of it.
Ok, looks like I'm rescuing a Spectra!
Take that, lady spider! You are REALLY tall! And I am not short.
Ok, Spectra, what do you have to say for yourself?
Ah, a response force! And friend Spectra is taking the fight to them! I'll just trail along behind and see how this plays out.
All done! Time to get out of Faultline and back to Mr. Von Horn.
Engineria gets the Spectra to the Meteors' base where she and Halox Von Horn examine him in the med bay before popping him in a cell. I'm thinking a much more comfortable cell than where he was is Faultline. Von Horn calls Bullet Streak to come back to the SG base as he's up to speed with interrogation methods.
[Mission 2 = This is a straightforward rescue, well mechanically it is. Who and how is the odd bit. The plot is moving somewhere, with more callbacks to Dark Deeds in Galaxy City. Good stuff.]
Mission 3: Reading the Entrails. Several days later Engineria is called to the Meteors' SG base where she meets with Von Horn. He's set up a meeting in Weber Labs with a Dr. Portia who has been examining the traces of whatever found in the yellow barrels. Meanwhile he and Bullet Streak are still interviewing the Spectra.
Off around the corner to Weber Labs. On entering Engineria sees a flashing light on an intercom. She gets a message from a Dr. Tessitore saying he needs help and that Arachnos are in the facility! Well now, those guys are either fast or are tailing us.
There you are. And your spidery friends are in need of one of Engineria's special talks. Ok, that's those guys dealt with, now what do you have to say for yourself Doctor?
Right, security maintenance it is then. Let's find your mainframe and then maybe I can find Dr. Portia in all this mess.
We proceed through the lab, dealing with the intruders as we go. I say "we", it's just Engineria doing it as Tessitore is a total civilian here. And there we have the mainframe. Wait here Doc, I need to take out a Mu Adept first.
Ok, coast is clear. I return and grab the doctor and get him to the mainframe.
That's it? Deal with the intruders and you run off? What's with people just running off on me these days? Ok, I palmprint the mainframe and move on. With a bit of luck Dr. Portia will be around here somewhere.
Ok, what are these tube things beside the Bane? Nerve gas maybe?
You know, Bane Spider Scouts are a complete pain in the neck. Complete. I mean they're no Lord Richter but they can really cramp a girl's style. And that mace thing packs a punch.
He doesn't like having his health and speed and power ripped from him with Kinetics though, and a gentle Radiation Blast finished the deal!
Ok, let's have a look at the cylinder thing.
Ok, refined samples of the stuff I found in the barrels is what the label says, but the tube itself is empty.
OHO! Found our missing doctor! Seems she got the same treatment as Tessitore did. Right, time to rescue her.
That didn't take too long. Those guards weren't Bane Spider Scouts. Operative Sariss! There's a familiar name. Wait! Dr. Portia has no idea who Dr. Tessitore is? That's going to bite us in the ass later I am sure.
Ok, Portia is heading for the exit. I have to deal with this Sariss guy.
And there he is with a Fortunata to provide psychic back up. He looks a bit glowy. No idea why.
Oops! Cover is blown! It is time to get down and dirty!
Jeez Louise this guy is fast! That's not me moving him, that's him in mid spin to crack my head open with a mace! The Fortunata is constantly hitting me with psi too!
I knock him back, turn and drop the annoying Fortunata and then face Sariss again. I do not believe this guy!
Since when did Arachnos start recruiting English Majors? Who are you, Bane Spider Shakespeare?
Ok! Whew. I finally take this guy out. He wasn't like Richter but he kept getting back up!
Time to get back to the SG base and sort out what's going on. Dr. Portia comes with me.
Von Horn and Bullet Streak are waiting for us. Lots of questions. How did Arachnos know about Weber Labs and bypass the security? Who was that Tessitore guy? And he stole data from the mainframe. And Dr. Portia says the fluid we found was mitochondrial. (To the Googlemachine!)
[Mission 3 = Fun mission with misdirection and twists, and some hard fights. The plot continues to evolve. Good stuff]
Mission 4: Another Faded Letter. A couple of days later Engineria is back in the team's base where Von Horn is asking her to do some breaking and entering, but apparently it's fine because it's only Crey. Ok then. Dr. Portia has explained some more about the fluid. It matches mitochondrial fluid from Blue Spectrum and produces vast amounts of energy. Old Bluey is an Energy user so yeah, I suppose. And Portia recognized Tessitore from the CCTV scans as a guy she saw from Crey at a scientist meet 'n greet a while ago. So off to Crey! This time Super Charger is going in ahead of me to act as a diversion while I search. Sure.
Ok, off we go. Just clear out some Crey security as I go. All nicely unconscious. Can't have a wrongful death here or they'll sue!
For guys who are essentially mooks in suits (and now that I think of it, most Mooks I see ARE in suits) these guys are very persistent in trying to kill me. Ow.
Ok, you're down. Where the hell is that data? Aha! Come to mama!
But no, that would be too easy. Ok, on we go on the quest. Take down a few more Crey Vigilants along the way and a few more consoles with nothing I want on them.
Ah, one of these has to have something. And it does. It's ALWAYS the last one though, isn't it?
Seems to be some sort of a fight going on down below! Arachnos have attacked this lab. Protectors have been called in to respond to the threat.
Well, I lead off strong and blast him across the room, knocking his guards away too. Gotta keep Kinetics Repel up. If that Protector lands one on me it will hurt!
This guy thinks I'm Arachnos! Ok, Von Horn! We're in the clear for being sued by Crey since they think the spiders are behind this little heist of ours.
OHO! Sounds like Super Charger has been captured! Time for a last rescue and then the two of us can scoot!
So I run around the corner and straight into a Crey on Arachnos fight. At which point it becomes a three-way fight, with quite a lot of the hits landing on little old Engineria! No fair!
Flattened again. I should be keeping a count of this. If only I could use these as little naps, to recover, you know? Ally-oop! And back into the fight.
Uploading? Nope. No time for this, I have spiders to smash and an ally to rescue. Hang on, Super Charger! I'm a comin'!
Found you! What in the hell are you wearing?
Now, my friend! Let's get the hell outta Dodge.
We get back out to the SG base and report in. Von Horn is pleased we recovered the stolen data. As for the Arachnos presence, we're reminded that Burgh the scientist is still in Arachnos "custody" and is probably telling them everything, and he used to work for Crey apparently. So there's a link there. The guys have had a breakthrough with the Spectra though, but had to hand him over to Longbow so he could be properly charged for previous crimes. And then Von Horn asks Engineria if she's ever been to Dark Astoria. WHAT?
[Mission 4 = That was a fun breaking and entering + rescue. More misdirection seems to be the key, with Crey thinking Arachnos is attacking. Good stuff]
Mission 5: Do Not Go Gentle. So, Dark Astoria then. Spectra has told them that his fellow Arachnos renegades have a base there. Von Horn is amused at this since the 1960s Arachnos must have been surprised at the present state of Dark Astoria compared to when THEY last saw it! Meanwhile Von Horn and Super Charger are following up on the data from Dr. Portia.
Into Dark Astoria I guess. Oh boy.
And we get into the place using the sewers, which is safer than walking the streets I suppose. Abandoned building. Weird green fog and faint howling! Time to wipe out this final nest of Renegade Arachnos and their last supplies of tech.
Jeez Louise! Why are they so determined to fight to the death?
Also, I really really really have to invest in some Knockback protection. Or heavy boots. Anyway.
Moving through this godforsaken place I pick off a few more guards and destroy their generators. Hang on, this one is different. Anything happen when I destroy it? Nope. Small mercies I suppose.
And then I overhear some useful chat. Seems like it's not only these Arachnos gimps that are here.
Tsoo AND Banished Pantheon. Tsk, as if my life wasn't complicated enough. On we go exploring.
And lookee here! There's that thieving little rat Tessitore! He's just told his guards he's on their side. So why is he a prisoner then? Time to find out!
Oh for pete's sake! This CANNOT be hygienic. I mean really.
I climb back up and ...he did it again! Oh you total piece of ****!
Come back here!
The little punk makes it to an elevator before I can catch him! But by now I've run around a bit and straight into Richter's possibly last surviving commander, so Tessitore will have to wait.
Surrender? Honestly I do not see that going well for me. Not one bit. Gimme a sec, I'm a bit winded but I'll be back to kick your ass in a moment.
Look buddy, I admire your persistence but there's something I should probably TELL you about Lord Richter...
So I don't see me paying any time soon, or at all for that matter. Let's get this over with and I can get out of Dark Astoria. I really hate this place.
Oh, you too I see. Well, at least we had some common ground in the end, yeah?
Ok, deal with the minion and back through the damn sewers and out of here. One final nest of Spectra Arachnos dealt with.
I'm being premature, aren't I?
So Engineria returns to the Meteors' SG base to find it surrounded by PPD and cordoned off. There's a Captain Hartigan there and he starts questioning me. Where was I last night? Do I know anything about the explosion that rocked this SG base last night? Do I know the whereabouts of an Axios? He hands me a card and tells me to get in touch if I think of anything.
Hoo boy!
[Mission 5 = Well, I was thinking that starting with a previous end boss would mean this would be an explosive finale, but not like this. It's a bit Empire Strikes Back, and leading straight into the next one. Good stuff]
Verdict: Loved it. Really feeling the connections while more stuff is added. Right now I don't know where the Meteors are, apart from the fact Axios wasn't in the building when it was attacked. Not sure where we go from here! Anyway, our next episode will be Darker Deeds: Part Two.
Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews, again after the commercials, is @Ankylosaur's All that Glitters 2.2: Fortunes in Faultline.
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41 minutes ago, Zhym said:
I just ran this (prompted by @TerroirNoir's excellent and hilarious reviews)
Thanks! I wasn't sure anyone besides the authors were reading these. I was still going to do them because I'm having fun with it though.
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Arc 4 of from our second writer on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is, @cranebump's Leviathan 1: Hollow Pursuit.
Engineria is back talking to her new old friend, Detective Freitag. Let's see what Joe has to say for himself this time. Well, that's interesting. It seems Robert Alderman, responsible for freeing Clamor a while back, is out of prison. (Wondering whether Chris Jenkins is involved in that!) Alderman is making a name for himself on some news sites ranting about leftists. And it may have gotten him killed.
Time for Engineria to investigate.
Mission 1: Patriots. Looking around the site we learn that Alderman and two superpowered bodyguards were taken out with extreme prejudice and the killer left a black bullet as a calling card. Engineria is to find Hollow Point., since that's one of HIS MOs. Hollow Point and a team known only as the Fawkes Brigade.
Off we go, into a Council base recently cleared out by one of Citadel's Task Forces. Seems there's new occupants here. Honestly, after a TF surely some Longbow should be managing these places? Never mind, time to look around.
Well, found some Fawkes Brigade members. Let's have a little talk with them then. What could go wrong? (Braces self for being thrown across the room and/or being on fire)
Oh lucky me! BOTH!
Well, I had that new back plate added to the costume courtesy of Vanguard. (I knew becoming a member would be useful). Breaker and Bludgeoner? That's a bit on the nose isn't it? Ok, time for Engineria to shake herself off and fight back.
Those guys hit hard, and I've not even seen Hollow Point himself yet. Ok, time to do some snooping too. What is on this terminal then?
Something about Golden weapons...however I appear to have set off an alarm. I really should invest in something that avoids alarms.
Oh there's times I love Stealth, as these guys just strolled by me. Well, let's take advantage of that and blindside them.
These Fawkes guys are pretty tough. I know, I said that already but it bears repeating. (Thanks to V for Vendetta and so on I know who the original Fawkes was, so these guys are channeling a spirit of revolution of some sort.)
And Engineria finds a crate of weapons. None of them golden. (I wonder are there Goldbrickers involved in this somehow?) But it's time to find whoever is in charge here.
An Augmented? Anti Patriots? Ok, I'm officially confused now but that'll have to wait until I've spoken to this guy. Probably with some extremity.
Oh, I have no intention of dying, Mr. Augmented. If anyone is doing that then it's you and your thug friends. But let's get this party going!
Fascist pawn? I don't know what to say to that. A few things to unravel in all this I feel.
Well, I drag his unconscious ass back out and visit Freitag. He doesn't seem surprised that Hollow Point was a no show. The others have an air of ex Council about them, but it doesn't marry up with Engineria being called a fascist pawn. This Augmented guy has upgrades that are well beyond a lot of people's ability to perform and Freitag informs me that a trip to the Rogue Isles is probably next up. Time to go visit Doc Buzzsaw.
[Mission 1 = A quick mission to collect initial information and do a little beat down. Straight into the plot, even though I'm no wiser really. Good stuff]
Mission 2: Accomplices. Right then. Engineria is off to Port Oakes to find Doc Buzzsaw and have a friendly talk with her. I dunno how THAT is going to go, but we live in hope.
Oh, this is suspiciously quiet. Just little Engineria, walking through the warehouse where a transhumanist maniac is supposedly hiding out. Nothing to see here.
Still no sign of anyone, so I work my way through the warehouse and down to the final end room. And here we find Doc Buzzsaw herself, along with three friends. Toxin, Zapstriker and...Janitor? Well, Freitag said that rolling up the old sleeves might be necessary so let's wade in and see what these have to say for themselves.
And of course, any friend of Doc Buzzsaw is a vicious little maniac! ARGH! Time for a test? Looks like Engineria is the lab rat in this experiment.
And the Janitor is NASTY. I dropped him. And he GOT UP. Oh, not fair, Doc Buzzsaw, not fair. I'll chat to you in a minute.
Ok, that's those three dealt with, now what's the deal with you, Doc? No dealings with Hollow Point? And I can trust YOU? Oh, in exchange for testing out another of your experiments I can check your transmissions log. Well, I don't suppose I have much choice.
Not content with Toxin, Zapstriker and the JANITOR, I have to go and deal with the Ice Queen. I need to talk to Freitag about danger money or something. Or health insurance. Yeah, yeah, mediporters.
On the way to find the Ice Queen I pass MORE of these Janitor types. Since the last one I fought got up again I stealth by these.
And there's the Ice Queen. Well, perform Doc Buzzsaw's testing for her and then I get the info I need. It's actually a fair deal really.
OH NO. Doc! You need to source your cadavers from better eras! Or wherever you get the bits you build these people from. Either way, you are going down, Queenie!
Right. That's that. I feel better now. Let's find this transmission log.
Seems Buzzsaw was telling the truth! An "honest" villain. Who knew? However, the sound of gunfire is coming from around the corner! Let's see what's going on.
Well, hello Hollow Point. Doc Buzzsaw may not have been in touch with you but you've shown up here. Why? I'll just dispose of the guys around you and we can talk.
Now, as I was saying.
COMPANY! Fawkers! And they're not on the same side as Hollow Point!
I WILL ask them! Gimme a minute, ok?
OW OW OW! Have a grenade, Raid Commander Green! And STOP calling me a fascist!
Ok, that's him dealt with. AND Hollow Point has skipped out. No one sullies his "good" name? Ok, time to call Freitag then.
