TerroirNoir's "Cable Channel of AE!" Reviews. Part 2.

[TerroirNoir2]

Thanks to the limits of attachment uploads I can't continue my reviews I started here: 

 

 

So I'm continuing them here.  Hope it's not confusing. So @Ankylosaur, @cranebump, @Darmian and @Zhym, here's where the rest of them will be. And anyone else who cares to follow Engineria's progress.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by TerroirNoir2

[TerroirNoir2]

Arc 10 from our first author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @cranebump's Mobius 2: Much Madness.  

 

(For the earlier stated reasons, I'm afraid that all playthroughs will be a lot more writing and less pics. Apologies)

 

Mission 1: Straightaway Dangerous. Oh I know this!  I'm dreaming!  I'm dreaming I'm drowning.  Or maybe I AM drowning.  What was I doing a minute ago?  Is this shock?  Sharp intake of breath and no water.  Severe nausea though. Like having your head pushed through the strings of a harp while staring into a kaleidoscope lit up with strobes. 

And a voice shouting at me.  It's gawd damn Freitag again, isn't it?  Maybe I'll just stay here and see what happens.  No, it's a woman's voice.

 

It's Paula Halmos. She says I've gotten more powerful. (How does she know I've just dinged 50?)  I'll need to be apparently, in my condition. Condition?  I'm not pregnant! I can tell you for truth that with the comings and goings over the last while between Freitag and others (Wvyern and the Meteors) I haven't had time to take a..selfie, never mind have a relationship. 

 

Who the hell is Maria Engles and why I am hooked up to her machines in the Skyway hospital? Hang on, this isn't a Captain America thing is it?  Have I been frozen for 70 years? Nope.  It's a chronodisease. So I HAVE been thrown out of time! Just not like a fish stick. If I'm going to deal with the trauma I have to relive it. Oh, very well then.

 

Cue weird dream music and fade in.

 

Two days ago in Skyway we had a 911. Vikings and demons.  Oh, and the Lost.  So at least something normal going on there.  Anyway, Off to see the local PPD. Who turns out to be a guys called Westbrush.  Not particularly happy that I ran his informants off.  No pleasing some people.

 

 

He says definitely there's vikings and guys with horns.  Though with bad cosplayers or costumes that could be the same thing. 

So flying around, there's a guy called Vider up ahead.  Let's question him.

He rants a bit about Hel's sorcery and then runs off, obviously looking for vengeance.  I'm a bit busy because I've just spotted Hel.  Same person Vider spoke of perhaps.

 

 

Ok, what I'm seeing here is unwilling immigrants.  I don't mean trafficking.  They just found themselves here after a bright light.  Well, clear as mud then.

Now why would I have blocked all this out?  It's weird I'll grant you but I've probably had weirder things happen to me.  Like getting attacked by a mass of sentient prosthetic legs that time Steel Canyon.  I thought it was some sort of spider thing. Never mind.

Hel's senses tell her that her power is blocked by "yon foul, glowing spike"   Spike you say?  Time spike I'm betting!

 

 

More demons and vikings.  I rescue a few civilians from them.  Though the "demons" are calling themselves Helspawn or something.  So, yah.

Oh, there's Hel's foul spike. With those Shadow beings around it.  I remember you guys!  Nasty.

AH! there it is.  Knew the day was going too well. Flattened.  Bah.

 

 

Ok, I deal with the Shadow dudes.  Kinetics Repel up and that keeps them off me while I blast them. And before I get a chance to destroy the spike some sort of soldiers arrive around it. Modern soldiers.  Well, not viking era anyways. Hang on, they look like the Circle of Thorns upgraded to high end military gear!

Apparently the scanning must continue because they need the "Nistyl data".  It could be NyQuil data for all I know.

 

 

And then there's a further gang of them with a high end scanner.  Very odd for the CoT.  The spike blows and all the vikings and helspawn fade from view. 

 

And next thing you know I'm in hospital. With various doohickies attached to my noggin. But from listening to Paula she effectively tells me I've been poisoned.  Well, not poisoned but that's my analogy.  The machines are only keeping the "madness" at bay. So I need to go and see an expert.  Somewhere called Boundless Antiquities in Steel Canyon.  (shudder, leg spiders!) 

 

[Mission 1: Well what can I say?  That was an intriguing start!  Definitely something to look forward to.  Those new CoT are tough as well.  Good stuff]

 

Mission 2: The Starkest Madness Several hours later Engineria is peering at a sign on the only premises not shuttered closed on a small street in Steel Canyon. Benedict Listings. Real Estate. And a barely visible eternity symbol etched into the glass.  Ok, let go inside. Well I say inside.  I step in and everything shimmers and I'm teleported somewhere.  And immediately there's trouble.  Paula Halmos is under attack from those Shadow things.  Calling for Johann and Milos.  Whoever they are.

 

Right, Engineria 2 Shadows 0.  Let's see what's going on.  I only came here for expert advice and I'm sure that madness poisoning is getting worse the longer I leave it.

 

 

She unlocks a panel and I operate a terminal.  It seems some spikes appeared randomly and the boys went mad.  I'm assuming that's Milos and Johann. Maybe. So, I have to destroy the spikes and activate control nodes then she can...reverse the chronal flow from here.  Will that mean everything gets undone and I have to do this again?  Gah, time travel!  Or whatever this is. 

 

On the way to find the spikes I run into more of those Military sytle CoT, and a scanner device.  They seem pretty pissed off that I'm ruining their operation.  I wonder are these the same guys that Tarses called heretics back when Angevin visited me?  Never mind.

 

Ah.  Looks like I found Johann!  He's agitated.  Agitated enough to try to kill me!  A well directed (I hope!) blast to the noggin should fry him enough to drop him.  And then deal with these security bots with him.  I THINK they're security bots.  Scrap now.

 

 

There's a glow around him like there was around the vikings and the helspawn.  So a big does of whatever those spikes give off.  A dose like I got earlier!

 

And there's Milos with Shadows around him.  I drop the Shadows from a distance and what thanks do I get?  Well, just have a look!

No, sorry.  I do not have time for this.  As far as I know I'm Dennis Quaid in DOA here, so stay down you crazy.

 

 

I proceed to take out the Shadow Guards around the time spikes and am busy attacking the spikes themselves when, surprise surprise, the Circle Soldiers arrive to stop me.  And holy hell, some of them can fly!  When did that happen? Though I was always puzzled that wizards DIDN'T fly. Now, I find this out the hard way, by getting shot in the back while fighting some on the floor.

 

Great badge choice too I think!

 

 

So, mediport out, rush back and step through the teleport shimmer, wave at a surprised Halmos as I run by and back to kick the blue blazes out of these flying rats.  Circle of Thorns?  Oh yeah. Down you go!

 

Then I destroy the remaining time spikes and set the node thingies and get back out of there toot sweet. 

