TerroirNoir's "Cable Channel of AE!" Reviews. Part 1.

[Darmian]

Arachnos secret warehouse 

[Darmian]

@Zhym, the mission @TerroirNoir just did, "The Winds of Change", that has the correct map.  

[TerroirNoir]

7 minutes ago, Darmian said:

@Zhym, the mission @TerroirNoir just did, "The Winds of Change", that has the correct map.  

Oh did I?  Cool.  Timing!  If I had been able to do the mission earlier I'd have probably been on the same map as @Zhym I suppose.

[Darmian]

@TerroirNoir, don't leave immediately when you finish the fourth mission. Have a look around.

[TerroirNoir]

34 minutes ago, Darmian said:

@TerroirNoir, don't leave immediately when you finish the fourth mission. Have a look around.

You are a maniac.  How many other things are hidden in your missions that I never thought to look for? Now I'll be looking all the time.

[Darmian]

22 hours ago, Zhym said:

I just did @Darmian's Loyalist Praetorian arc, and I hope you do review it.  It's great, IMO. 

Thanks!  I tried to make them fit into the actual Gold side story as much as I could.

[Zhym]

2 hours ago, TerroirNoir said:

You are a maniac.  How many other things are hidden in your missions that I never thought to look for? Now I'll be looking all the time.

Wait—there are Easter eggs?  Well, now I've got to run the whole arc again...

[Zhym]

2 hours ago, Darmian said:

Thanks!  I tried to make them fit into the actual Gold side story as much as I could.

In my opinion, it fit quite well.  Quite well.

 

And there's a lot of lore there in Praetoria to be explored (and filled in), IMO.

[Zhym]

3 hours ago, Darmian said:

@Zhym, the mission @TerroirNoir just did, "The Winds of Change", that has the correct map.  

Oh, that map!  Yes, that makes a lot more sense than the Cimerora...whatever that is map.

[Darmian]

4 hours ago, Zhym said:

Wait—there are Easter eggs?  Well, now I've got to run the whole arc again...

There was one in the final mission of the final Loyalist arc if I recall 🙂

 

 

[Ankylosaur]

I've had maps swapped on me if I added them from the "New Maps" section of AE instead of their "forever home". Once they get moved out of New, then AE might sub in a different new.

[Zhym]

On 10/23/2022 at 8:16 PM, TerroirNoir said:

Now Engineria can leave, OR (following @Darmian's advice)  check out the voice while running through a collapsing building.  

So, I do.

OH NO.  I've been saying for ages that I'm a mid level super in a city of supers much more powerful than me, and I actually meant that!  OH CRAP. HE'S SEEN ME!

RUN AWAY!

RUN AWAY!

 

I run away!  And he hits me in the back.  I make it to the elevator and get away.

Okay, that's cool.  And I totally missed that on my play-through.

 

I'm surprised that Lord Recluse cons as orange instead of solid purple, though. 

[Darmian]

3 minutes ago, Zhym said:

Okay, that's cool.  And I totally missed that on my play-through.

 

I'm surprised that Lord Recluse cons as orange instead of solid purple, though. 

I used the "Pet" version from the AE (and he's still nasty!) because it was an Easter Egg to find rather than an end boss to defeat.

[TerroirNoir]

Arc 7 from our first writer on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is, @Ankylosaur's All that Glitters 3.1: Extractions in Eden.

 

Mission 1: A Golden Paradise.  Engineria hears a PING! from her computer and checks her email. I wonder what Delia wants now.  Ollerus probably needs rescuing.  Anyway, turns out the email isn't from Delia or Wyvern but from the mysterious hacker known as "The Doctor". Or to give her her full name, Dr. Carole Friedkin. I wonder why she's getting in touch and not Delia/Ollerus/Hornet?  

 

Seems Langston Corps. has a production facility in...wait for it....wait for it...no, not the Rikti War Zone, that would be crazy.  No, it's in the FAR more sensible location of Eden.  Yes, FAR more sensible.  WHAT? Friedkin suspects that setting up there, despite their altruism as told to the mayor, they must be hiding something.  Can I check it out?  

 

Yeah, I wasn't doing much else today anyway. Eden. Ok then. Wyvern are busy repairing their base but Hornet will drop me off.

This place is actually beautiful.

 

 

However, it is ALSO full of monsters.  And I have to be careful here. Very careful'

Ok, take to the air and scout around.  See what's what. OHO. Crey have a base in this place somewhere.  And they've captured a Goldbricker.  That's a bit strange.  Let's see why.

 

 

Just a few well aimed blasts and drop those Crey goons as fast as I can.  Surprised they haven't any tank types here as protection against the Devouring Earth actually.  Or maybe they had and the DE got them?  Possibly.

 

 

Yikes.  I may have been ever so hasty in freeing this Goldbricker.  He's got some issues.  Not to mention some sort of thorns growing out of him.  That is not a good sign.

Raaaawwrrr?

 

 

Yep.  Definitely hasty!  Oh so mind numbingly, hit with toxic thorns, knocked out of the sky and poisoned hasty.  Yep.  Mediporter?  Ya, mediporter.

 

 

Ok, let's try that again, shall we?  (@Ankylosaur, that Bloomer guy is frikkin LETHAL!)

But with some tactics and LOTS of grenades, and keeping my distance, he does, finally(!) go down.

 

OHO.  A "Gaian" was he?  Looks like he got infected by something.  Oh that's not good.  Devouring Earth?  Maybe.

 

 

But I break their beacon.  You know, just for something to do.  Since I'm still all riled up about "Chris" trying to turn me into a shish kabob.  OH hell.  I am avoiding this guy like the proverbial plague! I got murdered by a turned Goldbricker, I ain't going near THAT!

 

 

Ah, Dr. Steffee I presume. (Who wears name tags out in the field?)  And you're investigating these Gaians?  Well, I'm going to poke you for some more answers.  Did I mention I'm riled up?  I am though.  Totally.

 

 

And this guy knows squat.  Or at least nothing that I want to know, to phrase it a little better.  Ok, the beauty of the place is starting to wear off.  It's just getting creepy now.  So, time to kick in Afterburner and fly around a bit faster.

 

 

And another Crey scientist.  And this one knows who I am!  FAME AT LAST!  Or is it infamy?  I can never tell which one it is when the "bad guys" treat you like this.  Notorious, maybe?  I'll go with Notorious.  Which reminds me, there's a Cary Grant marathon on PTV I need to record.  

 

 

Why am I interested in your Gaian research?  I didn't even know there WAS such a thing until "Chris" attacked me, there were some Geode-Kin and friends that I had to put down and now you ranting about it.  So, shut up and stay down.  Capice?

(Might be a typo in his speech there, @Ankylosaur)

 

 

Searching him I find a keycard. And he was all chatty Cathy earlier about a transformation lab and coming up for air from some factory.  That's gotta be somewhere in this hellhole.