Freitag is as much in the dark as Engineria, apart from general agreement that things are not clear cut anymore. Freitag is going to talk to Vic Johansson and I have to wait for a call.
[Mission 2 = Further investigation and the plot thickens! Like this one, though the Experiments are TOUGH. Good stuff]
Mission 3: Accusers. Doc Buzzsaw was on the up and up it seems. Some illegal activity in her transmissions, but outside Paragon jurisdiction anyway so that's nothing to do with us. Freitag points out that Hollow Point, if he had a special golden weapon, didn't use it on Engineria. Interesting. Anyway, while I'm waiting for Vic Johansson to come back to Freitag who calls but Hollow Point himself! I'm to come to the Gish, find a guy called Sugar, and then he'll lead me to Hollow Point. And no cops. And watch out for Fawkers. Of course.
Sewers. Full of Fawkers according to Sugar. And on we go.
Well pardon me, Mr. Sugar. And yes, I DID see the Fawkes Burner over there. Let's make friends with him. But just for a minute.
And done with him! Right, Sugar and Engineria wander along and find a lovely break in the sewer wall, heading up into a building. Looks promising.
Let's see what awaits us.
And there they are, waiting for us RIGHT at the top of the tunnel. Typical. I'll get my head kicked in soon. I've been upgrading my costume as I go along, but I draw the line at a helmet.
Whew. Ok, on we go on our merry way, Mr. Sugar. There's going to be more of these Fawkes Brigade about, and still no sign of our mutual friend, Hollow Point.
And here we have Sugar giving me covering fire while I do my by now traditional "nice floor here" routine.
By the time I get back up Sugar has dealt with them. Nothing to see here, dear reader, so we move along. Ah, now THAT looks promising, doesn't it? There's probably an alarm though.
Curiously no alarm! After some trawling we find a computer with some military grade encryption and later a filing cabinet stuffed with things Freitag can read later and shout at me about. He seems to like that.
C'mon, Sugar. I see someone we can get some information from!
SUGAR! Where the hell have you gone? Ah. He's fighting three OTHER Fawkers who showed up. Well, ok then, you do that. I'll keep at this Facility Chief.
So I drop his bodyguard and chase him round the corner and blast him, and lookee, there's Hollow Point!
Right, you called me here, HP, let's see what you want after all. Oh, I'm so going to kick your head in when I get a chance to corner you, you just wait!
Hollow Point throws a Zip Drive at me and waltzes off while I'm dealing with an incoming bunch of Fawkers. I decide not to wait around and let them just hit me and leave pronto.
Suffice it to say Freitag does his shouty thing. Running off like that in answer to HP's call was a breach of YAWN..., yeah yeah, Joe, c'mon, tell me what else I could have done? Freitag is starting to believe Hollow Point actually had nothing to do with Alderman's death though, given his appearances and actions. We'll know more when the files are decoded.
[Mission 3 = Good strong mission. Fawkes Brigade continue to be hard hitting enemies who bring the fight to you. Good stuff]
Mission 4: Conspirators. Well, according to old Joe, the encrypted data all went to vapor, because Hollow Point didn't want anyone tracking him obviously. Even so they did manage to get two Fawkes locations, a bio rundown of Hollow Point and a lot about a news site called NewsAnon listing events, including Alderman's death, and some that haven't happened yet. Definitely a conspiracy of some kind. The next date is tomorrow and the PPD are taking one site and little Engineria is tackling the other. Hooray.
In we go. A grubby warehouse affair. And there's our familiar friends, the Fawkers. Hi guys! Miss me? Oh, they have Sugar with them. He probably needs assistance. At least for a moment because he's tough.
A few quick blasts of Radiation coupled with Kinetics and Sugar is free to join me. Looks like he's not happy about Hollow Point.
Contract? You have a contract? Where can I get a contract? I don't even get paid. Note to self: Join Hero Corps.
After this Sugar and Engineria make their way through the warehouse, dealing with the Fawkes guys as we go. They're persistent, gotta give them that at least.
Now what do we have here?
A list of messages between Doc Buzzsaw and the Fawkes Brigade! That lying little &*%! And one of those meetings is happening now. OHO! Right Sugar, let's find the Doc.
There you are, you machined up maniac! You're looking a mite in trouble though. Hmmm.
Sugar and Engineria deal with Buzzsaw's captors quickly, thankfully.
The Doc was only making a delivery she says. We really don't have any option but to believe her considering how we found her. There is however a Watch Leader on site who may be able to shed some light on things. No, it's never simple. On we go, Sugar my friend.
OOF! This is now beyond a joke. It's embarrassing. And by the way Sugar, WHERE are you?
OH, there you are. Could you have shot the guy in the head BEFORE he flattened me? Just once maybe? Never mind. We have a filing cabinet to find. Oh hey Doc! Decided to join us, safety in numbers or something?
@cranebump, Doc Buzzsaw decided to randomly join me and Sugar. I mean we appreciated the help, spinning blades of doom and so on, but is she supposed to do that?
So, we find the filing cabinet and then Hollow Point and some armored woman in a cape show up.
The Doc hasn't taken to being captured at all well and goes for Hollow Point! Sugar and Engineria follow in fast!
Oh dear god in heaven, PRIORITIES SUGAR! PRIORITIES!
We succeed in taking out the leaders but oh my, are the remaining minions an angry bunch!
Hollow Point is down! Let's talk to him.
SpoilerAnd out to see Freitag. Stop looting corpses, Sugar!
Freitag says the PPD found ANOTHER Hollow Point at their site. Interesting. And Doc Buzzsaw chats away and tells us she was just supplying special bullets for the gang, nothing more.
[Mission 4 = Fun! Sugar is a hell of an ally, though his tendency to not be behind me when I wade into a fight is troubling. Ok, he is usually busy winning another fight but all the same. Good stuff]
Mission 5: Agitators. THREE HOURS LATER. Yeah, that fast. Seems the next attack is an attack on a person. Blue Steel to be precise. He's getting a medal for stopping a meteor recently. (I seem to be missing an invite to that shindig. Or news of a medal. Or pay.) Well anyway, Blue Steel is aware of this and using himself as bait, meanwhile Engineria has somewhere else to be (somewhere not getting a medal I see). She's to lead a team through a Fawkers base and hit them hard. These Fawkes guys have history under a different name, Leviathan.
Well, in we go to a Longbow style base and time to find my team who have gone ahead to recon.
And there's Whipsmart. New suit I see. Taking notes from Engineria!
Let's stealth forward a bit before we engage. I know Longbow bases, and these corridors are full of corners you can get ambushed in. Do they put them in for that exact purpose I wonder?
Caution pays off! Who the hell are you guys? Not seen your type before. Well, we'll soon see what you're capable of. No doubt in floor-admiring ways!
Oh, it's JUST fire this time. I can relax and coast my way through this. Ha ha ha. No.
Howdy, Whipsmart. Let's go find the others, and clean some clocks along the way. How about that?
OKAY. This I was not expecting. No siree. Nope. Nope. Nada.
That's Willie Sullivan. THE Willie Sullivan. Ok, I'll take whatever help from wherever I can get it. Let's go!
And she has intel. Crey is involved. Sure, wherever there are labs and money and weird augmented things (that aren't built by Meat Doctors of Vahzilok) you tend to find Crey.
Hey, gang, it's Pep! Howdy Pep! We're a' comin'.
And now we are four. It's nice having a team. The downside of that is remembering that I'll probably NEED a team. But anyway.
And there's Crey, just like Willie told us. Well, we make fast work of them, and their large crate of munitions!
And there's our friend Sugar. Jeez Louise, but Whipsmart is quick off the mark! Everybody follow him in!
Oh stop complaining, Sugar! I personally should be elsewhere getting a medal. So should Whipsmart for that matter, but no, Blue Steel gets the credit.
Well shine my shoes! Hollow Points! Looks like we have an infestation going on.
GRENADE!!!
Oh, they did NOT like that. Not one bit.
After getting an explosive wake up call we rapidly put them back to sleep. GO TEAM...what are we called again? Freitag will know. Or I could ask Pep. Later.
We move on and find another strange armored woman in a cape.
Scanning to the other side we find Crey doing their Creyish thing. How does that company stay in business if they keep showing up to crime scenes and handing out business cards while trying to kill people?
Ok team, we take the Crey down first then move on the cosplay Valkyrie girl, got it? GO!
And some famous last words from Mr. Late-to-the-Party here, I reckon.
Ok, where's that armored woman gone?
Ah, there she is, and "Sugar" is giving her serious grief. And she runs by me!
Of course BEHIND me is the well oiled machine of Team Klaatu Barada Cough Cough Cough! So no Girl Scout Cookies for you, lady!
And that ended like I thought it would. Now we file out and get shouted at...get debriefed by Freitag.
Oh, he's being pleasant. I may need to lay down for a bit! Our mission was a success, as was Blue Steel's trap. That Leviathan core group is still out there though, and will be agitating again no doubt. And Engineria got a nice message from "Sugar". Alls well that ends well.
Now maybe I will get some sort of protective head gear. No helmets though. Not hiding this gorgeous hair!
[Mission 5 = Good solid finale that drives along, both in action and plot. Great stuff there.]
Verdict: Loved it. Good building out of what went before. World building in miniature, I think, since most of it revolves around Kings Row. Our next episode will be Leviathan 2: Hollow Ring.
Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is, again after the commercials, @Darmian's Darker Deeds: Part One.
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18 hours ago, Ankylosaur said:
Oh and if you go to the Kallisti Arena construction site, you will find it filled with "Big Brother" construction equipment, and in the parking lot there are Gold Brick trucks...
Oh, cool! Nice touch.
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I'm in the middle (sort of!) of a rather long set of play throughs at the moment @Getaways, see "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE", but I have added these to my list of things I will get to! Looking forward to them.
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Ok, Added to the list! It will be a little while yet though!
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Arc 4 of our first show on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is , @Ankylosaur's All that Glitters 2.1.: Boom Time in Boomtown.
Engineria's new contact is Delia Huntley. So I've been working up the chain it seems and now I'm talking to the CEO of Wyvern. DO quasi-vigilante groups HAVE CEOs? Well, she's standing in the spot that probably would be filled by one. Never mind! Let's see what she has to say for herself.
Seems Langston is moving into legit business in Paragon, and bringing the Goldbrickers with them as "security". And so far no laws have been broken so...yeah, looks like I may have to "twist a few arms" to find out what they're actually up to. Delia doesn't believe they're on the up and up. And Boomtown is a place where there's no real authority enforced, so it'll be me basically.
Mission 1: Panning for Gold: Engineria arrives in Boomtown, with Ollerus chatting in her earpiece. Oh, BABBAGE has been sighted. I am soooo not going near him. And if I run into him then I'll be rapidly running AWAY from him. Plan? Plan.
Objective 1. "Chat" to the Goldbrickers. Objective 2. Investigate the Council WarWork. Objective 3. (Engineria's addendum) AVOID BABBAGE. Unless...well, if I have to lead an enemy TO Babbage, that would be just terrible, right?
Ok, avoiding some Hellions I see a Boomer, one of the Goldbrickers. Let's go say hi. Wrapped up? Oh you will be in a few minutes.
Target practice? TARGET PRACTICE? I'm not having that, Mr. Boomer!
And whadda ya know. He's not high enough up the chain to tell me anything. Trouble with Goldbrickers is they all look similar in many respects. I'll just have to keep hunting.
Ok, good to know I'm not alone out here. Wyvern were great back up when we fought the demons in Cap au Diable.
OHO! Now I wasn't expecting these guys! They were a mite mysterious the last time I met them. And tough. Ok, still tough!
Definitely still tough but THIS time I got the drop on them, totally flat footed. Mind you, I suppose most robots are flat footed. Well, that's an assumption obviously.
Now that is interesting! These silvery bots are no friend to the Clockwork that normally inhabit Boomtown. I've witnessed several ongoing battles between both groups. Usually to the death. Well, destruction I suppose if you're a machine.
Well, Objective 1 is so far still outstanding but here's the prime exhibit for Objective 2.
And it does NOT like me! I'm ignoring its little Council companion for now, the giant weapons of the Warwork are taking ALL of my attention!
I just need to hit him once or twice more and be lucky, before he flattens me!
And the Warwork is down! And the ignored Council guy nearly kills me! ARGH! Take that you fascist!
Some of the Warwork parts are new replacements. Each having a logo that looks like a Rook (I'm assuming a chess piece and not a bird), along with the name "ConDev". File that away for Delia.
AH! Captain Jim! Now, I reckon YOU know a thing or two about what's actually going on here. So let's you and Engineria have a little chat.
So, these new weapons you speak of, more of the ones from that Lab with Cohen and Wachoski? Well, I've some bad news for you about that lab. Then again, there's bound to be ANOTHER lab, isn't there?
And Jim is out for the count!
And Jim had a map to a lab! Finders Keepers, Jimmy. Mine now.
(@Ankylosaur, single typo in Jim's clue 🙂 )
Ok, I avoid this lovely chap and head back out of Boomtown to see Delia.
Delia informs Engineria that years ago Langston WAS ConDev. So, a Council machine having those parts is very interesting. However, next up will be investigating Jim's map.
[Mission 1 = Nice intro to the arc. There's a feeling of life in the area, even an area like Boomtown, as you meander around and come across groups chatting and other groups fighting each other. More worldbuilding!]
Mission 2: Digging for Gold. Right, Delia informs me after doing a little digging that the lab on Captain Jim's map was, prior to the destruction of Boomtown I believe, a ConDev lab. So far so not surprising. ConDev was a heavy machinery company, it was a different branch that developed the candy bars we all know. So the Goldbrickers are kinda mining for old ConDev tech. And it's Engineria who is going to go scope out this lab.
On we go!
This place looks hella dingy. Sparks flying, rust and so on. And my current favorite idiots, the Goldbrickers! Lovely.
Let's see what "Bim Bam" has to say for himself then.
Flattened again! Might upgrade the outfit at Icon, ask for a reinforced back panel or something! And yeah, this place IS a ruin.
Bim Bam just called me "Dearie". Oh, you are getting your head kicked in for that, you patronizing... and yes, there IS more to me than all that!
That's you and your little friend dealt with, now to have a look around in this dump of a place.
Engineria kicks in a few more Goldbricker helmets along the way. And then upstairs I see some sort of welding robot. Ok then.
I take out the robot...hang on! Someone just spoke to me! I whirl around and find...another talking mainframe, just like in the Cohen lab.
It doesn't want me here, but I've been getting that vibe from almost everyone today so I pay no attention. And fling some grenades at it. It doesn't like that either apparently.
A nearby crate is empty but marked "Dimensional Rifting Tech". Might be important. I clear out a computer and then shut down their generator.