The PPD show up. It's Westbrush.  He's not amused.  His temper gets more frayed when some suits show up and tell him it's all classified and he can take a flying leap back to Skyway. 

One of the suits is a woman with a metal hand.  She speaks to Paula Halmos. Things are getting weird.  Not fake leg weird but you know what I mean.

 

[Mission 2 =Good stuff.  Plenty going on and plenty of reveal without tipping a hand early.  Enjoyed that one!]

 

Mission 3: To a Discerning Eye. Halmos does the regulation "explaining while not explaining" thing. Metal hand lady is one of theirs.  Or a former member of theirs, which is a group called the Autumn Wards.  Actually, Angevin said something about that.  I was busy at the time though. These Wards are charged with protecting a thing called the Mobius Strip.  Ok, (1) charged by who exactly? And (2) the what now?  Oh, it's a thing that can cause time spikes.  And you're running around like plumbers. Or Menders?  You're not some splinter group from Ouroboros are you? I just went there when I hit 50 and...never mind. They seemed a bit PORTENTOUS.  So far so good.  A spike appeared and you lot mended the hole. But now there's too many and ...yeah. The holes aren't closing. And that's causing madness.  Like in me!  Come on!  What's the cure? Solution?  Come on!

 

So time to investigate why the CoT are involved.  And off we go.

 

 

Well, they're up to no good.  Again.  Yes, all the time but this time it concerns me.  Look, politics is local, yeah?  Anyway.  I blast them and it to smithereens and examine the wreckage.

 

Snooping around I find more CoT mooks, a scanner and actually a mystic portal doohickey.  Looks like they still use some of the old ways.  Up ahead there's more talking about cohesion and chronal flow.  I find a desk and search it.  There's a list of names in there. Some marked with the usual CoT sigil and the others with one I haven't seen before.

 

Further along there's a bunch of weapons.  I poke through them.  As a power channeler I don't know a lot about weapons, I sort of AM the weapon.  Anyway, this is in there.

 

 

That someone is Galen.  Nope, no idea who they are or what they're at.  Let's go see them and hopefully get some more answers to my "illness".

So yeah.  That went well.  I wonder how he is with Jehovah's Witnesses appearing at his door?  Or Trick or Treaters?

 

 

So I mediport out and bring PPD buddy back in with me.  We fight a bunch of CoT ambushers on the way, they were running to the door to catch us.  Seemed only fair to prevent them doing that.

Ok. Round 2.

Hmmm.

You ok over there buddy?  I'll talk to you in a while.  Just get to the hospital.  

 

 

Round 3.  Shakes self.  Ok, ok.  In we go.  Now where did those douches come from?  Oh, I'm gonna be so ...sore in the morning.

 

 

Round 4.

Now I'm just getting angry.  And you wouldn't like me when I'm...getting mediported to the hospital?

 

Round 5.

Where was I?

 

Round 6.

Right, Fuck it.  Grenades for everyone!  Finally Finally, the grenades for everyone plan works!  Well, it does if my version of rope-a-dope involves me porting to the hospital a lot.

 

What's that Galen? You've got a password for the computer on you?  Yoink. And I download the data. Something about the Chalikar?

Back at Boundless Antiquities I sit and ache while I get lectured.  Ok, it's not a lecture but I'm trying to find a rib that isn't cracked, ok?

There's a lot of armed guards, Milos and Johann seem recovered and there's two plainly visible supers here too.

I'll be talking to them in a moment.  Any moment now.  Ow.

 

[Mission 3 = Jeez Louise, @cranebump!  That Galen guy is a damn monster!  I mean I know I'm not strong and all but this was at -1/1! Are there more of him out there? Despite that the plot comes together and we move forward.  OW.]

 

Mission 4: Divinest Sense. Ok, I'm following.  I think.  I'm gonna blame confusion on concussion! So the two newcomers are a guy in green and the woman with the metal hand.  So, Teknique, that's metal hand, was a member of the Inside Team.  I.E. inside the Mobius Strip. Oookay.  So it's a place? Maybe?  Anyway, go on. And Teknique wants to free her friends.  I'm assuming from inside the Mobius Strip.  And she can't?  How did she get out then? Can I go back to being hit in the head by Galen, Ma'am?  I understood that.  No.  Ok, go on. Ok, they've stopped that conversation because no one knows how to free them.

And the guy in green is Seguidor. I'll just wave limply.

 

So the CoT is amplifying their magic using the techniques of Reichart Von Gehirnsturm. Now there's a name with all the trimmings.  No, never heard of him.  Oh he's Doctor Brainstorm? Nope.  Drawing a blank.  And he works with you but ...so a traitor?  Not a traitor but maybe his work has been copied? Right. And his work could aid in freeing Teknique's friends AND curing my time poisoning.  OK!  sign me up!

 

Everything else passes in a blur of Advil and nodding. An atomic clock, uploading the data.  Gotcha.  No, I'm not really listening but I AM writing it all down.  I keep notes because I can't remember everything! That's not my power set!

So Seguidor, Teknique and me go and visit where this clock is located. 

 

First things first.  I run into a whole passel of mercs.  I mean a LOT of them.  Fortunately I was coming up the ramp and have an advantageous spot to blast or snipe at them.  Especially ones who get thrown over the railing and have to come back up to attack me! 

 

 

And Seguidor and Teknique are just down and around the corner.  And Teknique brought explosives. Well, that's handy.  Ok you two, let's go hunting.

 

 

We find a terminal nearby and have a looksee at what's on it.  

A map.  And on that map is NIST-L-WVR.  Whatever that is in real speak.  But it looks like Nistyl data to me and that's where we're going.  Anyone sees Doc Brainstorm, holler.

 

We stroll along, handing out well deserved punches, kicks and stuns to the CoT goons we find.  I mean what do these people get promised to do this job?  I've never understood that at all.  

 

Another data terminal.  AHA!  Look at this, Teknique!  Might be something here for you.  And me, maybe.

 

 

And then a final one, with Nistul data!  (Nistyl or Nistul, @cranebump?) And I've set an alarm off.  Don't panic.  I mean how bad could it be?  Yes, I'm deliberately testing fate there. Sue me. Steel doors slam down all over the building and there's a loud voice with a germanic accent shouting for us to get away from his work.

 

The Doctor's home.

And he brought two large robots with him.

Oh, and a busload of CoT.  Or is it Chalikar now?

 

Anyway, Kinetics Repel is up!  I'm blasting the Doc.  He's about to kill Sequidor.  from the corner of my eye I see Teknique go down under 6 CoT soldiers!  She left a few on the floor before she did.  Then simultaneous fire!  I drop the Doc and he drops me!  We both fall.  Sequidor was last seen upstairs fighting a robot. Or two robots?  I can't see anymore.