I collect a few more crates for destruction and then head back to the flyer.  Hornet takes me home.

 

Talking to the Doctor again and filling her in. 

(She responds far better than I can summarize it)

 

 

(I actually saw no Big Brother bots at all, @Ankylosaur)

 

And all that's ancient history for now.  Right now I need to restock on an empty utility belt and get some rest, then I have to find this "Transformation Lab".  I'm sure the Doctor will give me another history lesson later.

 

[Mission 1: HOLY CRAP THIS PLACE IS DANGEROUS!  Just goes to show you can't get complacent.  Interesting start!]

 

Mission 2: The Candy Lab Pinata. Ok then, looks like I'm going to Nerva since I'm on Fountain Island. The keycard gets me inside and I stealth around.  Lots and lots of scientists in here.  Plenty with sonic abilities/powers/weapons.  And those things are lethal.  Seems to be a feature of the Goldbrickers and Langston.

 

OHO!  A Dr. Butterworth.  And delivering weapons to the Family.  Seems that Langston is adding to their allies in some way. I did get on the wrong side of the Verandis a while back, having already got on the wrong side of the Marcones!  So that'll be interesting later, I don't think!

 

 

Frankly they have enough of an "edge" if you ask me.  

I may need another costume grade, and maybe cave and finally get a mask!  Everyone seems to know me!  Hmm, ponder color schemes later, fight now!

 

 

You're not the only one wishing they'd been more secretive, Butterworth!  I wish I'd never read my email this morning.  Oh it's usually spam spam spam, eggs, beans, sausage and spam, but today...ow ow ow.

 

 

Ok, I drop Butterworth and their Family goons.  Ah, it's the little things in life that cheer you up.  Now, what's in this box I found around the corner?  A beacon for attracting Gaians?  Oh no.  Hmm, partially successful as it also attracts Devouring Earth.  I wonder what happens if you set it up in a place with neither?  Will they home in on it like pigeons or something?

 

 

So if I activate flight and stealth and float up to the ceiling I should be able to avoid...no one.  GAH! And you had it coming, you vills! Hang on, is that how they know it's me all the time?  Am I being scanned?

 

 

Right, I drop a grenade on you, Ms. Scientist, and then I drop a few more on your scanner.  Boppity bop, as they say.  (No one says that, but I'm thinking about a catchphrase.  No?  Ok then.)

 

If you can't make it then steal it?  Well, that attitude goes all the way from on the street Goldbrickers burglarizing houses to here, it seems.  Should I warn Crey?  I don't think so.  They have a lot of money so can easily afford to defend themselves.

 

 

And like your colleague before you, you get your ass whupped and your consciousness machine scrapped.  Ok, who's next?  I'm just working up a sweat here.  Come to mama!

Now why on earth do Langston need a consciousness uploader anyway?  Some sort of human mind loaded into those Big Brother Bots?  A chocolate robot?

 

 

Strike 3!  You're out!  That's them and their machine dealt with.  Now there's a Dr. Freyhaufer to deal with. And an old friend of ours, Mr. Mainframe.  Yeah, he's here too.   

Just here in fact!  Hey! Miss me? Yes, me again!

 

 

And you can scuttle back into the ether and download yourself to another Mainframe somewhere.  You know, he's gonna get annoyed at me eventually and then what will he do?  Block my internet?  Oh, the pain. It's not like I'm even in my apartment much these days (have you seen the amount of work I've been doing, it's like there's 3 of me!)

 

Dr. Freyhaufer!  You're quite possibly mad.  Attack Crey's Utopia facility?  Are there ANY scientists who aren't a bit mad in this place?  And by "place" I don't mean just here.  I'm sure the people in DATA are all certifiable too!

 

 

OH!  Hella groggy.  Pull it together Engineria!  Pull it together or these shmucks are going to lacerate you with their sonic weapons.  Not to mention the obligatory being thrown across a room.  HEY.  I just noticed!  I've not been set on fire yet!  Ah, I've jinxed it now.

Memories?  Whose memories?  Are you stealing my memories?  With that scanner thing?  Lord knows why. I know zilch. 

 

 

Ok, that was rough.  Those sonic weapons STACK on you so you can't get up while still being hit.  Fools came in to hit me in person though, and that did not go well for them. No siree.  

 

Now, I have two computer terminals to hack and then I am outta here.

Got one, and now for the last one. Done.  Let's skedaddle!

 

Seems our Doctor Hacker friend knows ALL about the Crey Revenant plan.  She helped shut it down a while back. Transferring human minds into grown organic bodies.  How is that not cloning with an extra step, Doc?  Except it looks like Revenant is living up to its name and isn't QUITE dead.  It's still out in Eden in the Utopia Complex.  And Langston want it.

 

[Mission 2 = Not as lethal as Mission 1!  But still pretty dangerous when the scientists go all Ghostbusters and cross the streams of their sonic weapons.  The plot unfolds further. Good stuff]

 

Mission 3: From the Corners of Our Minds.  I'm getting another history lesson from the Doctor, Carole Friedkin.  But that's ok, cos it's good to know this stuff actually. Friedkin was responsible for taking down the initial versions of Project Revenant and Project Locke.  And wait a minute, Crey killed her!  So who am I talking to now?  Oh, she downloaded her consciousness!  Now, I'm having difficulty with this.  In the end the point is irrelevant if the outcome is the same I suppose, but for me Carole Friedkin is dead.  What I'm speaking to is a COPY of her consciousness that THINKS it is Carole Friedkin. Not that I'll say that to her, why should I hurt her like that?  Anyway, she's smart, she's sure to have asked herself that question a lot.  I would.

 

Anyway, Crey then stole her patents and tech and managed to imprison her in a digital cell. She's managed to hack a single pathway out to send messages though. But I, Engineria, might be able to rescue her.  Well, I'll try but I'm going to need a really big ZIP drive!

 

Or a Mainframe!  I wonder.

 

Plan is to copy MY consciousness and convert it to a digital form, then send "Digi-Me" into the Digital Prison to break her out.  First I need to get to Friedkin's old lab in Eden to do the uploading/conversion.

 

I have probably had (and will have) weirder missions, but this is gonna be in the Top 10 for sure.

 

This place is infested with those Gaians!

 

 

Ok, time to update the files with the data Friedkin gave me.  There we go.  Lovely.

 

 

And dispose of a few more Gaians, and then activate the memory download ray.

 

 

So far so good!  

 

Back to chat to the Doctor.  She's puzzled by the Gaians, since Devouring Earth normally (normally!) turn humans into Devoured, not whatever these creatures are.  But more pressing things are at hand.  Time to go all TRON and get Friedkin out of her digital prison.