Right, back out to see Delia, who informs me that the bots are Big Brother construction robots. And wouldn't you know it, Big Brother is a subsidiary of Langston. This is looking like a family affair. Langston family, not THE FAMILY, Marcones and Verandis. Seems Big Brother won part of the construction contract on Kallisti Wharf recently. So, that's a thing. And Big Brother are moving use these robots in Boomtown instead of humans, to keep human workers safe. This is all a bit corporate for a gal like Engineria who likes kicking heads in, but she's following Delia's line.
[Mission 2 = Short! Tiny map but atmospheric and lays groundwork. Nice bit of investigation there. On to the next one!]
Mission 3: Boomtown Riots. Big Brother Construction AKA Langston is doing Booming business in Paragon (couldn't resist that Boomtown reference!) and Delia is mighty suspicious about all of it, despite them bringing jobs to Paragon and starting to revitalze certain areas. Of course that seems to have been just good publicity to GET the contracts in the first place, since they've not brought worker robots in to do the jobs and let all the humans go. So, now there's crowds of protesting ex employees there too.
Well, let's go see what's going on.
Ollerus tells me that Alton Langston is on site and to steer clear of him. Roger that.
Well, protesting workers are here. And there's 4 missing workers to find. Time to explore the entire site and see what's what.
And first up I run into some Big Brother bots. They're programmed to be hostile it seems.
Still, I'm getting the hang of their moves so I deal with them and move on in my explorations. Ah, more workers unhappy at being replaced by the yellow bots!
And THEY take an active dislike to me. I am making no friends here so far. Trapped in some sort of middle ground. And, let me tell you that workers, especially when they call for reinforcements, are TOUGH.
Gimme a sec, need to walk this off! OW by the way. Ow ow ow. (Even more galling since I had a back plate installed in my armor, but here I am face down!)
And I return, bandaged up a bit, to find Carlo, the first of the missing workers. Let's hope he's not antagonistic when I free him.
He isn't! He gives Engineria a vital clue. Time to go check out under the old FP building then.
Along the way I run by Alton Langston. I'll follow Ollerus' advice and give him space. I still have 3 workers to save.
And circling around I spot Brendon!
That's him rescued, so who is next? Well, that would be Marcus, followed by Wayne. And they're telling me that "Demolition Dan" is the one I really need to find. He's a strike leader or foreman type. Wayne also tells me that scientists have been seen entering and exiting the tower. I'm assuming that means the old Freedom Phalanx building. OHO! That sounds ominous.
Dan's not here though so I turn to leave and run into Alston Langston!
He too gets angry with me! So I give him a quick blast and then vamoose and get back to Delia for a debriefing. She's surprised that "Big Brother" Langston was actually on the site as that's not normal for him. Plus the missing Union leader, Dan, and the probable raiding of the old FP building. Things to do!
[Mission 3 = More worldbuilding investigation. There's a definite feel of eliminating leads and finding things out, with more little pieces of color around the entire map here. Good stuff.]
Mission 4: Where the Gold's Made. So Demolition Dan, as explained by the rescued workers, is a Union leader and he went back to the Royal Overbrook neighborhood to talk to Paragon construction, and promptly vanished. Not long after PC adopted using Big Brother robots too! Well, not so much vanished as "held by Big Brother" and they're going to hand him over to the PPD for instigating a riot. Delia thinks he has intel on Langston so it's up to Engineria to find him and retrieve him.
Ok then. Let's get to it.
THESE workers are a lot friendlier than the ones I met in Boomtown, that's for sure!
And these ones look like they could use a little help against their robot enemies.
Let's see what we can do about that! Little bit of the old Radiation Blast, and let's even the odds here for Joe Worker! Oh yeah!
That's sorted those bots out. Now to keep on looking for Demolition Dan. This is a big area but he's got to be around here somewhere. Oh, now that's a big robot!
And of course it spotted me! Time to charge up and ...looks like it's Engineria who is getting charged up! Oh, this guy is really hammering at my endurance levels. Not a happy Engineria right now!
Ok, manage to drop him, after sticking Kinetics Repel on and grabbing a quick breather. Also, some grenades helped. A lot. (Always stock P2W grenades!)
Well, I found Demolition Dan, though to be fair he appeared to be making a creditable effort at escaping all by himself. Dynamite? Well, if you think it will help us, Dan, then go for it!
Apparently we DO need dynamite! So Dan and Engineria fight their way to our escape vehicle, fending off robots of many types, usually with bits of metal flying through the air!
And as we near our exit we get waylaid by members of the PPD SWAT, which Dan seems to take as a personal affront. Although I can't say I blame him, I'm sure the PPD are just doing their job.
Finally we make it back to the truck I came in on and we hightail it out of Dodge!
Arriving back to chat to Delia and she informs me that with Dan rescued any leverage Big Brother had over the workers is effectively gone. However, they are calling out Engineria by name and claiming harassment by vigilantes. Press release and everything. Looks like I'm (in)famous or whatever! In more pressing news, Delia had sent a team in to investigate the lab apparently under the old Freedom Phalanx building and all contact has been lost with them. Guess where I'm off to next!
[Mission 4 = The plot thickens and starts to ramp up! This is definitely feeling like an exploration of unofficial politics in some ways as opposed to a straight supers story. That's not a complaint by the way!]
Mission 5: Into the Goldmine. All contact has been lost with Ollerus and Hornet, so it's up to Engineria to wade in and extract them from whatever danger they're in. Just another day in the life, dontcha know! Delia says there are three levels below ground, all mondernized with Praetorian technology, so not the same sort of ruin I found earlier.
In we go!
OHO! They're on to me! And they're chatting about Dr. Aeon too. Never mind that though, where are Hornet and Ollerus? Oh, these guys want a fight! Well, let's oblige them then!
These guys do NOT want to go quietly and are resisting "arrest"! And I'm the one doing breaking and entering? What about kidnapping? Huh? Ok, take that!
No sooner have I sorted out Sidewinder and his companion than I run into some chemists a floor down, and are none of these people happy? Working conditions must be appalling in this place!
Battling further down I rescue Hornet, and the two of us can see Ollerus across the way.
Hornet and Engineria make short work of Ollerus' guards and the trio move on through the Praetorian style facility. Eventually we come across a Doctor.
Seems to be someone with some authority and we might find out what exactly is going on here. Let's go have a little chat with them. How hard could it be?
HARD!
Things get a bit manic when explosives are brought to bear! Hornet is flung clear and the good doctor goes down like a ton of bricks. Hornet is made of stern stuff though and staggers up to rejoin Engineria and Ollerus!
I take a knee for a moment and recover my health, and that helps Hornet too. We then proceed further into the laboratory and who do we find but Alton Langston, last seen on site in Boomtown if I'm not mistaken.
He remembers us (or he's just perpetually angry, which seems a thing with some of these Langston folks) and proceeds to attack us!
His ranting about some sort of security robopal seems on the money too, considering the large worker bots I ran into earlier in Steel Canyon. Anyway, we fight on and finally drop Alton, but he's damn tough!
Well, speak of the devil and he's sure to appear. It's that security bot!
Doesn't like me! And I've mislaid Hornet and Ollerus! No, they're fine, I just got too far ahead of them while having stealth on. Might regret that in a minute!
GRENADES! HA! Love them. Ok, we find a few crates and then lookee here, that mysterious talking mainframe is back to plague us.
Well, the three of us stagger out to talk to Delia and give her the old debrief on what happened.
We're in a sort of draw with the enemy here though. Dan was, according to the Union, held illegally, but Langston is claiming trespass and so on against us, so both sides are kind of backing off on the legal thing right now.
This is NOT over, but it looks like a rethink and a regroup is in order.
[Mission 5 = fun rescue mission with plenty of good fights to break up the exploration. Good stuff]
Verdict: Good advancing of the story there, the plot thickens and further world building. Our next episode will be All that Glitters 2.2: Fortunes in Faultline.
Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is, again after the commercials, @cranebump's Leviathan 1: Hollow Pursuit.
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Arc 3 of our third show on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @Darmian's Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Three.
Mission 1: Groundhog Day. When we left the Rogue Isles Engineria was collected at an airfield by Super Charger and flown back to Paragon. Super Charger starts explaining what's been happening at home. Oddly he picks her up in a repurposed Arachnos flier! Thanks to what Engineria did working with Ghost Widow, Madame Maven's SG has an address in Steel Canyon and the frequency of the Burgh built generators to track. The trouble is a small fleet of trucks bearing those generators has been tracked throughout Paragon. At least one of them on the way to Portal Corps in Peregrine Island. Madame Maven thinks it's to foil further tracking. With the team splitting up to track all the fleet of trucks, Super Charger is dropping Engineria off in PI to do her bit.
In we go! We've got temporary access via an interior portal, effectively dropping behind enemy lines.
Straight through the Portal and apparently the air feels wrong, like moving through jello. Have to get 3 temporal anchors.
Right, that's me in. Now to find stuff.
Oh, more of these guys! They can be hella annoying. But I have their number now so take some Rad Blast!
Quick rest, and THEN we go on. Hi ho!
Ah, so THAT'S a temporal anchor. Ok, that's one done. Now for the others.
Damn, it's one of those buildings with multiple elevator bays that lead up and down and all around.
And sometimes, sometimes you get lucky! 2 to get and lookee here!
Now to avoid being seen while I deactivate them!
And with that done I'm off to see about an Arachnos Shifter Commander. Shifter? Some sort of Werewolf thing? Thought the Council had that patented.
I sometimes ask myself why people join Arachnos. "Join Arachnos and see the world", maybe? Whatever recruiting scheme they have there's plenty of these guys.
But there's the Commander himself, checking out some equipment in this little crawl space.
Well, let's take the shine off you! (Or maybe shine you up? I'm not sure on Radiation Blast's shiny quotient to be honest).
Boom! Of course, that attracts attention. Bit full of yourself, aren't you?
And he runs up the other side of the ramp and out on top, so I reverse out and blast him again. And now I'm visible to the REST of his troops, plus he calls back up. And this had been going so well. Stealth in, take out a few wandering guards, tether the anchor thingies. Bah.
Well, you're getting what's coming to you, whatever happens. Hang on! Cantorum? As in Kip Cantorum who hangs around in City Hall? Wait! BOMB? Oh this all went sideways!
Ok, the best thing I can say about that...after staggering away from a firefight...is that Engineria is still alive, barely. No greens left and need a rest two floors down. Fortunately Kinetics lets me steal health from those I fight. When the commander went down he was muttering about Steel Canyon and Siren's Call.
Ok, stealth again. Searching for Cantorum before Patrol 2 puts a bullet in his head. Got him.
And there we go. Like clockwork! Flat on my back again. I suppose I should invest in some Knockback protection. Later, busy now.
Ok, Mr. Cantorum, you're safe now. Bomb? Yes, I had heard about. that. I had really better find that thing then.
Oh I just love stealth, especially when I have only two inspirations left in my trays!
And just defuse this. It looks very crude.
Back out of the portal and off to see Super Charger, who hands Engineria a comms unit. Madame Maven is on the line and fills me in on what the rest of her team have been doing. An attack was thwarted at the SERAPH building in Steel Canyon, but trucks have definitely been seen entering Siren's Call. That's my next port of call, dealing with those.
[Mission 1 = This was a deceptive mission! As you can see from the play through it seems initially like one you can stealth (and maybe a stalker could) but it changes fast into a combat mission, and moves all through the map. Like it.]
Mission 2: Call of the Wild. Engineria follows Super Charger to the SG garage and gets into a plain truck with him. Off to Siren's Call to deal with these mobile generators. Along the way he talks about Blue Spectrum being like a mentor to the SG and this double, if it IS a double, is causing them more than just normal pain. Seems Mr. Von Horn is pushing Madame Maven to confront the "real" Blue Spectrum about all this. Anyway, not Engineria's problem. She has to find trucks and destroy them!
And we're here. Sheesh. Siren's Call is a real dump.
The "normal" battle for control of Siren's Call continues around me. (I don't have this on a high difficulty, I think a 4/8 on this would generate some madness!)
OH! I was about to say "interesting", but given Ghost Widow's concerted attacks on the renegade Arachnos, it isn't actually surprising to see them being attacked by what I now have to call NORMAL Arachnos! Oh, that one has spotted me! Well, Rad Blast for you!
First of the generator trucks. Hiding down in a quiet spot, aintcha?
OW! Those beam rifle things are nasty. They can really ruin a gal's day if you ask me. Anyway, down you go and truck go BOOM!
Big badda BOOM! So 4 more of these things to find, hidden across a battlefield. What fun my life is!
I do however get some help along the way. Much appreciated, Longbow! Much appreciated.
The hunt continues and the rest of the generator trucks are destroyed. Job done. Time to head back to the drop off point and meet with Super Charger. With these temporal generator trucks destroyed the team is closing off the options for the renegade Arachnos. Now we're heading back to the SG base for a chat with the whole team on what to do next.
[Mission 2 = Short and fast. But plenty of fun. I think a lot of arcs could do with a mission like this, no fuss, do the thing, defeat anyone that gets in the way and get out. Gets the job done and moves the story on.]
Mission 3: Blue Spectrum? Back at the SG base we see Madame Maven on a screen. She fills us in. Seems the renegade Arachnos are falling back all the time. Twinshot's SG has pushed them out of Kings Row and Longbow has captured some in Striga. However, she now has a delicate job for Engineria. Go chat to Blue Spectrum on neutral ground. As a mentor to their SG they are too invested and need someone independent to assess things. And it's going to be in a Chris Jenkins office in Paragon! Argh. More Lawyers! But there will be back up. Longbow will be working their way down from the roof and everyone meets in the middle. Meanwhile Maven and company are planning the NEXT section of the mission, which will involve going into the sewers to eliminate the last of the time generators. Maybe a law office isn't that bad after all.
Not as fancy as the previous office! Well, space is a premium in the big city I suppose. No sign of any lawyers, OR cleaning staff! Which can only be a good thing in my mind. And THAT doesn't look at all ominous. I thought THIS Blue Spectrum was supposed to be on our side? That's definitely a Spectra standing beside him.
So, the supposed hero is actually a double agent? Or a villain outright? Let's find out.
OH! He's apparently under some sort of mind control or psychic influence, but he's fighting it! I still have to take him down though! His personal electrical field is still hurting me!
This is a strange fight, that's for sure, but necessary to find out what's going on.
That's why the lawyers aren't here! Blue Spectrum got them out before he was overwhelmed by the psychic influence. Lord Richter will prevail? I've heard that name before, back in Trident Base. Still a strange thing to call Lord Recluse. Wait a minute! These are the renegade Arachnos, so it can't be Lord Recluse, can it? But they're from the 60s so is a previous version of Lord Recluse AKA Lord Richter, now fighting a battle against the present version's forces? Oh hell.
The one-sided fight continues, with a very strong Blue Spectrum backing away from Enginera all the time while she whittles away at him. There's a computer with files to retrieve too, he says. And then it's done. But not before a warning.
Spectrum? Ok, there are FAR too many of you and your clones about, Bluey. Far too many. But first things first, computer to find. Got it. I'll read these files in a bit, have to deal with Spectrum now.