 

 

Now, that's a LOT of CoT.  You can see why poor Teknique got swamped.  (and I'm still on -1/1)

 

 

So I mediport out.  Patch myself up.  Pump a few gallons of adrenaline into me and get back inside.  That bunch of CoT is bunched up around an elevator so I manage to grenade them and pulling back I snipe them as they make for me.  5 minutes later they're all down.

 

I get back up to where I dropped Brainstorm and find Seguidor. We plant Teknique's explosives and drag the unconscious Brainstorm with us.  Teknique is already mediported out I think.  Brainstorm seems brainwashed from the way he's mumbling. "Did .. it ... work? Are they...back together?"  No, idea. Here's a plan. Shut up or I'll stick one of my socks in your mouth, capice?

 

Several hours later I'm half hearing the conversation.  Give me a break. I can barely stand up.  Not to mention the time poisoning whatever.  So, Brainstorm was only supposed to consult but he went further.  Gawd, you people are idiots. What part of "he's a mad scientist" do you not get?  Of course he's going to do off book experiments! And he used his power and the Chalikar used theirs and now they augment theirs with his. And why? 

 

The lovers.  No.  Got me there.  I'm sure it will all come good. Wake me when you've got a plan.  And someone get me more grenades.  Lots more.

 

[Mission 4: Back on track!  This was a straightforward mission and lots of fun. Didn't manage to get a shot of the dual whammy death sadly.  I really like how the writing gets across the feeling that the character is addled from the chronal infection.  Constantly feels like I'm listening to a weird radio station that's just slightly too low and a bit out of tune.  Great stuff]

 

Mission 5: Finale. Handled with a Chain. Paula Halmos gathers the team for a final attack on the CoT Chalikar base. The plan is surprisingly simple.  Find copies of Brainstorm's work and delete it from their systems. Find the amplifiers if possible.  Then leave nothing behind but a smoking ruin.  Contacts with the Midnighters, who can track CoT magic use, have given us a location.  So, it's Engineria, Teknique, Seguidor and Whipsmart.  Hello again, Whipsmart!

 

We have to shut down the Weaver Project.  (No, can't be.  I know they said they get everywhere but the CoT too? Nah.)

 

I get in, sidle by lots of CoT military types and meet up with Seguidor.  Then there's Whipsmart.  Hey, my friend, long time no....god you're eager.

 

 

The threes of us make our way around and join up with Teknique.  One for all and all for one.  Sorta.  Teknique says it best.

 

 

Keeping together we patrol through the base, picking off Chalikar as we go.  And there are a lot of these bastids.  But we get the jump on them and move into the back where there are these strange generator type devices.  Heading up the back stairs we drop the guards and move in.

 

 

After that there's a mainframe to introduce a virus to and, bada bing bada boom....boom boom boom.  Well, that's the plan anyway.

We start laying the explosives across the place.  Large tube canister things.  Should set the place off nicely.  Lots of pretty colors I reckon.  

 

Of course it can't go that easily.  And it doesn't.  Arcadius, whoever he is really, shows up with his goons and tries to stick a fly in our ointment.  Ointment's a strange word don'tcha think? Ointment. Ointment ointment ointment. Whatever!  Oh, and Brainstorm escaped from Halmos and company and is now here!  So we need to rescue him after this.  Ok, get Arcadius! THEN Brainstorm.

 

 

And Teknique just goes for him! That gal is fierce! Chop chop chop and he's reeling back.  I flatten him with the Plasmatic Taser (Thanks, @cranebump, it's really useful!) and she finishes him off.

And then from behind us in the corridor is the voice of Irene.

Ah, always there are two. (Except when there are 12 and they mob me)

So, change of plan.  Get Irene! THEN Brainstorm.

 

 

We drop her fast and then get inside to rescue Brainstorm, who is only held by two regular Chalikar soldiers.  Once we take them out he runs off crying about only wanting to help.  I mean REALLY runs off. 

 

And we vamoose outta Dodge like the place is on fire.  Because the place is on fire.

After that we're done.

 

A coupla days later Engineria meets Halmos in a Sweet Eats bakery in Kings Row.  She has an antidote for me.  A permanent one thankfully. There will need to be booster shots over the next few weeks but that should do it.  She seems resigned to the fact that I'll not be attuned much anymore.  (Oh thank gawd). Because the Mobius Strip never seems to choose randomly.  I might be special.  She says they could use someone like me and I know where to find them.

 

If I work with you again, lady, you'll be calling me.  Trust me on that.  I have no personal desire to meet Galen again.

 

[Mission 5 = Great little finale.  The team works well together.  Looking forward to the next part. Good stuff]

 

Verdict: Fun!  Brutal in one spot, oh so brutal, but fun.  It expands upon the groundwork laid out in Ordinary People and Leviathan and moves it all to a different level. Next up from @cranebump is Mobius 3: The Sign of the Five.

 

Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is @Darmian's The Meteors.

Edited November 6, 2022 by TerroirNoir2

[Darmian]

Welcome back!  Good to see them continuing.  And as said on the other thread, we get it.  Thanks.

[Ankylosaur]

We get it? Tell that to @TerroirNoir3. 🙂

 

And - just curious - does the previous cable channel have a pic limit too? Could you just keep going there but posting as @TerroirNoir2?

Edited November 5, 2022 by Ankylosaur

[TerroirNoir2]

22 minutes ago, Ankylosaur said:

And - just curious - does the previous cable channel have a pic limit too? Could you just keep going there but posting as @TerroirNoir2?

Well, look who's smarter than me!  You're absolutely right.  I was so intent on getting things set up that didn't occur to me.  Then again I might run this one to about 10 pages, like the first, and do a Part 3.  It's easier than trying to find something in an endless thread.

[Darmian]

4 hours ago, TerroirNoir2 said:

[Mission 3 = Jeez Louise, @cranebump!  That Galen guy is a damn monster!  I mean I know I'm not strong and all but this was at -1/1! Are there more of him out there?

Actually, I remember something similar from the original version of Mobius!  Looks like Engineria got stomped there, @TerroirNoir2.

[cranebump]

Lord. Um...sorry...He's yellow, so, um...I can't figure that out.  (sorry...I laughed reading it).

 

Are there more....um...sometimes?:-)

Edited November 5, 2022 by cranebump

[TerroirNoir2]

2 minutes ago, cranebump said:

Lord. Um...sorry...He's yellow, so, um...I can't figure that out.  (sorry...I laughed reading it).

Well, ok.  In hindsight it is kinda funny. As for yellow?  Well, I'm still a quasi support, so even bosses give me trouble. I have to try to be smart rather than steamroll over things.  The grenades plan was desperation!

[cranebump]

There's no ally in that mish either.

 

My test runs=Insps. I was having to keep some spare larges for those guys. IIRC, you won't get overloaded with them as objectives, so you should be able to bypass them. Although, there's this one mish you ain't done yet...Yeah...sorry in advance. FYI: Plasmatic taser might help, too? 