 

[Mission 3= Short and sweet and to the point.  No frills mission that sort of acts as the intro/prologue for Mission 4.  Nice]

 

Mission 4: Jailbreak. The simulation is some sort of vanity Arachnos project.  A final Arachnos "victory" in the ruins of Atlas Park.  Friedkin can't beat the "Boss", a randomly generated enemy of Arachnos.  So, that's where I come in.  She's also finagled help from another digital being, Number Six.  So there'll be three of us in there doing our thing.

 

How bad could it be?  Famous last words?

In I go. Oh!  There's a 30 minute timer!  The Doc says that will be PLENTY of time.  Let's see, shall we?

 

 

AND.. I'm off to a wobbly start.  This was probably the WRONG computer.  Yeah, probably.  "Happy Birthday, Lord Recluse"?

 

 

Populating enemies?  Whose enemies?  Well, technically EVERYONE in here besides Friedkin and Number Six I suppose.

And THIS computer is in a rather peculiar spot dontcha think?

 

 

Ok, well that's that done.  Time to find the Doctor.  Out along the corridor and through a portal.  This place is a bit confusing to navigate. Ah, Doc!  Found ya!  (And in another life, I actually recognize those Arachnos types!)

 

 

A few well aimed Proton beams later ...

 

 

...and it is time to find the Doc's ally, Number Six.  He's calling for a little aid himself too.  Shout louder, Sixie!  We'll follow your voice to you.

 

 

Stepping out of what I THOUGHT was an elevator we find ourselves outside in that ruined version of Atlas Park the Doc told me about.  It looks hella grim.  And over there is...Swan?  Is she the Boss?

 

 

Let's go and see.  OH, she's damn dangerous! I'm staggering around like a new born foal, all wobbly legs and looking for my mother, while the Doctor and Number Six take on Swan.  And they take her down.

Simulation is still running though, so she wasn't the boss.

 

 

Hmm, the Doctor has decided to stay standing over Swan's inert body until it vanishes, or whatever digital bodies do.  So Number Six and I go looking for the boss.  Positron?  Maybe.

OFFS!  It ain't Positron!  At least I don't think it is.  Anyway, I didn't think this guy would be here, or even think about him AT ALL, since he's, you know...dead?  Except here isn't out there.

STATESMAN!

There goes Number Six!  I hope he's ok.

 

 

Number Six is doing all the heavy lifting and we've got him down to a red sliver of health, when he decides to do his patented "Hey, I've just decided not to die" move, and just keeps going!

 

 

One set of LIGHTNING OF THE GODS later both Engineria and Number Six are doing decidedly less than well in our endeavors.

 

Statesman takes down Number Six (cos he's nearest) and then comes for me!  I stagger back to the Doctor and Statesman effectively WALKS over her (she's gone now!) to get to me.  I'm on fumes.  Little Engineria with her quasi support Corruptor has no inspirations left, about 2 minutes left on the timer and all her allies are gone.  And HE IS STILL COMING. 

I stop because he's flying after me and chasing me into Manticore!

 

I'm down.

And off he flies to wherever.  I still don't know if he was actually the boss!

 

 

Shortly after the mission failsafe kicks in and I come to in the real world.

Surely digital pain shouldn't hurt?  I mean that's just not fair.

 

However, whatever the hell I did it was enough for the Doctor to use my diversion to free herself. 

 

I've got an hour to rest before the Goldbricker attack on the Utopia Complex in Eden.  Yeah.  Doc, is there such a thing as digital Advil, or icepacks?  

 

Mission 4 = A mission of two halves.  First half, collect the ally and free the Doc.  Second half, die.  Ok, not die (even though I did die) but I might have been able to take Statesman if the Doctor had stayed with Engineria and Number Six after the initial fight with Swan.  TOUGH!  Nice]

 

(A thing for you @Ankylosaur)

Spoiler

 

Left over from an earlier version of this mission?

 

Mission 5: Born Again. The Doctor has contacted Wyvern and spooled them up for the attack on the Utopia Complex.  in the meantime she's been surfing the net since she got out of her digital prison, finding all sorts of things. Such as the original founder of Langston, dead a while now, is actually a digital being like the Doctor these days.  That's him in the Mainframe!  Once we start the attack though we have to stop the Goldbricker raid, and arrange for the Doctor to get downloaded into a body print of some kind.

This lesson gets interrupted by alarms.  Seems the Goldbrickers have brought their attack forward, so it's time to go and do my thing!

 

Well, let's start as I mean to go on.  GOLDBRICKERS!  PPEPARE FOR A WHUPPIN'!  ('sides, after getting the tar beat out of me in the digital realm I have some frustrations to burn off!)

 

 

And AWAY you go!  Man, I love Kinetics Repel!  It really does help to keep me alive by keeping enemies off of me.  And these two get shot before they have time to clamber back to their feet.  And on I go.

 

 

Ok then. You lot can finish that fight by yourselves.  Winners can come challenge me for the title.  I've got stuff to do in the meantime.

 

 

Now, there's a Doctor Pareia I need to talk to. I can hear them shouting about beacon boxes attracting Gaians.  They don't sound happy! Also, my new mask is working!  He doesn't recognize me!

 

 

I'm...well, no I didn't cause the chaos, but I'm sure as hell going to take advantage of it!

 

 

Right, that's Pareia dealt with.  Time to integrate the Doctor and then go and find her.  

 

 

OHO!  lookee who I found!  It's Old Man Langston-Mainframe hisself!  Time to go bye bye, Mr. Langston-Mainframe!  Take a little trip back to digital heaven, or wherever you hang out when you're not getting carried about by Bots.  I'm sure it's nicer than that place I found Friedkin. And you got what you came for?  Hmm.  So that's why the raid was brought forward, you got the jump on Crey.  Plus your Bot guards are immune to those Gaian things.

 

 

I think I found Doctor Friedkin!  Gimme a few minutes Doc, I'll soon have you out of that thing!

 

 

There's something wrong with the process!  Looks like the Doc got flushed through the system!  Now I have to find where she came out.  

 

 

Fortunately, she was flushed to a different spot in the same cloning chamber.  And was promptly caught in an energy field.  No problemo, Doc, I'm a comin'!

 

 

So that's the Doctor freed, and she seems both delighted to be in her new body, and yet a bit repulsed by it.  Then again beggars can't be choosers as many folks say, so she's mostly happy to be actually alive again.

 

 

We have more yet to do. We have to take out the Burninator, he's the Goldbricker raid leader. Friedkin finds him first.  Well, she doesn't so much find him as run off and work her way towards him through the cooling bodies of literally everyone who gets in her way.  She's got something to prove I think.  And maybe she's going to need a therapist later.  A really good one.

 

 

He's tough but doesn't last long against both of us.

That's the last of the Goldbrickers down, even though Mainframe Man claims they got what they came for.

Next is dealing with the Crey VP, Juan Hernandez.  He's answered the alarms and arrived to find the Utopia Complex in chaos, partly destroyed, infested with Gaians, and so on.  I bet he's not going to get a holiday bonus this year from the Countess.  I'm just guessing now.