I'm having those moments where you go round a corner and then REALLY wish you hadn't. Oh well. Time to get set on fire or thrown across a room then.
Told you. That's me flung and pinned to the wall there! But there's the back up! I can hear chatter from Longbow down the hallway!
Staggering up in time to see Longbow wade in, guns blazing and me still groggy. Be there in a sec, guys. Just gimme a sec. Honest.
Right, back in the fight and ...
...Spectrum calls in more of his kind! I am really taking a dislike to law offices, let me tell you. Really.
"For Lord Richter", yep, that's HIS cavalry on the way. Mine are already here and in the fight. Let's hope we can all last the duration.
Longbow actually stay in the fight with me! Go the guys in red and white! Excellent stuff. Time to take the smile off Spectrum's face!
And it's done! The surviving Longbow have chased the last Spectra down the stairs! Time to get back to the SG base, report in and look at the files I found.
So, carrying an unconscious ORIGINAL Blue Spectrum out, who will be turned over to Penny Yin to examine him for psychic influences and eliminate them for him, we get back. Spectrum is bundled off to the Supers wing of the Zig.
[Mission 3 = Starts off slow, then just ramps right up! Loved this mission. (The non-fight with Blue Spectrum looks like a way to get around the fact that you can't have a chat with a defeated enemy in the AE. If so, I think it really works, but you need a map like this otherwise they just run away from you]
Mission 4: Time After Time. Sooo. Files. Blue Spectrum has been having bad dreams, and he realized they were somehow reflecting reality when he learned of Madame Maven's investigation. And we recover an Arachnos report from Spectrum. Deep breath for this. It's dated 1966! A meteor hit. Ok, Axios and Engineria saw it! And Arachnos investigated and found...Blue Spectrum there! They theorized it was from the future, given the time energy around it. They capture Blue Spectrum and clone him. Ok, seen a lot of that going around! And finally it's stamped "Not For Recluse's Eyes"! WHOAH!
That'll have to wait. Madame Maven's SG is splitting up and searching through the sewers for the remaining Arachnos gang. Engineria is to tackle the Atlas Park one.
Ick. But let's go anyway. I have to find a remaining clone pod in here while the others find generators, and straightaway I'm flattened. Sheesh.
UGH. Sewer water. I need a new line of work badly.
Arachnos Psi Stick? Not seen you lot before. Think I'll stealth around you instead. Psi can be punishing.
Stealthy stealthy, avoiding the patrols. And there's LOTS of patrols. Oh, I reckon we're heading up into a building from the sewers. That's (a) good, because we're out of the sewer, and (b) bad because...well, I dunno yet but it can't be nice.
More stealthing leads Engineria through the building and to here. Bingo!
Ok, let's deal with that. Of course there's an alarm. Of course there is.
There's an entire different breed of Arachnos here it seems. Ah, there he is below me. Raving about this Lord Richter like all the others.
I jump down and instantly get hit in the back by the minions. Drop them and move to the boss.
Looks like I have him worried! It's about time I started making these fools quake a bit. Oh, hell. Send in the clones! It's probably going to get crazy in a bit.
Nope. No sign of the Spectra yet, thankfully. And Engineria has this guy pushed back against the wall, when he drops this bombshell!
OH HELL. OH NO. Ok, take him out, stop the signal he's just sent to that Richter and get out of here.
I meet Super Charger outside and he looks GRIM.
[Mission 4 = Ok then. The plot is ramping up more and more with this mission, and there's a good feeling of being part of a coordinated team with others doing other things simultaneously. Liking it!]
Mission 5: Transition. Super Charger (injured since the initial arc) brings Engineria back to the SG base where we find a recovering Halox Von Horn. Maven, Axios and Bullet Streak went into the Kings Row sewers but it was a trap. Axios and Bullet Streak are in hospital being treated but Maven was captured! No one knows where they are but Von Horn maintains that with Portal Corps (and City Hall) unavailable that the enemy will retry the SERAPH offices in Steel Canyon. So that's where Super Charger drops Engineria. Kip Cantorum owes us a favor too!
Time to finish this.
I don't think these are real cops. Then again, let's stealth along and see.
Ok, they've got one of those Temporal Anomalies with them, so definitely fake cops.
Good way to clear the streets of civilians though. Now, when I got out of the Flier I could hear Kip Cantorum trying to talk to an officer. Which means one these bozos have him somewhere. Time to find Kip.
Gotcha, Mr. Cantorum. Now with some carefully applied Radiation and Kinetics (and the old Nemesis staff!) I remove your guards and bingo! Free Kip!
Oh. That's not good AT ALL. Right, gotta get inside the SERAPH building!
This seems the right spot! In we go!
Couple of wandering guards to deal with then move along the corridor, and there's Madame Maven! With some of those Psi Arachnos with her. Ok, Kinetics Repel on, and rush them!
The Psi guys go down fast. Got lucky with Repel and Radiation! Makes a change to be lucky. Then I free Madame Maven.
OH! This Lord Richter is here? Well, we finally get to put a face to the name and see how much he resembles Lord Recluse.
Ok, Mister. You may be pretending to be a Steel Canyon PPD Powered officer, but by now I know a Spectra clone when I see one!
Yeah. Didn't think this through. Turns out Lord Richter is in that room as well. This is about to get zesty! No idea what he's talking about though, other than he wants Madame Maven and anyone with her, i.e. me, dead!
OH! I really felt that! Neck just SNAPPED back there! Ow!
But Engineria and Madame Maven take the fight to Lord Richter! Maven hammering him with dark powers and Engineria with Radiation!
He does NOT look like Lord Recluse. Ok, I don't actually KNOW what Lord Recluse looks like under all that Spider armor and the headgear, but none of this looks like Spider armor or that headgear! This guy looks more mummified than anything else!
He's still holding us off though! And he's using time powers that slow us down and affect my recharge! Damn it! Madame Maven calls for back up and I think we'll need it at this rate!
We push him back down the hallway, blasting away. We can hear Longbow elsewhere in the building taking out his minions. Maven gets hit in the back by a surviving Spectra and turns to fight it, leaving Engineria alone against Richter, but he's nearly down so I drop Atomic Blast and hope!
He drops! He's down! Just need to take out this last clone! And done. Whew!
All that's left now is to do what Kip said and shut down the mainframe, which takes only a few seconds, then destroy the last time generator.
You would think these guys would surrender since their boss is now unconscious and in Longbow custody, but no!
And finally, finally. We win. Madame Maven and Engineria stagger out and make their way back to the SG base.
And this says it better than I could write it:
Spoiler[Mission 5 = Great finale. Warning! I had this on a low difficulty and I'm playing a sort of support powers Corruptor, but it's still quite tough. Richter himself is NASTY to fight. Madame Maven is great back up but in future I'd take out the minions first fast so both of us could concentrate on Richter.]
Verdict: Great story. Pounds along and strews plot underfoot as you go. Our next episode will be Darker Deeds: Part One
Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is, again after the commercials, @Ankylosaur's All that Glitters 2.1: Boom Time in Boomtown.
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I discovered there's a limit to how many images you can upload per message. Well, have to be more judicious in the future!
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Arc 3 of our second show on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @cranebump's Ordinary People 3: The Last Full Measure.
Mission 1: Strange Metal Jackets. Well, this is interesting. Looks like I'm meeting Blue Steel today, the famous super cop and trainer of Kings Row. (Is that a typo on Pep's name, @cranebumpor am I missing something I've yet to find?). As far as the PPD is concerned the missing Shivan necklace is effectively a closed case. It's in the wind and they're wrapping up the break ins, while Powers Div is still looking at things. And then it gets interesting as Blue Steel informs us that the Hellions and Skulls and Skullionz and the Gatling gang are all snow to hide something else. He has his own operatives in the field and Engineria has to meet them on board a ship in Independence Port and see what's what.
Ok then. Let's head to IP and find that ship.
I can hear chatter from a Paula Dempsey and an Operative Demare. So Arachnos are here too. Goody. And obviously the Family. Can't have a ship in IP without the Family being involved, can we?
There's Paula Dempsey behind them. Bit of help here, Lady! No? Ok, gimme a sec and I'll be over to you for a chat. Oh come on! I've spent the last week being set on fire, thrown across rooms, shot, and you give me the "about time you got here" crap?
Anyway, we have to check shipping containers, download a database and examine a safe. All in a day's work for Ms Flungabout Onfire & Shotalot.
Oh, hello. Another friend of Blue Steel. Hi there Juan!
Now we are 3. Let's carry on. These Family punks are not as tough as some of the maniacs I've already met on my travels with Joe Freitag and his gang of misfits.
And these two can handle themselves. Although Paula, thanks to her orbiting drone thingy, has a tendency to spot far off vills and run at them all guns blazing! Crazy gal.
Ok, there's our Arachnos compadre. Desose was actually quite useful previously, so now we are 4. On we go checking out stuff.
Ok, check those shipping containers!
And it looks like we found ourselves some Skullionz. Paula instantly runs at them and the rest of us follow up, taking them down fast. SMOOTH. That makes a change from me slogging through things with bits of my armor hanging off me!
Of course we've now attracted the attention of some Lab guys. (Juan mentioned them earlier) but we make short work of those too! Paula sends that far one flying backwards spectacularly!
We finish out checking the shipping containers and Paula gets her wish on downloading the database. Now to find a safe.
That safe looks rather Arachnossy, a bit like the original one I found way back in Nandelu's place where the Shivan necklace went missing.
And job done.
Except Operative Demare isn't happy about me searching an Arachnos safe and takes offence, knocking out Paula and rounding on Engineria and Juan!
I manage to get the drop on him with the old Rad Blast/Kinetics combo, though not before he drops Juan!
And then off this boat to chat to Blue Steel.
Blue Steel thinks we've finally dealt with the Skullionz but is worried that if Arachnos is officially involved here this time then that's gonna be big trouble later. Plus we have stuff to inform Nandelu.
[Mission 1 = Fun mission. Ship missions can be fiddly but this one flows pretty well, and the betrayal of Demare at the end was naturalistic considering his allegiance. Liked it!]
Mission 2: Along Came a Spider (Smasher) Blue Steel is intent on finding out what Arachnos' interest in all this is. He has the location of an Arachnos special detachment, so we're to intercept them and relieve them of any data they've acquired. Easy Peasy. They're currently in the sewer system between Galaxy City and Independence Port, and I'll have back up when I get in there.
(This is a timed defeat all! ARGH!)
Ok, into the sewers!
Apparently Whipsmart is around somewhere. No sign of him though. On we go, Ah, some Spider friends!
I suppose sending Arachnobots in here is smart. Unless they rust. I never thought about it before. Maybe they're covered in some sort of protective coating. I'm overthinking this! Move on!
Hello Paula! Glad to see you recovered from getting belted over the head by Operative Demare. Friendly as ever I see.
And a lot more stealthy than last time too! On we go, clearing Arachnos goons as we proceed through the sewers.
Have a grenade to the face, Mr. Spider! Oh he did not like that! Well, who would ? Yes, Crosscut probably but less said about him the better really.
Ok, Paula, let's see what's behind this large dilating door thing. It can only be happiness and joy. You really don't like me, do you? Oh well.
Maybe I'm not giving you enough credit. It might be you don't like being on this mission as opposed to anything to do with me. Ok, do we all see what I see? Yes indeed, a man to be questioned!
We take the fight to the Arachnos Leader and he buckles, but not before giving Paula and Engineria black eyes and probably cracked ribs.
Oh hi Juan! Could have used your help not five minutes ago and we'd be mopping up these guys like a spill on aisle 7, you dig? Well, you're here now.
We will indeed kick these "bastardas" out of here. Just give me a moment to call some back up that Blue Steel promised me. This should do it.
And here come the cavalry!
After that it's mop as we go, all against the clock, and check data points along the way. Then we run into a snag...
And Engineria performs her by now patented "flung across a room" manoeuver. Who is that guy, with his shield and whatnot?
No! We're not Arachnos so stop hitting me! He doesn't stop hitting me so I (and my compadres) don't stop hitting him. It seems only fair if you ask me.
Yeah, but who is this "we" you're talking about if you're not Arachnos. Or Skulls/Hellions/Skullionz? Anyway, we're done with this sewer so time to get back to Blue Steel and report in.
Blue Steel maintains those new guys are members of Project Orion. He and his intel team are going to sort out some data on that, in the meantime we're tooling up to get some closure on the abduction of Willie Sullivan. That's good news.
[Mission 2 = The timer really drives the tension in this one as you move forward into the sewer, and the plot. It feels like things are coming together, while still throwing mysteries at us out of left field. Good stuff there.]
Mission 3: Unclean Civil Hands. Well, Engineria is strolling home, brushing off bits of sewer (nicest way to phrase that really) when she gets a call from Blue Steel. She's not to go home because "they're on to us!". Who now? Powers Division! They're behind everything and are on a swoop to mass arrest everyone and grab any files we have. Engineria has to get to the files first and rescue them! She has ten minutes to grab everything, and if at all possible use minimal force since the guys arriving to do the clean up are simply following orders from on high. Once Engineria has the files she's to get to a safehouse.
Well, frying pan and fires. No doubt I'll get flung across a room too, but here goes nothin'!
Sneak in and rescue Genevieve Sanders.
Just deal with her guards and get her on her feet. Clock is a ticking!
No, not good, Blue Steel! Sending civilians into situations like this is not good, however brave they are.
And it looks like SWAT is here in force. I'll need to take some of them down to progress. Sanders is keeping my health going though, kudos!
I fight my way through several SWAT and make it to the file room. That old Nemesis staff I carry comes in handy for this sort of thing. What a wind up to hitting that locker!
We get the evidence locker dealt with and all hell breaks loose!
SWAT just rush the place and I'm overwhelmed. Fortunately Sanders is far enough away to get to some sort of a hiding spot.
I have to resort to using my mediporter!
Back on my feet, stealth activated, 1 minute 15 left on the clock, Sanders still in hiding, a database still to download, I rush back in, zipping by SWAT who have spotted I'm on the way back, dive along a hallway and they run by me! Up the elevator, along the corridor, there's Genevieve! No time to talk to her, gotta get the database! Got it! Now I need to make it back out of the main door. 22 seconds left. Abandon caution and run like blazes!
MADE IT!
Get to the safehouse and catch a breath, the old hands on knees routine. Then check the files. WHAT? Engineria is listed as a member of a ROGUE GROUP? Led by Blue Steel, with Freitag and Pep? And Project Orion...ok, Project Orion's chief lieutenants are:
SpoilerDerek Amberson, Caitlin Murray-Davies and Rebecca Brinell.
And they answer to someone code named Galaxian. Engineria needs to chat to Blue Steel!
[Mission 4 = OH BOY WAS THIS TENSE! Great mission. Really gets across the seriousness of the PPD too. And throws further confusion into the mix. Good Stuff]
Mission 4: Breaking Stuff is Hard to Do. These files show what was going on and who as far as is known, was involved. (Considering the nature of the plan and so on, I'm going to spoiler it here)
SpoilerIt's an Engineria solo mission now. Blue Steel is in custody, while Freitag and Pep are "detained". Paula, Juan and Whipsmart are in the wind. No sign of Sanders but pretty certain SWAT didn't get her.