Edited November 5, 2022 by cranebump

[TerroirNoir2]

2 minutes ago, cranebump said:

There's no ally in that mish either.

Yeah, he killed me before Buddy could reach him, otherwise that MIGHT have made a difference. I dunno.

[TerroirNoir2]

7 minutes ago, cranebump said:

Plasmatic taser might help, too? 

Ok, I'll go get one.  I didn't have a Sig Summons on me, at 10 mill a pop I hadn't got around to getting another one.. I might just do that, I have some Prismatic Aether I can sell off.  At the moment (or I was anyway) I'm standing in the AE in Excelsior's PI and staring intently at the green beam, LOL.  

[cranebump]

6 minutes ago, TerroirNoir2 said:

Yeah, he killed me before Buddy could reach him, otherwise that MIGHT have made a difference. I dunno.

I didn't diversify my test toons on the new Mobius arcs. My TA/AR has stuns, blinds, and KD. Even with that, I had to go to the INSP well, and, in some cases, run back down the hall to regroup. If the bosses continue to be a bear, I'll have to check the power selections. Can't recall exactly what I went with, since Chalikar is a group from the original writeup, which @Darmian ran. And since I was trying to punish him for kicking my ass with Miss Liberty, Robots, Weavers, and other various stuff, I may have been...vindictive (kidding...I can't recall the powers, though).:-)

[cranebump]

3 minutes ago, TerroirNoir2 said:

Ok, I'll go get one.  I didn't have a Sig Summons on me, at 10 mill a pop I hadn't got around to getting another one.. I might just do that, I have some Prismatic Aether I can sell off.  At the moment (or I was anyway) I'm standing in the AE in Excelsior's PI and staring intently at the green beam, LOL.  

I feel like I should front you some $$ for the expenses of running this thing. I'll may have to cobble from some diff toons. I don't think I have you as a global friend yet, which is weird.

[Darmian]

2 minutes ago, cranebump said:

since I was trying to punish him for kicking my ass with Miss Liberty, Robots, Weavers, and other various stuff, I may have been...vindictive

Ahem.  Ms. Liberty.  You RAN by all the Meteors and faced her alone, if I recall. Something like that?  Weavers.  That's supposed to be a gauntlet.  Robots?  Well, HVAS are HVAS, I can't adjust them.  ROFL.

 

If in doubt, and he's around, keep Axios with you.  

[cranebump]

5 minutes ago, Darmian said:

Ahem.  Ms. Liberty.  You RAN by all the Meteors and faced her alone, if I recall. Something like that?  Weavers.  That's supposed to be a gauntlet.  Robots?  Well, HVAS are HVAS, I can't adjust them.  ROFL.

 

If in doubt, and he's around, keep Axios with you.  

Don't try to talk your way out of this one, Lex Luthor. You played to my vanity!:-)

 

(I think I handled the Weavers okay, IIRC. HVAS I just ran right into it like a doob. Same with Lib.)

Edited November 6, 2022 by cranebump

[TerroirNoir2]

Arc 10 from our third author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @Darmian's Dark Deeds Prequel, The Meteors.  

 

(Seeing as this is a prequel, I'm going to write this as though Engineria hasn't experienced any of @Darmian's, @Ankylosaur's or @cranebump's work yet., even donning my original costume!)

 

Mission 1: Sender Unknown. Engineria is about doing her thing.  Mainly at the moment tinkering with her radiation emitters and trying to crank up the gain without murdering her toaster or accidentally making popcorn. There's a ping from her computer and she checks her Freedom Corps auxiliary email. "URGENT: FAO Engineria".  Well, that's ominous. So far, she's spent her time stopping muggings in Atlas Park.  With the occasional venture into the dangers of Perez Park.  Nasty place to get lost.  Or surrounded by Skulls. 

 

Yada yada.  Generic generated message it looks like.  It's nothing.  But there's an attachment!  It's an audio file, or part of one. Someone called Halox Von Horn is under attack in the Carstairs Building. In Galaxy City!  He needs urgent help.  The time stamp is 20 minutes ago.  Engineria could call the Freedom Corps hotline but what sort of a hero would she be if she did that?  Time to get into Galaxy City.  Via the sewers.  Ugh.

 

Hooboy!  I know Galaxy City is officially off limits, but these cops have taken more than a dislike to me.  They're not trying to arrest me, it's nastier than that.

 

 

Also, why are there even cops down here, never mind so many of them?  After the meteors and shivans hit Galaxy this place should have Longbow or Vanguard patrolling it, yeah?

 

I found some bodies.  Hellion bodies.  Ok, weird but whatever.  Criminals will criminal I guess. AND some large explosives.  Large enough to take down the building above this sewer I reckon.  Time to find that Halox Von Horn guy.

 

I make my way through the sewer and up into the Carstairs building.  Where I meet more cops. If they even ARE cops.  I dunno at this point.

And there's Halox Von Horn.  I drop his cop friends who are holding him and we chat. I've seen him and the rest of his super team around city hall.  So now I can put a name to a face, well, costume.

Who is clearing the place out?  Painting?  Like that one? 

 

 

We grab the painting and then we're joined by Vincent Kershner, whoever he is, and more guys in police uniforms.

Looks like he's in charge of this.  And he's not friendly!

 

 

He gives us a tough fight, but I manage to knock him over the balcony at one point and Von Horn and I finish off his companions.  Then he's back up, and riled up!

He seems mad at everyone. Me, the Meteors, Longbow, Arachnos, everyone.

 

 

We drop him and he mutters something about only wanting what was due to him

Kershner used to be the Deputy Chief of the Galaxy City PPD.  He and his cops have been looting the ruined buildings, planting Hellion bodies and then blowing up the buildings.  I suppose any excavation will show that the Hellions did it.

 

And there's two final bombs to dispose of!  Ok, got them. Engineria and Von Horn get out and turn Kershner over to Longbow. 

 

Halox Von Horn thanks Engineria for coming to his aid and says he'll pass her details on to Madame Maven, his boss, and if they need help they'll be sure to call.

Nice!  Just what a new hero in the city wants, contacts inside an established super group.  Ok, they're not the Freedom Phalanx or the Vindicators but so what?

 

[Mission 1 = This is actually a lovely little mission.  It's pretty much self contained and could be used like a tip mission I think. Loved it.  Also, being back at level 10 makes you think harder as plenty of stuff is missing!]

 

Mission 2: Shadows and Flame. So anyway, a few days later Engineria gets a "you've got mail" ping from her computer.  Yay! I'm not alone in the big city, sitting here in my jimjams eating cereal in the afternoon like a proper grown up.

 

It's Halox Von Horn. He's talking about the Hellion bodies we found. Seems Kershner was bring the bodies in from outside, in particular a place in Perez Park. The old Holtzman Offices.  Can I check it out?  Well, ok.  Perez is hinky but sure.