And there he is!

 

 

Come on, Doc.  Let's finish this and go home!  My digital Advil is wearing off....those were just a placebo, weren't they?  Hmmph.

 

 

He's got plenty of guards around him, including Bot Masterminds, and their guns are causing havoc.  But he goes down and as he does he teleports out.

It's time for Engineria and Doctor Friedkin to leave.

Job done.

 

 

The Doctor is relaxing, and pleased to be free in the flesh.  She babbles about what Langston is doing, if he's going to duplicate himself, or sell the tech to the highest bidder as an Immortality device, or...and then she wisely decides to get a bath.

I'll do the same when I get home.

 

[Mission 5 =  Great finale.  Plenty to do, plenty of danger. Objectives following objectives.  Mechanics worked perfectly. Good stuff]

 

Verdict.  Loved it.  It got nasty on two missions, but we got a conclusion of sorts and now have an ally who owes us.  Tune in for our next episode which will be All that Glitters 3.2: Suspicious Maneuvers in St. Martial.

 

Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is, after the commercials, @cranebump's Leviathan 4: Origin.

Edited November 5, 2022 by TerroirNoir

[Ankylosaur]

Tuning into my favorite channel!

 

Clearly a few typos and other things to correct. Any mention of Nerva is a mistake - I missed that M2 mission pop-up and exit. This was originally in Eden, I moved it to Nerva's Crey facility, and then I moved it back.

 

This may be the most often reworked arc of them all as it

• explains the Langstons, and that had to be redone with the new Gold Bricker lore
• moved zones a couple of times 
• M1 swapped maps and mission as the zone changed.
• M4 map and mission changed a few times for other reasons.

"Director's notes" - will add to this list as you work your way through the missions

 

 

Spoiler

• Eden is an odd zone for them to expand to, it's true, and the Bloomer shows it's not without consequences, but there are specific things Langston is after here.
• I like using outdoor maps and only just worked out a good way to work in that first map. Having Hornet as my way to justify Arachnos flyer mission entrances helps! It is a tad overloaded with danger - but Eden should feel dangerous. It was because of that danger that I originally had Constructor bots testing the crates - but decided flying crates in and out with Gold Brickers made more sense. (fixed that)
• Just inside the entrance to Eden are some ruined buildings -
  • Off to the right is a functioning warehouse with lights on. I always wondered who was in there, so this gave me a chance to answer that - that's where the Gold Brickers set up.
  • Off to the left is the reason they set up there - the proximity to the Utopia Complex, get your badge at the Crey sign! It's a cool little facility that nothing was ever done with - so again - that just means it gives me a chance to leverage it.
• Could have done the whole thing with DE instead of the Gaians, but thought they brought some new life to it. Their origin is in my "The Genesis and Geneticists of the coming Hamiggedon" arc, though there are several customs of my customs in this one, like the Bloomer, that don't appear there. (And several there that don't appear here.)
• This is obviously about stealing tech - in this case biotech. In my story, ConDev made much of the original Arachnos tech, which explains why the Gold Bricker jetpack is similar to Aracnos tech. Other than Praetorian tech, Crey is a good group to for the Gold Brickers to steal tech from (the AU EB descriptions even say they are partially Crey power armor). Originally was called Espionage (Corporate) in Eden, but that was clunky.
• M4! This mission has changed often as it can really be any map and any mob. So in its latest incarnation, it is a simulation someone made for Lord Recluse where he can beat up on all the Freedom Phalanx and Vindicators. As backdrop, I use the VERY quirky Recluse Victory Atlas map with the 1960s Arachnos. All of the heroes have some form of post-apocalyptic human allies from available mobs to show how Atlas has fallen.
• And yes - Statesman is the boss. However, your allies are supposed to be escorts to him to make him very easy to find. In my testing they handled him well, and guided you to him with their escort markers. I think I will bump them up to AVs though to bolster their and your chances. Also will have Number Six say it is Statesman. After looking at it though, I see The Doctor was accidentally set to be lead to the exit - it is defeating Statesman that is supposed be the way you break her out. Fixed that - really sorry it was broken for your run... 😞 Having both of them along is pretty critical. 
• The Zig thing is one of those weird things with text where re-opening a mission you just published pulls from cache or something and gives you the old text. I know I had replaced that - but that is fixed now.

 

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by Ankylosaur

[Zhym]

On 10/25/2022 at 7:08 AM, Darmian said:

There was one in the final mission of the final Loyalist arc if I recall 🙂

If there is, I wasn't able to track it down—or didn't recognize it.  You're talking about the final mission in The House of Gaunt Saints, right?

[TerroirNoir]

17 minutes ago, Zhym said:

If there is, I wasn't able to track it down—or didn't recognize it.  You're talking about the final mission in The House of Gaunt Saints, right?

 

He said there was.  I'll look for it when I get there!

Edited October 26, 2022 by TerroirNoir

[Darmian]

25 minutes ago, Zhym said:

If there is, I wasn't able to track it down—or didn't recognize it.  You're talking about the final mission in The House of Gaunt Saints, right?

It's actually back near the entrance door in that lab. It's just a small thing, but canon-wise it fits.

 

Spoiler

It fits in with the Praetorian Canon, plus with some Primal, once you figure the timeline out.

 

[TerroirNoir]

Arc 7 from our second writer on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is, @cranebump's Leviathan 4: Origin. 

 

This one is a bit different.  Here we take a look outside the frame of reference we've experienced so far. From the blurb on the Title Card:

"What makes a super hero? Or, for that matter, a villain? Are they born, or made? If made, then of what? You personally explore the question by seeing the world through the eyes of Kings Row's current nemesis, the inscrutable (as yet unidentified) founder of Leviathan."

 

So, I'll tone back some of Engineria's more glib remarks for now, perhaps putting them in parentheses if necessary.

 

Mission 1: Summoned. There is only mist and fog that swirls.  I am lost and not myself. Or maybe I am Who knows what is real in this place, if it even is a place. Then there is a beam of light, or at least a brightening of the dark fog in one spot.  Time to go towards it.  Why not.

 

Home.  100 percent.  And there in the flames is Oma, surrounded by Nightmares. 

 

The Nightmares fall easily. 

Then there is only Oma.

 

Oma free.

(Engineria resists the urge to say "I'm Oma free! Home free?  Anyone?  Back to the Lynch then.)

Oma is Annika's grandmother.  How do I know that?  Am I Annika?  Or is she here too and somehow connected to me?

 

Oma's words must be found.  In many ways our words are us, or at least our self on the wind where others can hear us.  If no one hears us then are we even there?

 

Oma's words tell of the first time, the first thing, the first memory to stick a spike in.  And here we are. Inside the spike. It is 1932 and Atlas is a great hero to the City.

And in the fire there are bodies.

 

And the building burned and fell.  A woman, trapped under the rubble, but later rescued. Except that that did not happen.  There was no one to help.