Everything points back to that ruin, Galaxy City. Even the 3 listed lieutenants are natives. Time to head to the Orion Beltway and finish this. Or not come back!
Looks like I'm not alone! Whipsmart! Mah Man!
Now, I'm SOO glad you're here...but that sounds a leeetle stalkery. Okay?
We pick up Blue Steel too! Looks like this is going to be a full team after all. Excellent.
The recruitment continues, with Paula Dempsey, Acrobattle and Juan Jiminez joining the circus. (Whipsmart's Bots take up a lot of space but the firepower is most welcome)
We've got several things to do. Find the lieutenants, take out some generators and recover a database. After that we're winging it. First up, generators. GRENADE! (And Bot-fire!) At least Blue Steel had his shield up when that went BOOM.
What follows is a series of free flowing fights and destruction as the team takes on the generators and guards...AND the arriving back up for the guards!
Then we spot the first of the lieutenants, Adjudicator Alpha. Let me say, they got a mite cocky and paid for it.
As can be demonstrated!
We have to take out several Test Matrices and another lieutenant. The matrices are easily hacked and dealt with, but there's Prince Nandelu. According to the database he's a hostage! So we head to rescue him, taking out the other Adjudicator along the way. But it doesn't go well!
The Prince vanishes in mid fight!
SpoilerWe clear out the last of the room, but there's no sign of the last lieutenant! Time to get out and regroup.
Blue Steel plays Engineria a video. Oh hell.
Spoiler[Mission 4 = The tension is rising! That was a great area sweeper, moving through space well. Good team up and support, and we've still to hit the finale. Good stuff!
Mission 5: Extraordinary People. Whipsmart figures it out. This Galaxian is the leader, and the clue is in the name. He wants vengeance for what happened to Galaxy City. No, he's not making sense because he's not attacking Shivans, but those who "failed to protect it". And he's planning on doing that the same way that GC was destroyed.
Whipsmart has also located Galaxian. We're going to SPACE. Oh hell. By "We're", I mean Engineria, Whipsmart, Paula, Sanders, Acrobattle, Jiminez and Blue Steel.
And hello! Another "friend"!
Well, right now I'd do a deal with Praetorian Tyrant if it helped! So sure, more the merrier.
We have to take out the meteor guidance systems and defeat Galaxian and his band of crazies. And OMG are they tough. As in very. As in stabby and stalkery too!
OH! And Engineria is down! ROUGH!
Yeah, well I ain't letting my friends die, you POS! (cue Mediporter and back through Whipsmart's portal)
Hot door! Repel on and they bounce off, by the time they get back to me I drop Atomic Blast on them and Blue Steel arrives to kick them in the head. We circle around, picking off the minions and taking out the guidance systems, before finally converging on Galaxian again.
And the POS is down! Go Team!
And then it's time to go home. Crowds cheering the team on as they return. And despite all that it's a bittersweet ending.
[Mission 5 = One great fight scene! Warning!! This is a VERY small map, so when you step in you're on the back foot from the get go. Can't say fairer than that. Good stuff]
I've enjoyed this arc. The build up from the first two is there, and it climbs until there's a hammer blow of a finale at the end. Exactly what you want.
Verdict: Great story there, good plotting and world building. Our next episode will be Leviathan 1: Hollow Pursuit.
Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is, again after the commercials, @Darmian's Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Three.
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After I finish Arc 3 in each of the three stories I'll be taking a little break due to some real life stuff, but never fear! They WILL be finished. I'm very much enjoying the trilogy so far, each arc giving different things, having different feels and projecting to possibly different play styles in the AE. It's clear to me to see why @Ankylosaur, @cranebump and @Darmian have each won the Dev's Choice award.
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Arc 3 of our first show on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @Ankylosaur's All the Glitters 1.3: Capitalism in Cap Au Diable.
We're back with our friend Ollerus for this one and he urgently needs all the help he can get, so while I'm Sunshine Gal right now after helping out before, I'm sure he's calling in all the favors he has out there. This one is a biggie. Seems Dr. Aeon has been using DEMONS to power the PTS (Power Transfer Service) across Cap au Diable, and the Luddites were right all along. That's oddly enough not the issue. The issue is they're not IN the PTS anymore, they're roaming the streets of Cap and laying waste (burning I suppose) everything in their way. Right now I could do with a fire extinguisher from Steel Canyon!
Mission 1: Coming down the Mountain. The Arachnos troops that were guarding the PTS have been KFC'd completely. Now these demons are moving into the New Haven area near WSPDR and generally being demony at things. I may regret saying this but they shouldn't be hard to find! I step out.
@Ankylosaur, a single typo in this. Just so you know 🙂
First things first, I spot Goldbrickers! Cap is their home turf though so I'm going to stealth by and ignore them for now. Oho! Some of the RIGHTEOUS are here!
Ok, I think people will believe you NOW! Or at least until the next Nutripaste flavor hits the market! In the meantime get those placards down and give me a hand beating these demons.
More Goldbrickers, but these ones are acting a mite suspicious. Thought the demons would stay near the plant, did you? Why did you think that?
Ah, Ollerus did say he'd sent some Wyvern in to help out.
So I turn the corner and ...there we are! Some demons! Well, apparently according to intel there's about 4 groups of you I need to banish back to wherever you came from. But wouldn't you know it, my not getting set on fire thing has worn off!
As in totally worn off. Still, this is the fire-resistant suit I demanded from Icon and paid big bucks for! Let's hope it does the job.
If I can just get away from these guys and drag them back around the corner...WYVERN! A little help here! WOOHOO! Go Wyvern!
Thank you and good night! Ok, that's one down. 3 to go. Plus chatter about a guy called Samson. Need to find him too.
These Goldbrickers are not at all friendly! Guys! Seriously! There's demons wandering around, so leave me be!
Ok, I get out of that and with some distance rad blasts and some grenades I whittle down the number of demons. Wyvern are chipping in too, good men! And then I get caught flatfooted!
OW! HOT!
I get hit from behind, I manage to get free of the fire and turn and make for my attacker only to get hit AGAIN! Gah!
I Kinetics Repel him away from me and fling grenades and rad blasts wildly! The beast goes down! Catch a breath and then go looking for this Samson feller.
After trailing around I head back up the hill and take the next slope down. There you are! And he spots me. He knows me? Oh oh.
Hang on, tapping into the power grid? Did YOU let these things out just to get free electricity or something? Oh, you're going to get such a beating for that! Or, "arrested very thoroughly" maybe. That'll look better on an official form.
He's very intent on cleaning my clock! Well, two can play at that game, Mr. Shiny! Drop some Irradiation on you and use Kinetics to drop your speed and health and power. Hmm, still coming for me. Oh, I should be fighting demons? Because that's your diversion, is it? Or is it still free electricity?
Ok, He goes down! New Haven is demon free, and the Goldbrickers have slunk off to lick their wounds. Time to report back in to Ollerus.
Ollerus doesn't know what Samson was talking about. And apparently Amanda Vines was reporting live from the entire thing! Didn't see her. Maybe I was caught on camera fighting demons! Well, we were around the WSPDR station, so that makes sense. But there's no time for congratulations, I'm wanted up at the PTS plant itself. Let's GOOO!
[Mission 1 = Fun fun fun. I should have had this on a higher difficulty but despite that the fights were ranging across the entire open space. Wyvern were good allies to have and hopefully I'll see more of them like that later. On to Mission 2!]
Mission 2: Demonic Power Plays. Right, I may have jumped the gun on accusing the Goldbrickers of orchestrating the release of the demons. Turns out it was Hellions, according to Ollerus. Even so, the Goldbrickers DID take advantage of the mayhem caused. Criminals gonna criminal I suppose!
To big issue now is Bat'zul himself (itself?) is loose, and Wyvern and the Legacy Chain are up at the PTS attempting to round it up. And its minions. And loose Hellions too. Time to mosey over there ans sort things out. Ollerus says there's a few people that can help too. Let's GOOO!
(Nice tip provided: the allies we need to find will all be casting a green energy glow)
So NOT these guys, but they're still doing their bit. Keep searching for my allies then. Oh, I found a demon before I found any friends. If I had a Confusion power I could MAKE him a friend! Nah. Let's banish him.
Again with the fire. That and being thrown across rooms seems to be Engineria's lot these days! Oh, there's Ollerus! Right, where's the rest of these allies you spoke about?
What demon? Oh, THAT demon! Right! Have at ye!
Wyvern really like net arrows. And I really like that they like net arrows. It HELPS big time.
First new ally is Andre the Tectonic. Mr. Rock Thrower extraorinaire! And just in time to banish another demon!
There's some passing chatter about DUKE MORDROGAR! No sign of him though, kinda busy demon hunting!
That's Ollerus right in the middle of the flames, NOT ME for once, LOL. We take these guys down and move on, finding Simon the Brilliant along the way. The Legacy Chain have bit of arrogance I think, in their choice of titles. Well, Simon does. Andre not so much.
And Ryan the SMOULDERING? He sounds like he's trying to get on the cover of Teen Paragon magazine!
Yes, Ryan, I'm here to help you get rid of the demons. C'mon, more to be done. Oho! Some of the original culprits! Hellions ahoy! Let's deal with them! After banishing a few demons the Hellions are like having a snack!
Of course I spoke too soon! We round a corner in the PTS plant and there he/it is, Bat'zul! Right, pile on, gang! Let's banish the hell out of this guy and get things back to normal! Or as normal as things get in Cap Au Diable anyway. Rocks thrown, arrows loosed, fire cast, and Engineria letting rip with Radiation Blasts, Bat'zul gets beaten back and eventually discorporated.
And last but not least, because of course things can't be that simple, there's a sighting of some strange robot thing.
I get hit with some sort of psychic ray but the gang come to my rescue and stamp their little mechanical heads in!
And the last thing I hear is a voice in my head warning me not to interfere with the plans of the Clockwork Queen! Interesting!
Ok, time to head back to base and have a debrief with Ollerus.
Ollerus and Wyvern are going to help tidy up after the demon attack, and he has a new job for Engineria. But that's for another day.
Little typo in here, @Ankylosaur 🙂
[Mission 2 = good fun, plenty of decent fights. Another outdoor map that manages to keep the action flowing rather than just running around empty space like some stories fall prone to. Good stuff.]
Mission 3: Demonic Power Shifts. With Wyvern and the Legacy Chain dealing with other stuff, it's up to Engineria to fix things inside the PTS, Hellions have broken in and need taking down. Looks like I'm doing some housekeeping then!
Here we are in the PTS. Looking a bit dingy but still functional. Mostly. No sign of Hellions yet.
And as usual I've jinxed myself! There they are. Just lounging around and waiting for someone like me to show up and arrest them. With force.
Right, and OF COURSE someone sets me on fire. I should just expect it now, take it as read. Well, Radiation burns too, my Hellion friends, so have some of that! And see how you lot like it.
Ok, that was actually zesty. Took a bit of a beating so time to take a little breather before I continue on further in the PTS.
Ok, recovered sufficiently so let's move on. Nothing in either side tunnel, so back to this central spot then straight ahead and down down down. Ah. There ARE some demons in this place. Well, why am I surprised? Ok, crank out the Radiation and Kinetics and banish them back to wherever the hell they go to. The main thing being they're not here any more. I'll take that for now. And rescuing one of the workers is obviously a bonus.
Oh my, there's more than just a few of them! Ok, Engineria in full demon banishing/worker rescuing mode now. Time to make a difference if at all possible.
I think I have the demons cleared out now. So head right into the heart of the PTS, where I run into the Hellions again. I can hear Duke Mordrogar talking about something too! Looks like this is all his doing. I didn't hit him hard enough back in Port Oakes! Right. Deal with these minions and then find the boss man.
Hello Duke! And yes, I am here to stop you in your plan to grab a throne. Actually I'm not specifically here to do that since I have no clue what you're ranting about, but I AM here to stop you in general, and that's enough for now.
Oh hell, you're putting up more of a fight than last time! Are you souped up on demonic power or something? Not fun at all. But once again Kinetics to the rescue. Pull health and power and speed from you and your little helper and you WILL go down, your grace.
And success! Some muttered words from the moaning Duke about his Duchess avenging him. Put a pin in that for later! Now I have to undo whatever damage you've done, you maniac.
Ah, there we go. Phew. Time to report back to Ollerus and exchange notes on how we got on.
Ollerus has no idea either who the Duchess is. He's surprised that Mordrogar even managed to summon Bat'zul in the first place. On top of that, even when I shut off the power, Cap au Diable only had a blackout for a few moments before coming back on again. Even though I didn't turn the PTS back on. Strange. Time to have a breather.
[Mission 3 = fast little mission through the tunnels of the PTS, sweeping Hellions and demons and rescuing. A classic lay out done flawlessly. Good stuff.]
Mission 4: Demonic Power Plays. Updates from Ollerus. The Legacy Chain have detected ritual magic emanating from inside the sealed road tunnel that runs under Mount Diable and used to connect Cap au Diable with Port Oakes. They sent in some of their own but have lost contact, so it's up to Engineria to go in there and find them, along with anything else she can find.
Right, let's go then. And I find a demon almost immediately. Not one of the firey ones though, thankfully! Let's deal with it first then look for our missing Legacy Chain partners.
And of course, as always, I spoke too soon. Something is trying to burn me alive. I'm getting a mite peeved at the constant attempts to turn me into some sort of candle!
Girlfriends From Hell. I wonder who picked that name for them? Doesn't seem very fair. I mean, if they summon demons at me I WILL take them out, but you wonder sometimes at people getting labeled, you know?
Yes yes, I was expecting her to attack me! And I am definitely taking her down. Her and her cold demonlings. And a Hellion mentioned a cauldron? Ok, I'll need to look for that. Ok, that was quick!
So I destroy the cauldron. And lookee here! You never said a truer word!
Another Fiendish Fraulein! That whip thing is nasty. Zesty little fight all round. Nevertheless, she drops and her minions drop with here.
First a cauldron and then an altar. I am definitely in the right place. (Ok, I know I'm in the right place, but this confirms it for sure). Though the Hellions guarding it seem a little clueless.
And confirmation that the Duchess is here! Now, that's what we wanted to hear. And at the far end of the tunnel I can see what appear to be our missing Legacy Chain companions.
Oh! A set of books! I'll check those before I go any further.
Let's see now. Ah, Padre Henri's work.
Ok, found a guy called Faerun that needs rescuing. Of course his guards try to set me on fire. There must be some All Purpose Order that says "If you see Engineria, set her on fire. Kindling will be provided".
Well, I free Faerun and he immediately goes to rescue his friend, Seamus. Well, I follow him in!
And no sooner is Seamus freed than Faerun runs off to attack some demons he just spotted! He's a keen one for sure!