 

Off I go to the location.  First thing is, this is a Hellion place.  Cinders and ash everywhere and those music posters!  But no Hellions.  There ARE Skulls here though so maybe their rivalry spilled over into this place. 

They don't like me being here.  Fine.  Down you go, bone face.  Down you go.

 

Oh look.  Hellion bodies.  Just like in the Galaxy City sewers.  Hmm, pinboard.  Some notes are signed "Sufferance" or "Sulfurance".  The writer is warning the Hellions about something. Someone to question then.

 

Hello!  A new friend arrived! This is Bullet Streak, also of the Meteors SG along with Halox Von Horn.

 

 

So we carry on.  Progressing through the building it's all much the same.  Skulls patrolling a former Hellion stronghold. Dead Hellions. Another pinboard saying "Hellions like it hot".  And then we find remnants of the Hellions.  Or we see them go down to a bunch of Skulls.  There's one guy left, the Sulferance guy.  We dispose of his captors in short order.

 

Death Walker?  What's a Death Walker, Bullet Streak?  It doesn't sound at all good to me!

 

 

Ok, Death Walkers are able to scare their victims to death.  Cheerful.  Also that explains the appearance of some of the corpses we found.  

We head up in the elevator and soon find the Death Walker and his friends.  Deciding to give them no chance to terrorize me I launch a Plasmatic Taser at them (liking this thing) and throw them back!

Heatwave?  Who's she then?  We didn't see her around.

 

 

The Death Walker claims Sulferance was a traitor to the Hellions.  Whatever, criminals gonna criminal.  And that he thinks that bent cop sold him out.  Ah, kinda, yeah. You said it, Bullet Streak.  This is not normal as far as I know.

 

 

 Engineria and Bullet Streak make their way back to City Hall and visit Madame Maven there.  She's never heard of a Hellion called Heatwave.  And agrees there's more to this thing.  She'll be in touch.

 

[Mission 2 = Another small but nicely formed mission.  Story building is simple but really works.  It works better than many in game early missions I think. Good stuff]

 

Mission 3: Rotten on the Inside. Madame Maven does get in touch a few days later. She and the others have been working the Heatwave case. Halox Von Horn has been doing the rounds over Atlas Park, Perez Park and Kings Row and his perseverance has paid off. This Heatwave is a new rising star in the Hellions it seems. She even generates fear in her own side, never mind enemies. Anyway, Maven wants Engineria to meet up with The Invincible Axios. He's on his way to the last verified sighting of Heatwave.  So I'm to join him.

 

Off I go.  To Perez Park.  Heatwave was accompanied by two Girlfriends from Hell, a faction of the Hellions that is particularly dangerous.  Whips and fire and so on.

 

On entering I'm hailed by Axios.  He gets straight down to business. Circle of Thorns, huh?  Well that's just great.  Hellions and Skulls are bad enough.

 

 

So searching the place we find a list of names.  And a pinboard with a note saying to meet Heatwave here today. Note is dated yesterday.  So she should be here somewhere.

And one of the people who came to meet her is our traitorous little Hellion, Sulferance.  Hi there, Sulfy.  Miss me? This time he doesn't have Skull guards, but Circle of Thorns guards.  Axios deals with those.

Kershner never told you what?  Never mind. We'll find out.

 

 

So Axios and Engineria head up in the elevator and overhear some Circle of Thorns goons talking.  Now that's interesting! There's TWO Heatwaves! And they've infiltrated the Hellions for the CoT it seems.  Why though?  What the hell do the Hellions have that the CoT would want?  Besides hired muscle? You don't need to infiltrate for that, you just pay them.

 

 

And then we find one of the Heatwaves!  And her whip bearing, imp summoning companions!  OW! Hot hot hot! How about just bad luck on my part?  I'll take that option.

 

 

Then she tries to make a break for it but Axios and Engineria corner her.  She goes down but raves about not not being the end and her soul going home.  Nope. Not a clue either.  Not big on CoT stuff.  I'll have to brush up on that. And anyway, she's not dead, just knocked out. Stupid CoT cultist.

 

 

Engineria accompanies Axios back to the Meteors' base where Madame Maven is filled in on all the details. Looks like this case is way bigger than we thought.

 

[Mission 3: As above, very solid progression of the story. On par with and exceeding most of the similar low level in game missions I think.  Liking it!]

 

Mission 4: The Devil is in the Details. Madame Maven is outlining what we know so far. These two Heatwaves are CoT infiltrators of the Hellions and were hollowing them out for some as yet unknown reason.  So attacked from inside and outside, outside being the Skulls AND Kershner's corrupt cops, plus getting betrayed by Sulferance, they've get their backs against the rope.  

And then we get news of another Heatwave sighting.  Super Charger, another member of the Meteors, has called it in and gone to investigate,  Maven asks Engineria to tag along and see what's going down. Maven gives me an earpiece comms unit.

 

Off I go. It's in Argosy Park in Atlas.

 

Getting over to Atlas and to the building I step in to find Super Charger coming through clearly on the comms unit. Heatwave is here, and she has some heavy duty CoT with her.

He's not far into the building when I find him.

 

 

We move through the warehouse, dealing with CoT as we go.  And some bobbly looking demon things that have nasty stabbing tongues!  Reaching a main storage area we see the first of the altars Super Charger mentioned, so we deal with its attendants and crack that sucker into pieces.

 

 

There's four altars in total and I suppose there were mystic runes that acted as an alarm or something, because Heatwave makes herself known when the last one is broken.  Her and her Girlfriend from Hell companions.

 

I drop her with a Plasmatic Taser and follow up with the trusty Nemesis Staff (any newbie hero should get one from the P2W lady in Atlas Park!)  Then Super Charger punches her really hard!  She did NOT like that. Our petty investigations?  Well, we found you, didn't we?  Wait a minute.  HE?  HE will return?  Who is HE?

 

 

She tries to get back up. Super Charger drops her again while I deal with the Girlfriends from Hell and their imps. Job done, although those whips hurt! turning back to Heatwave she sort of collapses. The book is prepared?  Why do mystical types insist on talking like everything is in capital letters?  Don't these people like to put their feet up of an evening and eat cheezpuffs?  No?  That's just me then I suppose.

 

 

The book is actually on a nearby table, Itt has a single word on its cover, SENESTRUS. We grab it and bring it and Heatwave 2 out. She can go straight to the PPD, while we get back to the Meteors' base to have a read of this thing.

 

Madame Maven says Azuria in City Hall owes her a few favors and will get her to give the book the once over.  When she gets back to us we'll see what to do next.

 

[Mission 4: It's nicely building along!  Tight little arc so far and everything is coming together. Good stuff]

 

Mission 5: Senestrus Rising. Madame Maven calls Engineria a while later.  The others are investigating Kershner's dealings in Galaxy City and so on so Maven is asking Engineria for aid now.