 

 

Strange light and sounds from the box on the scorched table. Howls.

 

And then there is "HIM".  He who needs to be confronted.  Who did not save but was called a hero.

 

And now she confronts the sum of her fears.  Annika's fears?  Or mine?  Are we the same?

 

 

And there he is.  Advancing towards me, wreathed in flame. 

 

 

(Engineria here.  I do NOT like the sound of that!)

 

 

This scenario loops over and over. And then we're back in the void.  And I know there are two of us, me and Annika. And she is stronger.

Then years flash by and we are somewhere else.

 

[Mission 1 = Ok, Cool, love the change of pace.  Atmospheric.  I have to be careful not to spoiler an arc like this, so just play it, folks. Nice]

 

Mission 2: Smokey. From the void the light breaks through again.  Like a siren and you must go.  Annika and you, When it ends there may not even be a "you". Still, you go on. Forward into memory.  Her memory of another's life.  But her memory is not necessarily how it was.

 

Faultline.  The Family are out in force. As are others.

 

 

But who is there to see?  Back Alley Brawler.  He's the big brother to Paragon.  He'll know where mother is.  Maybe.

But if he doesn't then what?  Then what?

In the meantime the Family block the way.  They must be dealt with.  And they are.

 

And ahead, up on the mezzanine, is BABs himself.  Let's hope.

 

And now Blue Steel.  The hero cop of Kings Row is out here too.  He must be consulted.  Though advice not necessarily taken.

 

 

And now there is an Intruder.  An Intruder who ...warns?  This is not real.  Well, I've been having my doubts about this entire thing. I woke up pretty sure I wasn't called Annika.  And then I was sure I was.  Or not.  And there was two of me, then one, then two but...anyway.

 

 

But Mother has to be found. The Intruder is obviously tricking us/me/us.

And there she is and she needs her revenge.  Our revenge.

 

 

Harry Frost!  A name from the past/now/past.  He must be dealt with.  Now!

But he seems to know his role better than I know mine/ours.

He must die more than once?

 

HE MUST!

 

And this is a fantasy/dream/memory.  And he injures me!  But he will die.

 

Even Frost knows this is a dream.  How does a man from a Dream know he's in a Dream anyway?

 

And then there is the last one.  The one from before.  Atlas.  Or it calls itself Atlas.

(I thought Atlas was taller?)

 

I take to the air and he cannot reach me. Intruder watches. Mother has already fallen.  

Now Atlas falls.

 

And then there is the void again.

Mother has been found. 

There's a voice.  "Engineria! We're trying to get you out.  Hang in there."

 

[Mission 2 = More of the same.  Intriguing.  I like it a lot. So hard to not ruin this for future players. Recommended!]

 

Mission 3: Keen Sighted. Back floating in the nothing. Annika's thoughts/Engineria's thoughts.  But voices.  From outside.

Science origins...increase to 2000 ppm...death if too much!

The light grows.

Time to lie back.  Annika knows what to do.  She always does. April 2007. World changing.

Struggling. And Annika has made a mistake. If she is here then I am NOT her.

 

OMA!  Must save her.  And we do.  We always do.

 

Alan? Do I know Alan?  And whether we know them or not, where is he?

 

Alan's notes are found.  No Alan.  A search for a cure for dementia.  Admirable. Admirable Alan, wherever he is. But there's a man over there.

It's Joe! Joe Freitag!

 

He says Penny Yin is involved now.  And something about pigs.  Hard to concentrate. Focus on a memory that is mine, not Annika's.  Grab the wheel when the RAPTURE comes!

 

[Mission 3 = I'm just repeating myself now, and probably will for the next few missions.  Interesting and curiously humanizing for whoever the Kings Row nemesis is. Good stuff]

 

Mission 4: Upgraded. Strange watery darkness. Murky and filled with voices. Annika!  Not Engineria.  Then the world EXPLODES.

 

Engineria staggers and drags herself out of a Leviathan resequencer pod. Ick.  I'm me.  Me, not Annika.  Advil please!  And someone is going to pay for this.  Time to go a stalking!

Time to contact Joe Freitag.

 

Hello Joe!  Leviathan snatched me on my way somewhere and dumped me into a mind scrambling machine?  Yeah, I kind of figured that.  And the signal cuts out, which means Leviathan is coming for me.  Well, time to roll up the sleeves and kick their butts.

 

Who the hell is this?

 

Well, whoever you are, brace yourself!  Incoming!

 

 

And down you go!  Right.  Contact Joe.  Ok, I have to drop the security grid so they can get in and raid the place.  Off we go.

Two generators to switch off.

Who the hell are you?  Oh, I don't care.  I'm kicking your head in too, my friend.

 

Ok, there's the first one.  And a squad responds after it goes dark.

 

And then the second one is done.  And the security grid is down and the PPD invade and arrest all they can find.

Time to chat to Joe Freitag then.

 

[Mission 4 = Yes, repeating myself.  More excellent story there. Nice]

 

Mission 5: Mystic Queen. Things are supposed to be fine now.  Penny Yin has warned Engineria that there may be some residual whatever going on, echoes maybe, of what just happened.  But Engineria can still hear, faintly, Annika's voice.  And she's asking for help.

There's a light.  Dunno if anyone else can see it but it leads to an old building in Kings Row.

Let's see what's in here. Something is being guarded here, a vessel.

 

And some sort of vat thing?  What's in here? Is that a body?  Well now.

 

 

And the Facility Chief has a key I need.  So, let's ask him for it.  I'm sure he'll be amenable.  I mean why wouldn't he?

 

 

Oh, looks like I definitely hit a nerve there!  Well, lots of nerves.  I'll do it again in a moment.

 

 

I drop the Facility Chief, grab his key and then download the facility's database.  Time to get the hell out of here.

And here we go:

Spoiler

 

[Mission 5 = Enlightening.  It'll be interesting how this plays out in the following arcs. Good stuff]

 

Verdict.  @cranebump changes up the narrative style in an interesting and drastic way.  Like it! Tune in for our next episode which will be Leviathan 5: Mantle.

 

Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is, after the commercials, @Darmian's Darkest Before Dawn: Part One.

Edited November 5, 2022 by TerroirNoir

[Zhym]

1 hour ago, Darmian said:

It's actually back near the entrance door in that lab. It's just a small thing, but canon-wise it fits.

 

  Hide contents

It fits in with the Praetorian Canon, plus with some Primal, once you figure the timeline out.

 

Maybe I need an Invisiclues™ hint book for that set of missions. 

 

There were some things I thought might have been Easter eggs:

Spoiler

Like Protean showing up in one mission and is basically "be glad I am not kicking your ass right now" all over the place.  And anyone who thinks spelling their name backward is a totally unbreakable secret identity needs their License to Be Sneaky revoked.  There were a couple of others spots where a character appeared and someone familiar with the Praetorian and Primal storylines would say, "huh." 