OHO! There's Duchess Mordrogar! And she's wielding a whip too. Vicious woman. She lashes all round her and is generally trying to make my life a misery, if not shorter!
She's ferocious! The female of this particular species is definitely more dangerous than the male! Although Duke Mordrogar himself was stronger the second time I fought him.
It takes a few inspirations and some back up from the Legacy Chain boys but we take her down in the end. And like her love, she utters threats. Well, that pin I stuck earlier has come back to stab me it seems.
With the Duchess taken out all I have to do is lead Seamus and Faerun out and report back to Ollerus.
And we are out! I have to say I now dislike collapsed tunnels! Ok, let's see what Ollerus has to say for himself. Ah, Ollerus says that the "Duchess" is actually a demon herself! Well, that explains her power level I suppose. With her and her minions gone the Legacy Chain are able to properly instate their magical wards on the PTS building/plant. Seems WSPDR is thanking the Legacy Chain (and us!) for fixing things. They're also reporting that Langston, Corp was the one who supplied power to Cap au Diable after I shut the power off. And that's where Ollerus wants me to investigate next!
[Mission 4 = Another tight missions, moving through the space and focusing on objective after objective. Good stuff.]
Mission 5: Power & Greed. Ollerus is a grumpy old cynic but I suppose in his line of work that's a necessary evil. According to the OFFICIAL report, Langston, Corp had developed an independent power supply for their own labs but it was generating far more than they needed so they were able to step in and transfer power to Cap au Diable after the norma; PTS grid was shut down. Ollerus thinks that's very convenient and believes that the Goldbrickers had foreknowledge of the demon attack. Or maybe had some part to play in its deployment. Anyway, Engineria is asked to stealth her way into Langston and have a poke around in there, see what exactly is going on. Well, it's not like I have anything else on right now, is it? [Yes, two other arcs, but don't break the immersion!]
In we go!
Lab assistants everywhere. And THIS entire set up looks Praetorian! And we know the Goldbrickers were heisting Praetorian tech!
OH! They're really nasty! Whatever sonic-y power they're hitting me with is shredding me! Have a grenade and then some Radiation Beams, Missy!
Ok, that's her and a few friends knocked out. And there's the actual culprits themselves, Goldbrickers! (Those Lab folks were all working for Langston too). Let's take Zeke down and see what a gentle pummeling gets him to spill.
Candy sounds a lot more pleasant right now than the slapping you're going to get if you don't tell me what's going down, Mr. Zeke!
Exactly! If I KNEW what was going on in here, I wouldn't have been sent it. Think it through, Zeke. Think it through! Well, you're no help. Despite your fancy shmancy gear you're a mook! I need to find someone higher up the food chain than you to get to the bottom of whatever is going on in here.
First Zeke and now Zane! Well, not too far up the ladder from Zeke, but you've mentioned prototype weapons, which in my book can only mean Praetorian weapons! Now we are getting somewhere!
Zane, you and your buddy here are really playing hard to get. Time to use Irradiate and fry the armor on both of you. I know TV dinners are not gourmet, but needs must and all that. Take that!
Still now I know I have to find two Doctors. So, time for a Doctor-Hunt. Switching stealth back on and sliding across this giant shiny lab. there's lab assistants and physicists everywhere and I see no need to get badly injured or even dead before I find these Doctors.
There's the first! Dr.Cohen!
SpoilerDr. Cohen is the name of the missing scientist from way back in Arc 1!!!
@Ankylosaur, little grammar niggle in that sentence he says 🙂
Cohen is intent on frying ME! Not sure what with but it packs a hard punch.
Well, I've said this to several people along the way, and it seemed to work then, "Two can play at that game, Doc!" (I may not have said "Doc" before, no quibbles!
That's as may be, Herr Doktor, but now I have access to your Mainframe. I find that and your fellow Doc and I am out of this joint! On we go! Oh, there it is. And obviously it's guarded. You'd swear someone was breaking in! People have trust issues these days I find.
Ok, I take out the Goldbrickers and...ok, this is weird! The Mainframe itself starts talking to me! Not some automated response thing, actually talking to me. Dunno what to make of that. Ollerus might know.
Well, Speak & Spell, all grown up now, you're still getting your chips fried. Done. Ah, and when I spin around who do I see before me? Doctor Wachoski! Heh. Ok, Doc. Let's see if you're as tough as your compadre.
Oh, you are!
Grr!
Tough or not I'm nearly done here. I thought I was with Wachoski down but I have one last computer to check. Let's get to it.
Ok, and done. Let's get the hell out of Dodge!
Reporting back to Ollerus he sorts out what Engineria has discovered and we're on the same page. Langston are in cahoots with the Goldbrickers and probably built their sonic guns, since the Lab guys also use those things. Langston/Goldbrickers also more than likely behind the demon attack somehow, which may have been set up to discredit Dr. Aeon himself. Now there's a guy I don't want to annoy, not with his full Arachnos backing. And just at the same time Langston has started some new projects in Paragon. So, who knows where this will all lead.
[Mission 5 = Tough mission. The lab assistants look weak but deal a chunk of damage, and don't let them get you in a corner and surround you, that can be hellish!. More good stuff]
Overall this arc was very enjoyable to run through. Not a full pay off of what came before but since we're going to continue on, that's not an issue.
Verdict. Lovely little arc. No time wasting missions, everything slotted together perfectly. Well done! Our next episode is All that Glitters 2.1: Boom in Boomtowm.
Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is, again after the commercials, @cranebump's Ordinary People 3: The Last Full Measure.
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Just a bump post! Try out the Dev Choices on this list! And then get over to the thread linked below, read the nomination rules and nominate an AE that you think is worth getting a Dev Choice! They've been on a little break for a bit but don't let that deter you! Happy gaming! 🙂
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5 minutes ago, cranebump said:
Erm…uh…love to stay and chat, but this is Darm’s space! Cya! (Sprints out back door).
No, this is the FULL three stories/three writers space, LOL.
@Darmian, that law office thing....I mean what now?
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16 minutes ago, cranebump said:
Um, we talking about Cadet Willie?
Oh yes. Oh yes.
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Arc 2 of our third show on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @Darmian's Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Two.
This one starts off a little strange. Engineria is happily asleep in her home when she wakes up to find a deathly pale figure sitting at the end of the bed. It's GHOST WIDOW! Holy hell. I'm getting a personal visit from an Arachnos Patron. Now, she DID say she was going to talk to me later. Although that was in 1966, so any time after that was bound to be later. She wants me to help spring a guy from the Zig! There's some guff about how her lot aren't doing it themselves but I am still concentrating on the prison break thing. And then she drops the hook. This guy is some sort of chronal expert, and when he is let off the leash he'll need to go underground, and the people currently most in need of his services are the same ones who still have Halox Von Horn as a captive. Oookay. Well, if it is for the greater good then I suppose I could. And then she tells me she knows where my family live.
So, looks like I'm breaking a guy out of the Zig.
Sheesh.
Mission 1: Strange Bedfellows. Ok, seems there ARE some Arachnos here, mainly to cause a diversion for me though. I can live with that. Let's go find this guy. Elliott Burgh is his name. Engineria leaves an Arachnos flier and heads into the Zig yard. Lots of wandering prisoners fighting PPD units. (Playing this on x8 would be intense!).
Some of said prisoners take an INSTANT dislike to me! I didn't even say anything!
Ok, STEALTH the rest of this. Though I'll have to drop that to get Elliott Burgh out. Hmm, tricky. Anyway, having checked my map I can see where exactly I have to go, so I get there, without too much injury to body or pride.
In we go and along a sewer and up into a broken part of the floor in the Zig itself. Lots more PPD and drones, some psychic PPD who are damn tricky to shake off. Drones I have no problem smashing, they're not people. But little Engineria is getting thrown ALL over the place on this particular job. At least I have my new suit!
Ok, I turn a corner and there's Burgh's cell, still with some guards on it. I knock them out and grab the guy himself. Vinny? Who the hell is Vinny? What the hell are you talking about? Ok, I'll get your stuff from Vinny, just come on! We've got a jailbreak to finish here.
Ok then. We need to get across here with no stealth, not get stopped by the PPD OR Prisoners and get Burgh on the flier. And look out for this Vinny who has Burgh's "stuff". Whatever that might be.
Well, we dodged the PPD at least. But Vinny found us! On the bright side, now I don't have to go looking for him.
Oh my lord, this guy hits HARD. After him clocking me on the side of the head and almost seeing little birdies I manage to get Kinetics Repel on. (I use it sparingly because it drains endurance fast)
Even WITH Repel he's tough to take. And then a gang of prisoners attack BOTH of us. Well, mainly they want to take Vinny out for some reason (can't think why, I mean he's a sweetheart) it's just Engineria and Burgh are in the way.
Ok, Vinny and his attackers are dealt with, we've got Burgh's stuff for the outside, and we make it to the flier. Whew! Let's hope that's the last time I do anything like THAT!
We drop him off in St. Martial with cash and a change of clothes, all according to Ghost Widow's detailed instructions. Then it's time to go home. And there she is waiting for me. I should have said "Honey, I'm home!" but that might not have gone down well.
I'm to get a room in a hotel in St. Martial and await further instructions. Oh great. Halox Von Horn better be worth the effort for all this.
[Mission 1 = Definite change of pace here! The worldbuilding has begun and we're seeing another side of the plot. I'm looking forward to Mission 2.]
Mission 2: Lawyers, Guns & Money. Several days later Ghost Widow does her ghost routine and appears in Engineria's hotel room. Seems she has been in touch through back channels or some such with Madame Maven's SG. And Axios is coming to St. Martial to join me on this one. (From the way she's talking I think GW likes Axios. Creepy.) So, THIS time I'm getting some stuff from a law office. Stuff for her but it seems there's going to be some stuff for Madame Maven too. Ok, that's something. And get this, it's one of CHRIS JENKINS' offices. Then again, that guy has billboards everywhere so that makes sense.
In we go. Have to shut off some CCTV and meet Axios.
Ok, this is weird as hell. There's lawyers running up to me and hovering around me, acting all antsy but not, I repeat not, attacking me. Now they're following me around. Why is this creepier than actually getting in a fight?
Ok, CCTV is dealt with, now we meet Axios. HA! Look at him doing his Clark Kent routine!
Maybe I should have worn a business suit too. Nah. There's bound to be someone who wants to set me on fire. I think that's a thing now. We make our way through the offices, with a gaggle of lawyers, and later clients, trailing after us. Nothing dangerous yet. Hang on, senior counsel. Let's go talk to you.
That did not go the way I was expecting. This has to be one of the oddest missions I've ever seen.
No, I do NOT have an appointment. Never mind, I'm just going to check your filing cabinets. Axios, try not to kill the lawyers. Ok, I've set off an alarm and the local boss shows up. And she calls for security! Ok, now something is happening. These lawyers, despite running towards me, don't attack! Maybe it's outside their job description and "Protect Ms. Kersky" means serve me papers!
Security show up team handed though and we're definitely in the Rogue Isles for armed security! Damn these guys are packing. I don't know WHAT he shot me with but once again I'm thrown across a room!
And then the rest of his team show up to add to the fun. It's about this time that Axios rolls up his sleeves and wipes the floor with a bunch of them!
Having dealt with that, Ms. Kersky gets annoyed and then runs off. Maybe to get more security, I don't know. At least she's gone now.
Ok, I check the rest of the filing cabinets, get the stuff Ghost Widow wants and then myself and Axios have to make our way past cowering lawyers to the office's exit. And it's plain sailing and quiet until...
Yeah. The god damned CLEANING STAFF attack us. And once again I end up in a rather undignified position. And Axios is annoyed because something on his suit tore and it's expensive.
So we make it out. Axios goes his own way and waves farewell for now. Ghost Widow is waiting for me and takes the lockbox I found in the law office. Then she gets sort of angry. (DO ghosts get angry?) because whatever she wanted isn't in that box. However there is a ledger with addresses in it, and beside one of those addresses is "HVH". Looks like we found the location of the missing SG member!
[Mission 2 = I honestly don't know how to rate this mission. It was good. It was definitely DIFFERENT. And I hadn't realized how creepy it is when people that con as an enemy just hover around you and don't attack. @Darmian did a strange thing here, in the middle of the fight with the security all the lawyers and clients are still milling around, but if you are tab targeting then THEY get caught in the cross fire!]
Mission 3: Another Day in the Burg. Ghost Widow returns to plague Engineria in her hotel room! Now she commands that a Rogue Arachnos facility on WARBURG(!) needs to be raided. Seems Burgh's tracker device has activated, something that Ghost Widow had secreted in the stuff I gave him after the break out. Ok, raiding this place, while madness, isn't as dodgy as breaking someone out of the Zig. However, there's a holding facility there and Halox Von Horn is probably in it. Well, ok then.
Let's go to Warburg then. I'm supposed to meet with a Gerhardt.
Well that's just wonderful, isn't it? Still solo. Ok, around to the left and stealthing as we go. Here we are in that vacation destination that is sunny Warburg. Right, where's that entrance. Ok, around and to the left and found it. In we go. Ah, looks like the time travel version of Arachnos is working with the Rogue version. I'm going to need a pinboard and some string for all this.
I have to find an Arbiter Kinsey. Here Kinsey Kinsey Kinsey. LOL. Oh, I see a wall safe. Let's open that!
OHO! Now that's interesting! I'll just leave that here.
SpoilerNow, Monsieur Kinsey, time to deal with you and your new found allies!
I think this guy is hitting me with some sort of sonic attack. It's shredding my health! And wouldn't you know it, a Mu Striker appears behind me to drop my endurance too. That's all I need. Slowly gaining the upper hand when Gerhardt orders his men off the flier to aid me in taking the building. Go Gerhardt!
Ok, Kinsey spills that Halox Von Horn is actually here! He's also summoned Spectra, whatever that is. We'll get to that. Time to find Mr. Von Horn. OOOKAY. That is not what I was expecting to find, but whatcha gonna do?
So we fish him out and attach a mediporter to him and whisk him away to hospital. Success. (Just took 8 missions to rescue him in the end!) Now I have to go back outside and deal with Spectra. And I might have known! This Spectra dude is the spitting image of Blue Spectrum! (I hadn't put the difficulty back up after a recent bout of continuous fire attacks, and I'm thankful for that because Blue Spectrum was murderous!)
Oh hell, there's TWO of them! Fortunately Gerhardt's men have followed me out of the building and are bringing up the rear!
Even WITH Gerhardt's guys the Spectra are brutal. Engineria takes desperate measures and drops Kinetics' Fulcrum Shift and Rad Blast's Atomic Blast in quick succession. And WHEW! that did it. Not before Spectra sends a signal to our missing Elliott Burgh, and something about a time scoop?
Ok, back to the flier and get the hell out of Dodge.