Azuria's report is in. The Senestrus named on the cover was an ancient Circle of Thorns mage who went missing a while back.  Good riddance basically. However his presence was felt briefly fairly recently before vanishing again. Azuria is not happy about that since this guy was probably a major asswad on par with Tarses and his lot.  So we need to investigate where that brief presence came from. 

Engineria meets Madame Maven at M.A.G.I. and Azuria transports the pair of them into Oranbega! Or a part of it.  

 

And we got separated.  But I was warned that could happen.

But not by much, she's only a few yards ahead of me up the corridor.

 

So playing a game of Hotter/Colder we navigate through the creepiness of Oranbega, slowly looking for the source of the signal.

 

 

We continue along, despatching demons and Circle of Thorns cultists alike, until we make our way to a sort of stone podium.  The glow from the book is connected to this. And look who I can see down there!  That's Duke Mordrogar of the Hellions!  Being held in a magical beam thingy by the CoT! Come on, Maven!  Let's get some answers!

 

 

We free the Duke.  He's not particularly grateful but he also doesn't run away.  Mainly because there's a Madness Mage about and that seems to worry him.  Why does it worry him?  Myself and Super Charger defeated one of those in the warehouse in Argosy Park.  Why is this one different?

 

We soon find out because we run straight into the guy around the bend!  Although with Madame Maven and Engineria alongside him, the Duke isn't in danger and the Madness Mage falls to us.  Not before sealing the cavern magically though.  Well, that's a pain.

Mordrogar knows the truth?  Does he?  He seems more than a bit confused and angry if you ask me.

 

 

Around the Mage's neck hangs a key.  A key to unlock the cavern if placed into a stone portal.  Well, I thought I passed one of those a little while ago.  Yeah, over here.

 

 

And after getting the cavern's magical defences turned off so Azuria can yoink us out of here, the Duke has a fit of some kind and attempts to kill us!  Maven summons some wraith things and puts him down fast! Go Maven!

 

 

And down he goes like a ton of bricks. 

And then we're back with Azuria in M.A.G.I. and cathcing our breath.  Once we explain what just happened she fills in the other side of the mystery for us. The ancient Senestrus had returned and possessed Mordrogar but an Arachnos Mage Killer had ripped that soul out of the Duke. It seems Heatwave had infiltrated the Hellions in the hope of getting Senestrus back.  But he's definitely gone.  Any talk by Mordrogar about being the old wizard is residual memory it seems.  The Circle of Thorns were out of luck there. 

 

Maven says the Meteors owe Engineria and to give them a call if she needs them.  Will do, MM!

 

[Mission 5 = Great little capstone to a very tight small story. Loved it]

 

Verdict. What can I say?  That's a 5 mission arc that starts off and builds well and has a good lore behind it.  A quick search on the Wiki tells me who Senestrus is, and all that about the Mage Killer is in the game.  I'll play that some time later.  Next up from @Darmian is Bridge of Forever, the first arc in a set of Pre War Praetorian Loyalist stories.  So I'll need to change to alternate universe Engineria.  (I'll just change my costume really!)

 

Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is @Ankylosaur's All that Glitters 4.2: Privateers in Praetoria.

Edited November 7, 2022 by TerroirNoir2

[Darmian]

7 minutes ago, TerroirNoir2 said:

It's pretty much self contained and could be used like a tip mission I think.

Oddly enough (and I think I mentioned it on the other thread) I was actually trying to write an arc of tip missions!  But the AE actually doesn't let you do that properly, so the first one morphed into an intro mission for the arc.  I actually wrote this arc for a competition run by @Take One.  It allowed me to use the Meteors again without worrying about moving the later storyline on.

[TerroirNoir2]

@Darmian, I have to say that having played through 50 missions now with the Meteors, I'm going to miss them!  I feel I know more about these five mid level supers (Ms. Liberty called them a B list super group!) than I do about most of the Freedom Phalanx or the Vindicators. So, that's a hint to write more!

[Darmian]

18 minutes ago, TerroirNoir2 said:

@Darmian, I have to say that having played through 50 missions now with the Meteors, I'm going to miss them!  I feel I know more about these five mid level supers (Ms. Liberty called them a B list super group!) than I do about most of the Freedom Phalanx or the Vindicators. So, that's a hint to write more!

I will, I will!  I just have other things on the go at the moment!  Anyway, you have six arcs of Praetorian stuff to get through yet. And two Cimororan ones if you feel the need!

[Ankylosaur]

Loved that Duke Mordrogar found another story to be part of, and again is in a little over his head... 🙂

[Darmian]

4 minutes ago, Ankylosaur said:

Loved that Duke Mordrogar found another story to be part of, and again is in a little over his head... 🙂

"I will destroy you all...where are my shoes?"

[Zhym]

13 hours ago, TerroirNoir2 said:

@Darmian, I have to say that having played through 50 missions now with the Meteors, I'm going to miss them!  I feel I know more about these five mid level supers (Ms. Liberty called them a B list super group!) than I do about most of the Freedom Phalanx or the Vindicators. So, that's a hint to write more!

Not just that—I care more about the Meteors than I do about the Freedom Phalanx or the Vindicators. 

 

Mid-level supergroups ("B-list" my ass, Liberty!) are better for story purposes anyway.  They're a lot easier to identify with.  And with the "top tier" groups, there's the problem of justifying why they should be considered top tier—which IMO never happened with the Freedom Phalanx.

[TerroirNoir2]

Arc 11 from our first author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @Ankylosaur's All that Glitters 4.2: Privateers in Praetoria.

 

Mission 1: Pillaging The Town For Clues. Shortly after the defeat of the Goliaths and so on in the Rikti War Zone, Engineria ends up in the base of the New Praetorians.  These people are among the best to discover who has been acquiring and selling Praetorian tech. Obviously the Goldbrickers are at the heart of it. But there's more to it than that. Time to visit Kingston Heights again and do some snooping. 

 

Entering Kingston Heights Engineria sees the departing shapes of Rikti Dropships.  Great.  There will be Rikti bombs around.

 

Well, there's a Cap'n Willis.  Let's go talk to him then.  Clues to be found!  And Goldbrickers are at the bottom of all this.

 

 

Well, he and his friend are all piratey, much like some of the others I've met.  Is it a gimmick or have they really adopted the lifestyle, just without actual ships. So they're setting sail but for where?  And when?  I'd like to think Praetoria but after the war it's supposed to be ruined.

 

Ship of the Line, huh?  Well, I've seen Master and Commander, but that's about all I know about that sort of thing.  They didn't look like THAT.  I manage to take it down though, with some careful skirting around and circling the damn thing.  Avoiding the Blunderbuss warwork beside it too!