But darned if I can find the Easter Egg in Mission 5 of The House of Gaunt Saints.  Is it a placed object?  Something that can be clicked that isn't a glowy?  I'm not sure what the limitations are in AE.

[TerroirNoir]

2 minutes ago, Zhym said:

Maybe I need an Invisiclues™ hint book for that set of missions. 

 

There were some things I thought might have been Easter eggs:

  Hide contents

Like Protean showing up in one mission and is basically "be glad I am not kicking your ass right now" all over the place.  And anyone who thinks spelling their name backward is a totally unbreakable secret identity needs their License to Be Sneaky revoked.  There were a couple of others spots where a character appeared and someone familiar with the Praetorian and Primal storylines would say, "huh." 

But darned if I can find the Easter Egg in Mission 5 of The House of Gaunt Saints.  Is it a placed object?  Something that can be clicked that isn't a glowy?  I'm not sure what the limitations are in AE.

Sneaky!

Edited October 26, 2022 by TerroirNoir

[Darmian]

3 minutes ago, Zhym said:

Maybe I need an Invisiclues™ hint book for that set of missions. 

 

There were some things I thought might have been Easter eggs:

  Reveal hidden contents

Like Protean showing up in one mission and is basically "be glad I am not kicking your ass right now" all over the place.  And anyone who thinks spelling their name backward is a totally unbreakable secret identity needs their License to Be Sneaky revoked.  There were a couple of others spots where a character appeared and someone familiar with the Praetorian and Primal storylines would say, "huh." 

But darned if I can find the Easter Egg in Mission 5 of The House of Gaunt Saints.  Is it a placed object?  Something that can be clicked that isn't a glowy?  I'm not sure what the limitations are in AE.

Actually I may be misremembering my own arc! 

But if you found that guy then he was it. Not in game to check but could have sworn that was in "Gaunt Saints'.

[Zhym]

Just now, Darmian said:

Actually I may be misremembering my own arc! 

But if you found that guy then he was it. Not in game to check but could have sworn that was in "Gaunt Saints'.

Maybe so!  And the last mission in "Gaunt Saints" is in an office building, not a lab, so you might be remembering a different mission.

[Darmian]

9 minutes ago, Zhym said:

Maybe so!  And the last mission in "Gaunt Saints" is in an office building, not a lab, so you might be remembering a different mission.

Ah! It's the final one of Bridge of Forever.

[TerroirNoir]

Arc 7 from our third writer on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is, @Darmian's Darkest Before Dawn: Part One.

 

Several weeks later. No sign of what Madame Maven is calling the Weaver Faction of Arachnos, as opposed to the Spectra version.  Or the "normal" version.  

Maven calls a meeting in the Hotel Geneva suites.  Apparently she's decided that we need to go off book.  Not sure what that means.  Go vigilante maybe? Anyway, since Axios rescued the real Chris Jenkins he's been very helpful.  He's even officially appointed the Meteors (and me!) as representatives of his firm to help him in reclaiming his company. So we're going to raid several of his offices and clear out any Arachnos there. We don't know which office we're looking at but Madame Maven has a line in sage wisdom, something about shaking apple trees and seeing what we get.

 

Ok, we split up and each go for an office.  Engineria is getting Chris Jenkins to go with her!  HA!

 

Mission 1: 1-555--GET-RICH. In we go into one of Chris Jenkins' offices.  One of the glitzier ones. I cause lots of distraction and old Jenky downloads the data stored in his DB, so we can see what additions there are and so on.

 

AH!  Spotted.  Ok, let's deal with them.  

 

Ok, up the stairs and there's Jenkins, all ready to go.  He's being surprisingly brave actually.  For a civilian.  Yeah, I know his grandmother is a super, but...anyway.

 

 

Ok, Mr. Jenkins.  Let's get to the security system and get Jenkins access. And while he's doing that voodoo tech thing of his, I'll be tackling the security summoned by me turning the alarms off.  Oh trust me, there'll be security.  There's ALWAYS security.

 

 

Give him time to get this done?  What part of the plan has he not been listening to?  Never mind!  I have company!  Didn't I tell ya?  

OH! Right in the chest!  Fortunately the new togs are armored up pretty well.  And here come his back up!

 

 

OK!  Ok, Jenkins!  I can hear you and I'll be with you as soon as I can.  I just need to deal with Esmos here first.  Lyons?  Well, that's another complication that will have to wait for a bit.  So much to do and all at once. Blowing cover?  Ah, well that's a thing!  Wish I'd recorded that.  One of Esmos' minions has a code block in his pocket. Careless! You just can't get the help these days it seems.

 

 

Despite being captured by the security, he's still doing pretty good for a civilian.  Ok, looks like I'm rescuing him then.  BOOYA!

 

 

There you go, Mr. Jenkins.  Time for you to skedaddle and get back to the Hotel Geneva to meet the Meteors.  I have someone called Lyons to deal with to cover your escape.  You understand.

 

 

Right, Lyons.  And there you are, you hidden little spider you.  Oh that's your suggestion is it?  Nah. We've got different plans.  Very different plans.

 

 

LOL.  You guessed right, Lyons.  Now you stay down and I'll get out of here.  And trust me, when we come back ("we" should not include Engineria, she's had it with law offices!) you better not be here if you know what's good for you.

 

 

Engineria makes her way out, tackling more security along the way, before regrouping with the Meteors in the Hotel Geneva.  She beats Madame Maven back actually. Maven arrives supported by Blue Spectrum.  Apparently PPD psi cops got the drop on her and Blue Spectrum just bailed her out.

She's pleased to hear that Engineria and Jenkins were successful getting the data. And volunteers Blue Spectrum to go through it tonight and make a report in the morning.  He seems THRILLED by that prospect.

 

[Mission 1= An interesting way to restart the investigation after wrapping up the Arachnoid plot in the previous arc.  Liked it.  Liked Chris Jenkins in this too.  Good stuff]

 

Mission 2: Dog Day Afternoon. 9.55 am next morning. Blue Spectrum used the code Block on the Jenkins' data. Cracking that has given the team access to several files that would have taken a lot longer to crack otherwise. Madame Maven decides to do an info dump.  She even calls it that! The Weaver faction of Arachnos is fighting itself, with the Spectra version determined to detonate a Chronal Bomb, while the ones that didn't time travel want to stop them.  Plus both sides are STILL fighting Recluse's Arachnos, which they see as usurpers.  And fighting all of us too. Busy little bees all of them.

 

Tessitore's Side, the non-time travel gang, don't know where the Spectra ones are but have tracked their funding and frozen it.  Von Horn then interrupts.  Spectra need funds, so they'll hit a bank.  When that angle is examined, it's found that several branches of the Long Shot Savings & Loan have been cased by them. So, the team again splits up and covers a branch each.

 

Looks like Engineria is making a withdrawal.