Ghost Widow is waiting for Engineria when she arrives back. Apparently things are still going according to her plan! I wish someone would tell ME what the plan is. Oh, she's doing that now. Burgh is doing exactly what Ghost Widow wanted him to do, lead her to the rebel Arachnos faction so she can wipe it out. Ok, looking at it from her POV that does make sense. And Halox Von Horn has been returned to Paragon to rest and recuperate. Next up, reel Burgh back in and find out what he knows.
[Mission 3 = Plenty to do in this one. After the creepiness of the previous mission we're back kicking ass and taking names and the plot is powering along. Good stuff.]
Mission 4: The Old Man and the Sea. Burgh has been tracked to a Family owned ship heading to Paragon. I have to stop him before he gets there it seems. Ghost Widow is intent on driving this renegade faction of Arachnos out of the Rogue Isles, even to not letting them regroup in Paragon. She informs us that Gerhardt examined the body of the Spectra from Warburg and it's a clone. The REAL Blue Spectrum is apparently still working on the side of the law back in Paragon City. There's a theory that as well as fixing their time travel maguffin, Burgh might be using chronal equipment to accelerate clone growth.
I may have to take notes! Despite all that I now have to board a ship and do the deed. Hokay! Deep breath.
Definitely a Family ship then. Family members on the deck so Let's stealth by those guys, little bit of swimming, if need be, and head below. Right, it looks like the Family have one of Chris Jenkins' lawyers on board. Prisoner? Let's go see.
OW OW OW!
Getting belted through the air is NOW my jam. I had thought it was getting set on fire, but that seems to have taken a back seat for a bit. OOF!
Oh! You ungrateful little ****!!!
Looks like this guy is one of those crooked lawyers we all hear about in the news. Well, he's not armed or powered so let him run off. Hmm, he might summon help. Oh well, too late now. On we go to find Elliott Burgh and capture him.
Sailors? Well it does make sense. Can't see the Marcones or Verandis of this world getting the hands dirty actually RUNNING a ship. Never thought about it before.
And there you are Mr. Burgh. With your renegade Arachnos guards, and you're sort of cloaked in some tech shield thingy. Let's "arrest" you!
And he summons some hired mercs as back up! Great! Still, hammer at him and take him down! Weird. Sounds like he WANTS to be taken down!
Ok, at least I know what to do AFTER I knock Burgh unconscious. Which I do ASAP. Ok, apparently this control device shuts off a mass cloaking shield.
Revealing clone pods and a time generator. Hell, I just walked by them and never saw them! Ok, 5 clone pods to take out. They've got guards but that's not an issue.
Right, on to the last one. Each one had a copy of Spectra inside it! Now, those guys are very dangerous so I'm not bothered by that at all. Yes, yes, I'm heartless. You fight one and tell me how you feel.
Right, found a time generator. It looks like the one we took out in Atlas Park in 1966. And done.
One last thing to do before leaving this bucket of bolts, and that's deal with the mob boss in charge, one Anthony "Fishy" Marcone. Let's go find him them and get the hell out of here. Oh, I found the lawyer again! ROFL. He's not in a good place today.
There's the Family Boss! Let's go have a womano a mano with him. (No, I don't know any Italian!)
OMG this guy is a monster!! And the sailors joined in too!
I stagger back up and finally bring him down before dragging Burgh to the exit. Then back out and on to the Rogue Isles to see Ghost Widow.
She's almost pleased! Apparently the renegade Arachnos have been driven from the Rogue Isles. And then she tells me this:
That sounds ominous!
[Mission 4 = This mission is driving the plot forward again, with loops and hooks and all sorts like that. It's getting very immersive storywise. Liking it.]
Mission 5: Widow's Walk. Ok, haven't heard from Ghost Widow for a few days until we get back one evening to the hotel and find a handwritten note waiting on the bed. Engineria is invited to visit Widow's Tower. Ok. Well walk into my parlor said the spider to the fly. THIS fly is bringing grenades!
And we're off to a good start already!
Right. The long metallic, dark hallways of this Arachnos base, backlit in red, and silent apart from one thing. One creepy thing.
I don't know about you but this is weirder than the lawyers. Well, MAYBE. That was pretty odd.
So, Engineria continues along corridors, around corners, up elevators until eventually she finds Ghost Widow. Ghost Widow has some unwanted company. Let's help her out for old times' sake.
We deal with her interlopers and she's thankful, in as much as someone like her can be I suppose. Then she says she has something for me.
However this is interrupted by the sound of a teleporter materializing two figures nearby! It's Blue Spectrum and one of the Spectra clones! (Or maybe Blue Spectrum is a clone too? I don't have time to think about that as both hammer me with energy beams!)
However GW enters the fray! That spider didn't invite THOSE guys into her parlor and she's not happy!
I get up, a bit groggy and then join the fight. Even with GW doing a lot of the heavy lifting it takes a bit. Blue Spectrum is strong!
And then he's done and vanishes!
Whew! Ok, Time to go. Ghost Widow gives me a file marked "Vetrano Dossier" and I leave. We're done with the Rogue Isles for now. Madame Maven's SG contact Engineria and Super Charger picks her up at an airfield. Seems that the renegade Arachnos, while gone from here, have definitely surfaced again in Paragon.
[Mission 5 = This started feeling like a little epilogue, and then BOOM, fight scene! Yeah. Good shock ending there. Mind you, I kept expecting Ghost Widow to attack me herself!]
Overall Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Two drove the plot forward, but in a way I wasn't expecting. Arachnos doesn't appear to be some monolithic set of villains, but definitely a faction riven thing. Anyway, looking forward to Part Three.
Verdict: Loved it. Even the weird bits. And there are weird bits. Play it! Me describing it doesn't give the feel. Our next episode will be Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Three.
Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is, again after the obligatory commercials, @Ankylosaur's All that Glitters 1.3: Capitalism in Cap au Diable.
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@cranebump, that second arc was tough in more ways than just the fights, you monster!
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2 hours ago, Ankylosaur said:
I guess it's a little late to suggest this, but you might consider doing each series as its own thread to make it easier on the readers that want to get the gist of one story or the other.
Hmm, You know that's a good idea. I was more into the notion of a "couple of shows" on the cable channel idea though. Is it confusing? I think I will keep doing this, and then "Box Set" the individual series into their own threads at the end. Or I could start doing that now I suppose. It would just be a cut and paste since I will still be PLAYING them all in this 1/2/3 order.
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Arc 2 of our second show on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @cranebump's Ordinary People 2: Hope and Bullets.
Ok, We're meeting Pep Becktrees. That's Detective Becktrees from Kings Row.
Mission 1: The Powers that Be, Aren't. We're following on from working with Joe Freitag on the mad series of break ins that happened a while ago. The one where all the jewels were stolen. Prince Nandelu got his precious homeland diamond back, so he seems happy at least. We're still missing the necklace with the Shivan centerpiece. Becktrees has some worrying information though. Joe Freitag has vanished! He and a cadet called Willie Sullivan are just gone. Higher up muckety mucks blocked Freitag's further investigation, so this is why Becktrees is meeting Engineria out in the street beside a hot dog stand.
Time to hit the streets then.
After running down several dead end leads Engineria ends up here, and wouldn't you know it, it's these fire throwing maniacs again. I am going to need a Nomex suit!
What did I say? Do I look like some sort of bonfire effigy or something?
Anyway, patting out the flames and kicking moaning villains out of the way I turn the corner and there's my old friend Joe Freitag. No sign of his cadet though. Joe has a Grey Hat for company, whoever they are. Some sort of Malta sub group maybe? These Skullionz are working with them though so that will have to wait. In the meantime Joe needs rescuing.
That was a bit rough! The dude with the green powers is called a "Soother", and as well as trying to kill me, he's healing the others. No fair! Take your beating and stay down.
Ok, Joe is not in good shape so I lead him out.
Yes yes, I'll TOTALLY file a report, just GO! I'll go find Willie Sullivan and rescue her too.
She's got to be in the far end of this crappy old warehouse. Something to mention at City Hall maybe, the sheer amount of these places is staggering, and they're not even in areas like Boomtown or wherever.
There's Cadet Sullivan. With her own guard of Grey Hat and Soother and others. Well, this time I'm shooting the Soother first!
Job done, but still a little zesty since they split both sides of me. Oh, someone's a DS9 fan, LOL.
Right, Willie tells me we need to grab a database in here before we go. This rescue plan is not going how I planned. Nevermind, let's go get the database. And wouldn't you know it, I'm on fire again! GOD DAMN IT. STOP THAT! I AM going to change my suit. As soon as I get out of this crappy warehouse I am going to Icon and getting some changes made, so help me.
Willie does her bit and then heads rapidly after Joe Freitag. I however seem to have attracted the attention of some sort of gang boss of the Skullionz. Mr. Oz is here to clean my clock.
Oh hell, he's not kidding. Popped a few insps for this one!
Ghostly skulls AND a rain of fire. Well, Kinetics to steal health and power and speed from you, then Rad Blast your sorry self to kingdom come. Whew.
Out the door and back to Pep Becktrees to report in. He's meeting me outside still, not trusting the higher ups. Once he's had a chat with the two I rescued we'll see where we need to go next.
[Mission 1 = No timer on this one, thankfully! But still a mission that pounds along and doesn't have any fat on it. Building from the first arc already and moving to something deeper and sneakier. Like it.]
Mission 2: Non-Hombres in Low Places. Well, Becktrees and Freitag are still having issues with the senior bods in Powers Division, and Cadet Sullivan is stuck behind a desk going through that database Engineria liberated. BUT...oh, there's always a "but"...there's a strange report saying there's not a single sighting of Hellions or Skulls in High Park. Which is downright peculiar. So, we're gonna go have a looksee.
And after the last bout of fire-related madness I have been to Icon and got a new outfit!
Spiffy!
So, who are these guys? Some sort of scientists? Oh, they're packing pistols! And they KNOW how to use them. OW!
Ok, these aren't Hellions/Skulls/Skullionz/Grey Hats/whatever! There's definitely more to this than meets the eye. And now Arachnos have arrived! Ok, they arrived and got captured. Let's see what happens when I rescue this Dessose guy.
HA! Set me on fire would you? Take that!!
Right, loving this new outfit. It's OBVIOUSLY fire-resistant. I specifically asked for that in Icon. Now, where's Operative Dessose?
Ah, there you are.
Compensated you say? Well, in the meantime I'll take a slice of "the enemy of my enemy is (currently) my friend". Let's go exploring, new friend, and see what else is going on in this place.
Into the elevator and around the corner and...ah. A Dr. Sanders. Looking a bit agitated too.
Oh hell, he's vicious! Pop some inspirations and keep going! And he calls back up! OW! THAT hurt!
Operative Dessose is fighting his way to me though! Go Arachnos! (remind me not to say that out loud outside). We fight our way around this gang and Sanders makes his last play!
We take him out though!
Now we have to check two databases and capture a Steve Gatling, whoever he might be. Big Bad Boss maybe.
Hey @cranebump, little typo in this.
On we go!
Where the hell is this Gatling guy anyway? Well, there you are, Mr. Gatling. A member of the Gatling Gang. Let's go have a chat with you then. Get that mace of yours ready, Operative Dessose, you'll need it!
A couple of grenades tossed right in, courtesy of myself AND Dessosse! Does wonders for morale I tell you.
Now that we have their attention I was going to say it's time to take out the trash. However, this gang is tough! What the hell did I just get hit with?!?!? I've just been thrown across the corridor like a ragdoll!
Dessosse pops a mace blast on Gatling, giving me a chance to regroup and I take him down with a few rad blasts. Whew! That was a zesty little fight for sure.
Popping the dislocating everything back into the right sockets, I bid farewell to my temporary Spider-Ally, and limp off with Steve Gatling in tow to see Becktrees. He seems pretty impressed! Well, it's nice to make a breakthrough finally. Time to regroup and maybe have a long bath.
[Mission 2 = lots of fights, lots of information flowing across the screen, and there's a feel of things maybe not coming together yet but definitely sharpening up the view of what we're up against. Good stuff.]
Mission 3: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. Becktrees is filling Engineria in on what Willie Sullivan is doing. She and a small team are wading through the databases and what keeps showing up is mention of Shivans and Rikti. Mostly Shivans though I think. And then all hell breaks loose! We're outside at the hot dog stand when an explosion rocks the PPD station. Time to investigate!
Straight down into the basement! There's villains everywhere and no sign of Willie Sullivan!
So I thin the herd a bit, making my way towards where Willie should be.
No sign of her, and her hard drive is wiped!
And now I have to deal with some vill called Jessup! He seems eager to leave. Let's oblige him! Not in the way he's thinking though 🙂
Where's our friend, Jessup? I'm going to have to beat it out of you!
That's him taken care of, but part of that attack was a diversion. As well as Willie Sullivan being missing, Cyrus and Steve Gatling were broken out! Going back to Becktrees he fills Engineria in on what she's missed. There's a large contingent of the gang been spotted in a construction site, that has to be where they've taken Cadet Sullivan. There's no time to lose!
[Mission 3 = SHORT! But right to the point, not a second wasted on extraneous stuff. Now on to the finale!]
Mission 4: Getting by with a little help from your Friends. I get to the construction site and see a couple of getaway trucks. Let's stop that nonsense right in its tracks.
AHA! It's Acrobattle! Heya buddy! Lend me a hand with these dickwads. We have a missing cadet to find and some vills to beat the tar out of...I mean recapture.
And right across from us is our recent escapee, Mr. Steve Gatling. Let's pay the man a short, sharp visit. He nearly took me out last time though, so a few grenades again to soften him and his boys up a bit. Oh, Acrobattle is more intent on the meat tenderizer kind of softening, with that staff of his. POW! And Gatling really thinks he's the business. You say I learnt nothing? It was me who won our last fight, buddy!
Right, that's him down. Oh, as if I didn't have enough to worry about, now I'm in the middle of a family feud or something.
Anyway, eliminate a few more trucks and keep looking for Willie.
Hello! Larry Gatling. You must be the brother we've heard about. Damn you're tough. Still, Acrobattle and Engineria manage to take you out after a hard fight. Some inspirations were taken, that's for sure.
Larry's got a confession to make. So we get him to spill it. He seems genuinely contrite though. However, Acrobattle and Engineria still haven't found Willie, and the last of the getaway trucks have to be dealt with. Still, along the way we make a new friend. Giogre apparently. He's a local hero for Kings Row it seems. Now we are three.
Things go faster now, dealing with trucks and their guards. Acrobattle and Giogre tear into them.
We find Willie eventually. And then it's time to report back to Becktrees. This isn't over by a long shot. Not one bit.
[Mission 4 = Tense, very tense. There's a timer on this mission too which adds to that, but the fights and the detail and the finale all lead to what is a great little mission.]
I've enjoyed this arc. It follows on well from the Freitag one, expanding a little more of the feel of Kings Row, which now that I look over the two arcs so far, I think they really are filling out Kings Row as a living place.
Verdict: Great story there, tense and interesting. Our next episode will be Ordinary People 3: The Last Full Measure.
Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is, again after the obligatory commercials, @Darmian's Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Two.
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Spotted a typo there in Mordrogar's speech, @Ankylosaur, since you're fixing stuff.