 

 

Well, I might have guessed that Warburg would be involved in this.  I mean they have to keep themselves supplied somehow while cut off from normal Arachnos sources.  Then again I've sometimes wondered if the entire Warburg thing isn't a huge deception by Lord Recluse to give him plausible deniability if a missile should ever hit Paragon.  You never know!

 

And this guy and his Fortunata bodyguard are tough but not impossible and I get the drop on them.  After a few stuns rattle my head though!

Heading back to the Blitzkrieg?  Ok, Let's have a look for that then after this.

 

 

Well, I FOUND the Blitzkrieg.  I'll leave it at that.  (Mediporter on!)

 

 

On the way back through Kingston Heights I tussle with a Goldbricker by the name of Mr. Boombalova (no, really).  He was talking about how they'd never be able to build up the same amount of forces back in the Isles.  So, it looks like whatever is being done here is aimed at their home in the Rogue Isles, not Paragon.  And who would be stopping them?  Arachnos? Crey?  

 

Ah!  Some trucks carrying Praetorian tech.  Hmm, a nearby warehouse.  Put a pin in that for Marchand for later.  And a second truck!  Robot parts for an assembly line.  Interesting.

 

WHAT?  Doh.  I'm an idiot.  What does it matter that Praetoria is a ruined hell hole when you can just send ROBOTS over to get stuff for you?

Dr. Bellamy is not happy to see me!  Well, not after a few minutes of getting her equipment fried by radiation blasts.  Seems that Langston Labs DOES have what we suspected, a portal to Praetoria.  And they're sending robots through.  Not JUST robots though, AUGMENTED HUMANS.  So, that's why they stole the Crey Revenant stuff!

 

 

And I get that confirmed by running around and straight into a Dr. Pouligny.  She's all chatty about how her Revenant lab is up and running.  Ok, not to me!  I just interrupt her mid-morning break with her co-worker.  You know how it is.

 

Finally I run into an old "friend".  It's Bloody Vicious.  Actually, it's not bad seeing him here.  He's the only one, apart from some citizens, who hasn't tried to kill me.  Hey, Bloody.  What's the deal? He won't tell me exactly what he's up to but apparently "the plan is coming together".  Yeah.  Clear as mud.  Laters, Bloody!

 

 

With a fair amount of intel gathered Engineria makes her way back to Marchand and his team.

They go over what I've discovered and have a good think about it. Grant Creston suggests a divide and conquer action.  Each of then (and me) will tackle a separate piece of the puzzle.  Well, time to get my duty assigned!

 

[Mission 1 = A typical good worldbuilding open map mission from @Ankylosaur. Plenty of hooks laid out an trails to pick up on. Nice]

 

Mission 2: A Pirate's Booty. The team divide up their duties. Marauder and Aurora Pena are going to check out the Revenant lab complex, Pendragon will talk to the citizens from Refugee Island (that place must have an ACTUAL name, surely?), Parson naturally is interested in the Robot assembly plant, seems just his type of thing, but is going to stay and monitor their own teleporter, so Riptide and Grant Creston will be checking the plant instead. That leaves the Praetorian tech warehouse for Engineria.  (And my faithful partner Buddy, should I need him!)

 

There's a lot of stuff in this warehouse, I mean a lot of stuff.  They're clearly hard at work here on getting this tech out.  (That's a LOT of glowies, @Ankylosaur!) And Bruto Louie of the Family.  Why are you here, other than the Family has clear interest in making money.  I know Bloody Vicious was talking about a grand plan, but he's Verandi/Mook.  Hmmm. And Arachnos will be surprised by a big shipment?  World's oddest Avon Calling?

 

 

I tackle Bruto and he pulls one of those Singularity thingies out of the air and cracks me around with it a bit.  Ok, I survive that and drop him.  He's moaning about how I'm stopping him shipping stuff to the Isles.  I dunno.  These guys are taking it very personal.  Didn't the Family used to be so hypocritical with their "Nothing personal, it's only business" shtick?

Engineria moves on.

 

Moving on I check out a terminal.  There's a log from a Cap'n Sligh. SLIGH?  His parents must have loved him I suppose.  Anyway, This is Warehouse D, implying there's an A, B and C somewhere. And the Mooks have been supplying the Council, and sometimes even Arachnos, with Praetorian stuff.

 

What do we have here?  Ah, this needs removing.  Along with some lab people who are intent on stopping me doing just that.  Nasty sonic devices they wear can really ruin a girl's day.  Well, I say ruin.  

 

 

And there's a couple of, well just energy fields hanging in the air!  They're also portals but marked as not for human consumption so to speak.  So the bots around them are obviously fine to go back and forth.  Let's see about shutting those off, shall we?  By "those" I do mean the portals AND the bots.

 

 

And then, through no fault of my own I add, I run right into Cap'n Sligh.  He's a little tough!  And he keeps TP'ing around me, and that's distracting when you're trying to defend yourself! 

 

 

VERY DISTRACTING.  Mediporter on?  Yep.  Ok, we'll try this again!

 

 

Engineria comes back in, this time with PPD Buddy in tow, and proceeds to stomp on Cap'n Sligh.  He maintains that Mr. Rodney isn't going to like this.  That the same Mr. Rodney that myself and Ollerus and Hornet gave a well deserved beating to a while ago?  Yeah, he can try for a title rematch later but we still have the belt on that championship! 

 

Sligh referred to receiving shipments from "William" in Praetoria.  Great.  Digital Grandpappy Langston is in Praetoria then, doing his business.  More intel for Marchand.

 

A final sweep around and I think we have all we need.  Time to retire back to base and meet up with the others, pool the knowledge.

The only one missing is Pendragon.  

So far the run down is that we have new Revenant shells.  The Goldbrickers did send people to Praetoria but that did not go well for them, as they were irradiated or worse, infected by who knows what.  But with those Rikti transformation pods they've been augmenting people to survive over there.  (That's no life though, I mean really!) the Clockwork bots are apparently fine over there it seems.

So what now?  Now it seems we go to Praetoria!  Not entirely happy about that.  That sounds hella dangerous. I mean just standing there should be hella dangerous, never mind dealing with whoever and whatever.

 

[Mission 2 = The intel flows always onward, inlets filling up and so on like a river.  More widening of the World, and now Worlds, building. Nice]

 

Mission 3: Land Ho! Now here's the interesting bit.  Not that it all hasn't been interesting up until now, but apparently I've got an all expenses paid trip to Praetoria.  Sun, sea, sand, DE, and all in the space of 15 minutes!  Oh joy.  I know supers that can hold their breath longer than that.  (Ok, some don't have breath to hold but Electric Ned is a bit weird.  I mean who has their lungs replaced like that anyway?)

 

Now, the rest of the gang are native Praetorians and know the place, so I'm getting sent to a small area called South Aetna.  After 15 minutes I'll get ported back automatically.  Ok, THAT'S good.  Getting trapped over there was not in my horoscope this morning.

 

And through the Vanguard provided portal we go!