 

Right, and when I get to the bank it looks deserted.  No staff.  So something is happening here.  And from further in a voice.

 

 

Jackpot!  Time to go crack some heads/spines/knuckles/insert applicable whatevers.

Damn it!  I keep forgetting about these invisible bastids.  You do a quick scan and only see the Arachnos trooper, and then some transparent monster hits you with psi!  Oh great.  There's two of them.

 

 

Well, you know my motto (well, not so much a motto as a semi battle-cry) "GRENADE!"

And down they go like pins.  

More of them!  Well, they go down too.  Seems only fair that they don't feel left out.  

 

 

I continue down into the vault and turn a corner to run into the Chrono Leader, or whatever nonsense name these guys give themselves.  That's the trouble with paramilitary style groups, all the "leaders" and "troopers" and "Envoys", ego getting the better of them.

 

 

Well, you're a Spectra acolyte.  Or whoever leads them.  Oh, nasty!  Have to remember not to get in a corner again.

 

 

Yeah, whatever.  I'll get to you in a minute.  As soon as this stun wears off.  Of course I could use a Break Free, but I tend to keep those for desperate occasions.  Might need it in a bit!

 

Ok, time to finish this up.  Repel comes up and these guys bounce back and hit the ground. And once down I take advantage and rad blast their helmets.  A little bit of brain frying can't hurt that much, surely? Hang on, EVIDENCE?  Of what?  Curious.

Ok, what's this?

A matchbook in the debris.  I didn't even know they still made matchbooks! Lou's Garage.  Hmmm. Then again that place closed a few years back.

 

 

And in the next vault there's a safe.  Let's have a look.

 

 

Emptied out.  So the Chrono Leader and his men were the last of the raiders.  Seems they got what they wanted.  OHO!  Company.  Looks like the local Skulls have spotted that this Long Shot Savings & Loan is a viable target.  Well, I am NOT a viable target.  Time to get out of here.

 

 

And the Skulls have been followed by the PPD!  Right, stealth up and vamoose!  

 

Engineria steps out of the bank just in time to see...

 

 

Getting back to the Hotel Geneva Engineria is nodded at by Axios who is on a video call with someone in a Vanguard uniform. Madame Maven looks up hopefully. It seems that the others struck out. She immediately gets Bullet Streak to search for CCTV around the old Lou's Garage and see if a truck with the right description and number plates arrives there.

 

[Mission 2 = Short and sweet but again driving the plot forward. Like it!]

 

Mission 3: Yesterday's Papers. I'm assuming there's a hot shower, and then coffee before Madame Maven calls us all in to have a look at the CCTV.  There's an image of the old Lou's Garage, only the outside though. Maven freezes an image on a man entering the place.  It looks like one of the Spectra! So one survived, or was kept in reserve?  Madame Maven is bothered.  She thinks she is missing something.

Anyway, time to go investigate that garage. Halox Von Horn and Engineria are to infiltrate and see what's going on.

 

In we go.  Von Horn stays and duct tapes the unconscious guards into a dumpster while I continue forward.

Well, we're in the right place at least!

 

 

There's a patrol or two and I deal with them.  After pursuing these guys for a while I'm getting the hang of their beam rifle shtick.  Ok, let's have a look at this pinboard.

 

 

Apart from faded photos and an old pinup calendar dating to 1997 (though it might count as pornography to guys from the 60s!) there's just gas receipts from Mackie's Gas Station.  Ok, moving on. Let's get this door up.

 

WARWORKS!  THEY HAVE DAMN WARWORKS!  How the hell does a two bit, lost in time group have modern Praetorian-style WARWORKS?

Also, I may be losing my mind here, a statue of some hero?  Why is that a thing?  I mean I hardly think Lou back in the old days would have had one of those, so that means these lunatics brought it here.

 

 

My current intent is to not fight Warworks if at all possible.  I think that's a reasonable goal for a modern woman, don't you? I am however going to see what the deal is with that statue.

It had guards!  Again, why?  And there's a label on it. "2 of 2".  Which means there's ANOTHER one of these somewhere.  These guys are getting weirder.  Ok, maybe not Vahzilok weird but still out there.

 

 

Right then. I proceed through the next set of roll doors and...get blindsided!  Oh that's gonna hurt my back!

 

 

Ok, dust myself off and crack that guy's helmet open before moving on.  And in the main workshop area who do I find but Spectra!  He's not wearing his super suit either, some sort of jacket and pants combo.  Well, I suppose he's blending in. 

 

 

I drop down and don't give him a chance to get a shot off at me. By now I've fought plenty of these guys and I can't afford to let them drain my endurance with their electric powers or whatever.  Interesting, still monologuing even though I repelled him over a machine.

 

 

Idiots on guard?  That explains why I haven't seen Halox since I got in.  He must have been caught!

Am I sure?  No, of course not!  But you crazies want to blow up the Rikti Mothership and wipe out Paragon so...not really a choice here.

 

 

Repel is keeping the minions off me, but now they're keeping their distance and hitting me with psi waves, and the traditional beam rifle blast in the back. Because of course they are.

You say I'm not playing fair?  Come on, man!  Back up now?  You think one woman is too much for you?  Looks like it to me!

 

 

You know, this one doesn't speak like the others.  No, "Lord Richter this" and "Oh the void and the pain!" He sounds more like a Paragon citizen.  Or Rogue Islander too I suppose. Compliments?  Sure, thanks, I think.

 

 

And booya, you are down!  Yes I AM tough enough...oh crap.  He got up!  None of the others did that.  This is new!  And more minions are arriving.  Time to search in my nice new utility belt for those Envenomed Daggers!

 

 

And now stay down!  Oh, running on fumes and they're still coming!

 

 

And they're dealt with.  Rest rest rest.  Then search Spectra.  A keycard marked "Pearse Building"

Right, now to find Von Horn before they kill him, and get outta Dodge!

 

There he is!  Ok, I'll come around behind them on the stairs and drop his "friends".

 

 

Job done.  And yeah, I DID see that giant statue.  We'll have to figure that out later, HVH. In the meantime we need to fight our way out of here.

 

 

A little bit of team work later and we are good to go. Time to report in to Madame Maven.

 

 

Halox says up close you can see that the Warworks are Arachnos origin.  The original paintwork has been removed but there's still traces.

Back in the Hotel Geneva, Madame Maven deciphers our intel.  She's got a theory on the odd Spectra.  We had assumed the time travelling gang had arrived this year, but maybe some of them had arrived earlier? Like, early enough to infiltrate Longbow or whoever?  Chilling thought.

 

[Mission 3 = Ok, this starts out like a regular infiltrate mission but really ramps up into some great fights and plot exposition.  Loved it.]

