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

TerroirNoir · September 30, 2022

Spotted a typo there in Mordrogar's speech, @Ankylosaur, since you're fixing stuff.

Darmian · September 30, 2022

Honestly, this is going to take you simply AGES. Thanks all the same though!

TerroirNoir · October 1, 2022

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.

Edited November 5, 2022 by TerroirNoir

Ankylosaur · October 1, 2022

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.

TerroirNoir · October 1, 2022

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.

TerroirNoir · October 2, 2022

@cranebump, that second arc was tough in more ways than just the fights, you monster!

TerroirNoir · October 2, 2022

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.

Spoiler

Now, 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.

Edited May 10, 2023 by TerroirNoir

cranebump · October 2, 2022

1 hour ago, TerroirNoir said:

@cranebump, that second arc was tough in more ways than just the fights, you monster!

Um, we talking about Cadet Willie?

TerroirNoir · October 2, 2022

16 minutes ago, cranebump said:

Um, we talking about Cadet Willie?

Oh yes. Oh yes.

cranebump · October 2, 2022

42 minutes ago, TerroirNoir said:

Oh yes. Oh yes.

Erm…uh…love to stay and chat, but this is Darm’s space! Cya! (Sprints out back door).

TerroirNoir · October 2, 2022

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?

Darmian · October 2, 2022

5 minutes ago, TerroirNoir said:

No, this is the FULL three stories/three writers space, LOL.

@Darmian, that law office thing....I mean what now?

Well, it achieved what I intended then! ROFL. Not everything is HORROR and MISERY!

cranebump · October 2, 2022

1 minute ago, Darmian said:

Well, it achieved what I intended then! ROFL. Not everything is HORROR and MISERY!

TN is right. There’s something really terrifying about being followed around like that. But fighting janitors? That was priceless.:-)

TerroirNoir · October 3, 2022

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!

Spoiler

Dr. 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.

Edited November 5, 2022 by TerroirNoir

TerroirNoir · October 3, 2022

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.

Ankylosaur · October 4, 2022

Thanks for finding those typos. There were actually TWO in the intro to M1. (I had wanted to draw attention to Langston's HQ and not grammar issues 😉 ).

The Silver Clockwork was a shoehorning in that I did not do as completely as I should of. The 1.x trilogy is an intro and where the rest of the "All That Gx" series forks, so I've tried to put a reason in this one for you to explore each of the forks.

I have no idea how I will work in All That Glows here, though - might have to wait for 2.1 for that. 🙂

Edited October 4, 2022 by Ankylosaur

TerroirNoir · October 5, 2022

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:

Spoiler

Derek 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)

Spoiler

It'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!

Spoiler

We 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.

Edited November 5, 2022 by TerroirNoir

TerroirNoir · October 5, 2022

I discovered there's a limit to how many images you can upload per message. Well, have to be more judicious in the future!

TerroirNoir · October 6, 2022

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.

Edited November 5, 2022 by TerroirNoir

Darmian · October 6, 2022

Again, big thanks for playing all this. Richter at the end can be a handful!

TerroirNoir · October 7, 2022

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.

Edited November 5, 2022 by TerroirNoir

Ankylosaur · October 12, 2022

Oh.... the anticipation!

This expansion into Paragon is where the series originally started, with Langston finding a way in by helping to reclaim hazard zones, and the Gold Brickers justifying their presence of heavy weapons by needing them for protection there. Looking ahead you'll see that many of the arcs are anchored primarily in a Paragon City Hazard Zone, with Faultline, Terra Volta, Eden, and the RWZ as the clear ones. (Those aren't spoilers as those are in the titles.

Originally the Gold Brickers beyond level 20 were all custom, which is why this was level 16-20 and in Boomtown - so we could start with the original ones and then introduce the new tech used by the custom ones (which I am no longer using since we have an expanded group). Also Wyvern originally capped at 30, but thankfully both of those groups were expanded by the Homecoming team. Those changes evolved the series a few times and takes us to where we are today.

Edited October 14, 2022 by Ankylosaur

Ankylosaur · October 12, 2022

On 10/7/2022 at 7:20 PM, TerroirNoir said:

Seems Big Brother won part of the construction contract on Kallisti Wharf recently.

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...

TerroirNoir · October 13, 2022

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.

TerroirNoir · October 16, 2022

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.

Spoiler

And 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.

Edited November 5, 2022 by TerroirNoir

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