TerroirNoir's "Cable Channel of AE!" Reviews. Part 1.
in Mission Architect
Posted · Edited by TerroirNoir
Arc 5 of from our second writer on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is, @cranebump's Leviathan 2: Hollow Ring.
Engineria has been listening to the radio, and looking at billboards, and then TV and then switching off. NewsAnon are everywhere with their constant whining about whatever. Apparently the City and the Country are going to hell in a handbasket and it's all because of the lizard people. Ok, no. But after a while it sounds like that. (No offence to Lizard People or others of different skin texture intended!) so it's a relief when Grumpy Joe Freitag calls her.
Mission 1: Old Business. Freitag has heard the news too but that's not why he called. There's an attack on a warehouse by of all things, Cage Consortium. Units are on the way but Engineria will get there first. The foreman, Aaron Ruegad, got everyone out but then went back in. So find him too if possible.
@cranebump? Timers again?
That's Cage alright but why on earth would they be here?
I mean apart from just making my life difficult in general that is.
Well you're an eager one, ain'tcha? Nimble too.
But at the end of the day still security guards versus someone using Radiation Blast. So, down you go. AHA! Someone from my side! E-SWAT? Tech SWAT? Whatever. Let's go help her out.
A thing you say? Well, there's a raid leader to find for a start, then the foreman obviously. A the thing is Ruegad's son is here too! So that's why he went back in! And they're intent on blowing the whole place sky high. Why for pete's sake? What does that achieve? Never mind. Let's carry on.
Round the corner and up the stairs and aha! Raid Leader! Zapity zap!
The fact that a fully uniformed Cage Consortium is here doing this is downright peculiar. There's something else going on here. Good job I have Grumpy Joe to explain stuff to me.
Call for back up? Yeah, my new E-SWAT friend is dealing with your back up!
At least I hope she is!
The raid leader goes down, along with his assistant there. He raves about the foreman double-crossing Cage on something. Explains why they're here, kinda. Briggs-Hughes and Engineria then go looking for the foreman, as well as 4 sets of explosives!
And of course I get flattened. I had gone a while without it happening but I shouldn't get complacent! That's our foreman over there too!
Scrambling back up Engineria is joined by her new partner and make short work of the Cage guys. The foreman is
Ruegad says he sent Henry, that's his son, to hide somewhere. Ruegad then runs off to find him. In the meantime we have explosives to deal with.
We continue through the building, me getting my ass handed to me while Briggs-Hughes looks all professional. Yeah yeah, we'll see.
Who the hell is this guy?
Oh, he's a nasty piece of work! OW. And even nastier than I thought! A smart Briggs-Hughes stays at rifle distance and keeps firing at him, good woman!
Anarchy and down with the pigs? There's a lunatic up there! There's a lunatic here! It might be me for agreeing to do this job!
Have who? Does he mean Henry the foreman's son? He does! Don't have time to find out more right now, that clock is still counting down! C'mon, Briggs-Hughes!
So, explosives then. We deal with them and the Cage guys around them.
1, 2, 3 and 4. Done. And then there's a broadcast over the loudspeakers about us helping capitalist pigs. Doesn't sound like Cage actually. And there's another bomb? And a switch?
"Comrade"? Who the hell are you? And no, not gonna happen.
The two of us take him down, along with someone called Heathen and Pagan. And cue a desperate run to find the last bomb!
Got it! Whew!
WHAT? It's a dummy! A fake! And the kid Henry is kidnapped. Time to talk to Joe Freitag.
Joe is pleased with the success of the new E-SWAT program. So is Engineria! We're still in the dark as to what the double-cross was, but the kid is in the wind and Comrade is still out there.
[Mission 1 = A mad rolling fight against time to save a kid, and fail! A good start to this part of Joe Freitag's career of sending Engineria into danger! Enjoyed it!]
Mission 2: New Business. The "news" on NewsAnon is full of it. Full of the mention of the attack on the warehouse, in fact SIX attacks across the city. Aaron Ruegad is depicted as a Rogue Isles criminal "allowed" to peddle his evil here in Paragon, plus mention of other "criminals" at the other sites.
Freitag is fed up because the announcer is not helping, just stirring up panic. But he somehow has an inside scoop. The PPD never announced there were former Rogue Isles residents at the Braintreach warehouses, but NewsAnon still knows. So there's a leak in the PPD or...well, we don't know yet.
Freitag has signed off on a visit to the Rogue Isles. Engineria is to have a "chat" with Kirk Cage of Cage Consortium.
Off I go then!
After politely asking around Sharkhead I find Cage is at one of his offices, but he knows I'm coming and has hired extra security. I'm going to get flattened again. Or set on fire. (Still not got Knockback protection)
Well, from the uniforms I'm in the right place.
Well, I have these guys' number so I drop them fast and move on.
Ah, so that's what my informants meant by extra security! Critical Mass! Big boy, ain'tcha?
Big and DANGEROUS boy! Jeez Louise! He's light on his feet! And about to drop the hammer on me!
KINETICS REPEL! And fling him the hell away from me. Recover fast, Engineria. Pop a Break Free to clear my head and hit him with a Siphon Speed, then follow up with Radiation Blast. Push him back and into the wall. He takes a beating and a half but he still drops.
Okies. Hands on knees and catch breath. Let me see who else is waiting for me.
2 more of these people are out there laying in wait to ambush little Engineria. I'm not feeling wanted at all. Never mind. I take a few more Cage Consortium guys down along the way.
Savage Siren. Heard of you. Not met you before.
On the phone to your mother? Well, even criminals have mothers. Apart from that Robot guy I assume. I never did ask.
Me in the Freedom Phalanx? You gotta be kidding me! I'm not even in the Shining Stars!
What the? Rascals and Redcaps and other Croatoa pests! OW, those arrows are nasty. GET OFF ME YOU TINY MENACE!
Really starting to dislike Savage Siren's choice of ally. I mean really.
But with her down that leaves one last super powered security person to deal with. It'll be someone who sets me on fire. I just know it. My luck is about to run out on that front.
HA! I knew it! Pyrelord. Well, if I can hit him fast enough and hard enough he won't have time to set me alight...I hope!
Got a shot in and he starts babbling!
(Note to self: adjust color of Repel as it's blurring things)
I manage to get Pyrelord down without getting burned myself. If it wasn't for the fact I still have to find Kirk Cage I'd call that a victory and go back to my motel and eat chips. Anyway.
Ok then. That's not Kirk Cage. I suppose I'd better investigate.
He's not? So you're what, a chief goon or something? Goon Extraordinaire?
This Wesley guy tells me that Kirk Cage had nothing to do with any of the attacks, all of whom were on Scrapyard criminals. As far as Cage is concerned the matter is closed. He hands Engineria a burner phone and says his employer too is a father, like Ruegad. And then he saunters off.
Right, time to call Freitag.
Seems Joe has heard of "Wesley". Cage seems to want to help. Well, not help exactly but do what suits them. Meanwhile the NewsAnon reports are raving about unsavory elements in the department, in government, everywhere, and are stirring things up.
[Mission 2 = This acts as a sort of bridging epilog to the first mission. Some good fights and the introduction of this Wesley guy. Good stuff all round.]
Mission 3: Questions Pending. We have a lead on the Sacco-Vanzettis. They're part of the whole shmear here, tied in with the Fawkers and so on. They're planning another hit now so we can round them up in one swoop. Freitag hands me a Gatorade. He's getting weird. I head to the location while Freitag rounds up some back up for me. In and out, no biggie.
Ok, off we go.
Into the sewers. Again. "Go to these coordinates, Engineria", because if he says "Go to the sewers" he knows I'll not go.
And straight into a fight!
And some of the Sacco-Whatevers up ahead too.
There's Briggs-Hughes. Oh did he? The Gatorade? I knew that was weird. Didn't I say that was weird?
We move through the tunnels, mopping up anything and anyone we see. And there are plenty I can tell you.
Oh look! There's Willie Sullivan. Cool. And I'm on fire. Of course I am. Whatevs. Getting used to it now.
Now we are three. And a fine little team we make. Why hello there, Mr. Cell Commander. You seem to be in need of arresting. Or something approximating that at the least. Have at ye!
Well, that's the problem with secret societies, no one can really keep a secret. Not really, Especially when a plea bargain to not spend the next 25 years in prison is on the table.
So you get betrayed. Tough.
Apparently he dies for the cause. I wonder what that cause is? No time for that right now because around the corner of this weird central dais thingy is the Cell Liaison. And he too needs to die for the cause. I'm sure he's just as committed as his friend who is currently lying in sewer water.
So the three of us get stuck in and boy is this guy tough, he just really wants to make US die for his cause, rather than himself. Surely that can't be right?
But the rest of Freitag's back up arrives! A squad of power armor PPD! Excellent stuff. So Mr. Cell Liaison takes a bath in the sewer, as is his right I expect. It's probably in a manifesto for life or something, next to the right to eat cookies in bed and not clean up after yourself.
Then we check out a rather damp console and it goes into wipe+crash mode as a failsafe. But before it does we get the location of a Fawkers base we had not known about previously!
Time to chat to Freitag. And refuse all offers of food or drink.
[Mission 3 = Another rolling set of fights and combat, back and up and around! Good stuff indeed. Willie and Briggs-Hughes are excellent support characters.]
Mission 4: Quorum. Minutes later Freitag has Engineria running across town to the freshly discovered site, so as not to give those there any time to get out I'm assuming. A chance to catch them flat footed. Still no news on that Henry kind though.
Engineria is heading in with an agenda: 1, Knock out their base comms, 2, Set explosives (self explanatory) 3, Arrest any Leviathan dudes we find and 4, on the offchance the kid is there then get him out.
No pressure, Joe. Nope. Ok, in we go!
Got lucky, objective 1 is near the entrance. So I get rid of that and its accompanying operators.
Ok, comms are down. These guys won't be able to summon help. or a Rydeshare Car.
In between eliminating the thugs opposing me I'm priming these babies, objective 2.
When these go off then this place will cease to be of use to the Fawkers and Leviathan.
Seems the enemy have cavalry too. And Jeez Louise, they're nasty! I took a beating from this guy before I dropped him. And then a bunch of Heathens and Pagans showed up mob handed to try to finish the job he started. Health was low but Repel and grenades kept them off me. Dropping a smoke flash helped too!
See? Here they come racing around the corner to try shivving me! RUN!
OHO! That's not on my list but I'm still gonna take it out. And done. This place is definitely a major hive of activity for these quasi cultists. I'm half expecting them to rant at me about them being FREE MEN OF THE LAND, and SOVEREIGN CITIZENS.
What's next? Oh yes. Some more explosives planted. Only one left to do.
And Leviathan Augie. Yeah, you and me are going downtown to chat to Joe Freitag, and he might even take his hat off and roll up his sleeves when he's talking to you. You won't like that.
Yep, I do. Because for once in this mad City of weirdoes and so on you need to be told you're wrong. And have it stick.
Also, you just set me on fire. Now you may have not been following my progress in my career as a super, but suffice it to say, I don not like being set on fire. Nuh uh.
And of course you had a bodyguard in reserve who flattens me. Or were you just staying out of the big fight, Mr. Guard, because you don't get paid enough? Maybe you should join a Union.
I get the final bomb and clear up some canisters and then I am out of here. BOOM! BOOM, BABY!
Back with Joe, he's fairly happy about all this. The regular PPD are mopping up stragglers and so on. I have to WRITE A REPORT. Joe said debrief but it'll be WRITING A REPORT. (Really need to advance my Hero Corps membership further than chatting to Henry Wong when I'm in Atlas Park)
[Mission 4 = This felt like a finale episode. Very much so. Much going on, all against the clock. Loved it.]
Mission 5: Motion to Adjourn. Chatting to Freitag a week later and he's pissed. The perps are giving up nothing. Not a damn thing. And their DNA is screwy, their prints are smoothed off, god knows what their dental is like. So Joe and the gang are wading through mughsots. Thousands of them. Sloooow. (Nope, I can't do that. Not been trained for you see. Special expertise needed.) No sign of the kid either. Freitag thinks he may be dead. And then Engineria gets a phone call. On the burner phone Wesley gave her.
An unknown number. An address and a single line of text. "PROOF. COME ALONE." Back in a while Joe, just a thing I have to do.
A warehouse in the King Garment District. There's a weird beeping noise up ahead.
Looks pretty deserted. Time to have a look around then. Wesley should be here somewhere. Maybe with intel on the boy. Don't know why he didn't just call.
Ah, perhaps that's why he didn't call. Some of the Sacco-Vanzettis are here. With a small robot? What?
Jeez Louise! Can't anyone just say "hi" anymore? Flattened. And frozen this time as opposed to being set on fire. Well, that's different I suppose.
GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME! Right, I am going to murderize every single one of you, so help me.
Ok, that's those dealt with. Now, little robot. Omnidrone is it? What are you?
Holographic interface? What? Oh, you're just staying there and not following me? Ok then.
Ok, what do we have here? Just your average warehouse. No sign of Wesley. Oh, a crate. It's got weapons like the ones the Saccos had.
And a terminal. Well, here goes nothing.
Ok, a mysterious message for me. Seems I've been of great use and I'm going to be famous. And a hint about the boy. But it breaks off.
Ok, time to...WTH?
Why are the PPD attacking ME? Ok, I know I didn't tell Freitag I was going here but come on! They should know what I look like by now. (Mainly filthy and smelling of burned hair but hey)
I don't have a choice here! I either fight back or they take me down! Sorry boys, but Engineria is not going quietly.
There may be a lot of screaming in pain though.
Ok, after leading my former companions a merry dance and being judicious with the old power set, most of those boys are going to have one hell of a headache tomorrow. (Or cracked ribs, torn ligaments, you get the idea)
Still looking for what's going on here.
Wesley! With PPD on him!
It's a trap? Sorry, Wes. I twigged to that already. Oof, springing back up is SOO undignified. Wait a minute. Comrade? I'm not Comrade you idiots. Is that who those guys downstairs thought I was?
Holo emitters? So that little robot guy. And the PPD see me as Comrade? Or Wesley as Comrade? Whatever. Not happy about that. Not one bit.
It was all a set up.
I head out and am confronted by Freitag, who is surprised to see me. Time for that debrief now, Joe.
Oh, it's even sneakier than I thought! Those PPD I fought were holo'd up too! They were Leviathan stooges pretending to be PPD, fighting me, looking like Comrade. And I crippled them all. And it was all caught on camera.
NewsAnon is having a field day with this one.
The leadership in the City must go. Oh hell. These guys are in it for keeps.
[Mission 5 = wonderful bit of misdirection there. Honestly did not see that coming. Even though the Omnidrone TOLD me what it was doing! Great!]
Verdict: Loved it. The expansion of the politics continues. Grim and gritty Kings Row gets politicked up and nothing will be the same again. Our next episode will be Leviathan 3: Hollow Victory.
Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is, after the commercials, @Darmian's Darker Deeds: Part Two.