 

Mission 4: Concrete and Clay. Bullet Streak does his tech search fu thing and comes back with an address for the Pearse building.  It's in Brickstown, in the the Midtown district, and Mackie's is just beyond the War Wall in Crey's Folly. So I'll be going there to investigate.  Maven herself has a meeting with Tessitore in prison, care of Chris Jenkins' law knowledge(!) and Elliott Burgh is in witness protection.  Looks like at least one person got free of all this.

 

Off to Brickstown then.

 

Loudspeaker announcement when I get in.  Someone named Clone Unit 56 is speaking.  More Spectra? And Thunderclap has been sighted in the building.  Who the hell is Thunderclap?

 

Ok, am about to do my thing.  What now?  (That was it there, the "What now?") Vanguard tech, guarded by Longbow? Ok, we know Longbow was infiltrated a while back, those fakes that tried to free Richter, and obviously there's all the infighting in  Arachnos, but Vanguard?  No sign of Vanguard personnel though.

 

 

Appears to be a warhead of some sort.  Heavy!  Vanguard have high powered tech stuff, they kind of need it to fight alien invaders.  So these guys having it is obviously bad, mmkay?

 

And what do we have here?  All uniforms to be returned to lockers after use.  By order and so forth.  Time to find that locker then perhaps. Curious place for a whiteboard though.

 

 

OHO!  Looks like having one of your bases in Brickstown is not the brightest idea for these Arachnos cast offs!  I'll just leave the Freakshow and Crey to settle their differences and move on.

 

 

Ok then.  Lockers, one set?  Check.  So what's in them? Vanguard uniforms.  I might have guessed.  But that makes sense if they're planning an attack on the Rikti Mothership.  I mean they can hardly disguise themselves as Rikti, can they?

 

 

Well, I found Thunderclap.  Hi there, not-an-enemy-so-far!

Let's you and I team up on...did you say APEX?  Like THE Apex?

 

 

So Clone 56 is NOT one of the Spectra.  And apparently NOT Arachnos either!  So who the hell are you?  I hope Madame Maven has one of those big wall boards back in the Hotel Geneva, you know, the ones with photos and clues and pins, and lots of red string.  I think I'll need it!

 

 

Also, "prepare to be exterminated"?  Seriously?  I am not having a good day!

OMG this one is tough!  She's holding both of us off on her own!  Send word to Carnival?  Whatever!  Hit her, Thunderclap!  And yeah, maybe you do need to have a chat with Apex.

 

 

Why do I feel like I'm the assistant here?  I feel like I've walked into someone else's mission!  Nevermind that, activate ANOTHER clone?  One is bad enough!

 

 

You said it, Thunderclap.  You and me should have a looong chat if we get out this alive. I mean when.  Of course I mean when.  Ha.

 

 

And we have Clone Unit 56 down!  Of course we don't get time to do a lap of honor, time to get Clone Unit 55!

Site to site transfer of Chronal what?  That doesn't sound good either!

 

I have no idea what Thunderclap just did but his entire body just converted to some sort of electrical energy!  And Clone Unit 55 is going down!

 

 

She's down.  And I retrieve a bypass device for a palm scanner.  No clue as to where it is for though.

 

 

On leaving the building Thunderclap vanishes. Great.  Ok, back to the Meteors' place.

Maven thinks the final base mentioned by Spectra in Lou's could be in Carnival, which is the western end of Crey's folly, just near the RWZ gate.  Too close for comfort.  Next job, scope out that place for people who are NOT Freakshow.

 

[Mission 4= Oh, this ramped up nicely!  Great fights and more plot.  Thicker and thicker!  Good stuff]

 

(@Darmian, who is Thunderclap?)

 

Mission 5: If it looks like a duck... Looks like we have a location for that warehouse in Carnival Town.  It's officially a Longbow building too, which is worrying! Anyway, time for me to go scope it out and see what's what. 

 

HOLY CRAP.

That's (a) a lot of Spectra Arachnos, (b) some Longbow, (c) Vanguard, and (d) HOLY CRAP, a HVAS!

Now, I'm betting that all those guys are Spectra Arachnos in different uniforms, but that's a real HVAS.  I'll just stealth around that, yeah? Yeah.

 

And here's the security system. Shutting off all CCTV, body heat sensors and so on.  And their electronic vault is now unlocked.  Wait, HVAS online.  Okaaay.  Back to avoiding that thing then!

 

 

Damnit, ran into some of the "Vanguard".  They're seemingly as tough as the real ones too!

Ow! That guy near skewered me!

 

And there's the vault thing.  Electronic lock off, just the tumblers to spin and we are good to go! What's in here?  Detailed maps of the RWZ and several dossiers.  Ok, grab the lot and...HVAS response team activated.  HVAS 7!  The one at the front was HVAS 6, so that means there's more than one of them!

 

 

And there it is.  I just stop this thing and I can get the hell out of here and back to the Meteors.  No biggie.  Nuh uh.

 

 

Oh, this is not going well.  What sort of weaponry does it even HAVE?

 

 

Remember I said it wasn't going well?  How right I was.  How right.

 

 

Ok, mediporter on and let's take a little detour.  I need to get some supplies.  I'll bill the Meteors later.  The city's fate hangs in the balance after all.

So, a brief visit to the P2W lady and I pick up a Back up Radio to call in the PPD, and some sort of an amulet that will summon a replica Statesman spirit.  Yeah yeah, you can mock all you want.  What I want is to not die.  I'm still just a mid level super, a quasi support corruptor, in a city of people far more powerful than me.  I'll take whatever edge I can get!

 

Now, HVAS 7 where are you?

Ah, there you are.

 

 

AH COME ON!  HVAS 8 now?  Ok, I still have my sidekicks.  So, here's the plan, I snipe the big guy then run around a corner and break line of sight.  It lumbers after me and runs into my tougher friends.  I blast it while they beat the tar out of it.  Plan?  Plan.  Well, to be honest I don't have another plan. So that's it.

 

 

And the HVAS is down.  And even with my hired buddies I stagger out of that warehouse with a single break free as the only inspiration left in my trays.

Holy crap.

After walking (walking!) through Crey's Folly and getting to Brickstown, then the train back to Atlas, Engineria arrives in the Hotel Geneva to meet Axios.  Maven and Bullet Streak are visiting Blue Spectrum in hospital. He was ambushed and left in a coma.  Hmm.  Takes a lot to knock that guy out. Someone is rattled big time.

Axios examines the maps.  He says the main target appears to be Little Round Top. He'll inform Vanguard.  Now we wait.

 

[Mission 5 = HOLY CRAP.  Ok, that was a tough tough mission.  I might have lasted longer against the HVAS if I was a different AT, but this isn't a complaint.  Great finale to this]

 

Verdict: Loved it.  It's building up now completely.  Strands are coming back together across all the previous arcs.  Great stuff. Tune in for our next episode which will be Darkest Before Dawn: Part Two.

 

Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is, after the commercials, @Ankylosaur's All that Glitters 3.2: Suspicious Maneuvers in St. Martial.

Edited November 5, 2022 by TerroirNoir