 

And...ok, Riptide said this was not far from where Tyrant had his last stand thing.  But it looks...normal?  Well, not an irradiated wasteland.  I mean it looks better than most of Atlas actually.  On par with Kallisti Wharf if I'm honest.  What gives?

 

I'm obviously going mad.  Because in front of me, like just OVER THERE, I can see samurai, well they look like samurai, fighting a Warwork.  The Warwork looks wrong, like it's diseased or something.

 

 

And in my search of the place I run into more of them.  So, I'm not mad and they ARE dangerous.  To everyone not them it seems.  Still, Kinetics Repel keeps them away from me long enough to continue my searching.

 

 

I end up having to deal with a Heavy Constructor Control Unit, and it has PLENTY of minions to throw at me.  Cue activating flight and taking to the rooftops to get a breath and recover health before returning to the fight.  It's actually quite pretty up here.  It really doesn't look like any war happened at all, never mind not that long ago.

 

 (I thought I had some image of the Constructor fight, but it turns out I was too busy not getting killed to take them!)

 

Finishing off the Constructor I grab a final few clues before getting whisked back to Primal.  Glad that's over. I've got a mixed bag of stuff to show the others, so let's see what we have.

So, the diseased Warworks are Warworks infected by Devouring Earth.  How does that work?  I mean they're machines.  Unless it means.  Well, I remember reading once that a computer is effectively some sand we've thought to replicate thinking,  and some of the DE are rock and crystal, so...I'm not sure where I'm going with this but the word "Piezoelectric" is arriving in my brain like an ice cube dropped in a glass of water.

The samurai are evidence of Neo Tokyo attempting to take over the city.  Neo Tokyo?  Ok then, a zone on Praetoria that seems to have survived, or survived well enough to invade the capital.

Lots of Clockwork and a keycard belonging to a Syfotine CTO, Claudia Michaels.  It seems like random stuff to this non Praetorian but the others are excited by it.  So...I wait and see 🙂

Parson reckons he can find out where that card fits and port us right to it.  So, we're going back!

 

[Mission 3 = Short and to the point.  Nice feel of difference in the surprisingly clean Praetoria.  Sort of a "mid intro", if there is such a thing. Good]

 

Mission 4: Going Down With The Ship. All of us get checked out for DE infection and radiation sickness.  To be fair, it's gonna take a SEVERE overload of radiation to make me sick, considering what my powers are.  But you never know.  

In the meantime the team have located a ship not far from Kingston Heights that was generating the sort of signal that would indicate a portal to Praetoria.  That has to be checked out.  And there's the location zeroed in on from the Syfotine card I found. So, a team of Grant Creston, Riptide and me are heading back to Praetoria! PLUS, a gift!  IVy is being sent with us.  She's a one gal army all by herself!

 

Let's gooo!

 

I arrive in last in the Underground.  That's where the signal brought us.  And I can here the buzz of energy traps.  Looks like some of the others will need freeing.  Oh well, new girl gets the job I suppose.

 

Hi there, IVy!  And off behind you I can see Riptide.  He's not amused.  IVy and me get him out of his energy cage though and the three of us proceed onward.

 

 

Grant Creston, ever the soldier, got further than the rest of us but even he was taken unawares.  But now we are 4!  Time to scope this place out and see what's what!

 

 

There's a lot of Praetorian tech still being collected by Big Brother robots and moved to spots for collection.  Those spots being non organic energy portals like the ones I found when I fought Cap'n Sligh.  No one get too close!

 

And there's a Cap'n Bonnet!  What is it whit these people and their piratical nonsense?  I mean their home base on the Rogue Isles is pretty lawless in Paragon terms, so what's with the extra affectations?  Never mind.  Affected or not, they're still damn dangerous!  Get him, team!

OW OW OW!

 

 

We take him down but ...Mr. Rodney is here!  I call up Buddy to join us.  His armor is completely sealed, so radiation proof.  Now then, Mr. Rodney, let's fling a Plasmatic Taser bolt at you and see what happens!  You didn't do so well against Ollerus and Hornet and me, let's see how you face off against 5 of us!

 

 

Oh he does not like that one bit.  The 5 of us surround him and while he tries to give as good as he gets, he's getting worn down all the while.  He does manage to badly injure me at one point but the others cover for me, letting me get some relief momentarily.  

My trick?  Looks like I wasn't important enough for you to remember me blasting you with RADIATION.  That's my trick.  Natural immunity.

Wait, you went through a Rikti transformation machine?  Are you completely insane?

 

 

We put him down but he TP's away at the last instant.  Parson has to find a way to block that I think, or redirect it so that Rodney ends up in a cell.  That would be useful.

 

Our timer is almost up and we gather to port back to Primal Earth.  A job mostly well done, but even more questions need answering I think.

 

When we get back there's a big discussion about time travel and whether we are actually seeing the "real" present of Praetoria.  I admit I don't understand it. It involves the TUNNEL system, and frankly that thing confuses me.  I've been to Firebase Zulu once.  That was enough.

Much talk of Midas assembling a pirate force from both Resistance AND Loyalists, so that's crazy.  But to fight who?  These Neo Tokyo people? 

 

But we've not heard back from Aurora Pena or Marauder and that's worrying.

 

[Mission 4 = Building and building.  Nice little intro to the Praetorian underground (apart from the one flaw it always has, NPCs on those long stairs!) Excellent.  On we go!]

 

Mission 5: X Marks The Spot. Parson gives us the once over again.  Well, it's his job and he sounds a little bit OCD, but in a good way. Riptide and Creston have been exposed to too much radiation and need treatment to recover. IVy needs a refit after being back in Praetoria, so it's me.  See, I knew having radiation powers gave me some sort of immunity, or at least a protection.  Anyway, It's up to little Engineria to get on board that beacon ship and rescue our companions, shut down whatever portal we find and, you know the deal by now, hand out some fresh tasty justice.

 

So we pull up alongside the ship in a little tug boat thing and I hop out.  

OHO!  So, we have more company!  Hiya Manticore!

 

 

Well, looks like me and the New Praetorians have an actual Freedom Phalanx member on our side!  You are still IN the Freedom Phalanx right now, yeah?  Only sometimes it's...ok ok, I'll drop it.  Sheesh, touchy.

 

A couple of minutes later and we have our full attack team. Manticore, Aurora Pena, Marauder and me.  Let's go sort out this set of vills then!  And grab anything that looks useful for Parson!  He likes all that stuff.  Plus he understands it, I just hit things.

 

 

We drop a bunch of Goldbrickers on the way into the ship, and they're not too happy about it.  Well, now they can have a nice nap and forget all their troubles.

Once inside we get attacked by blue Goldbrickers and we lay them out.  Shortly after that I find the bombs that Marauder had brought with him, so we'll be needing those!

 

Examining one of the terminals on the ship it seems that the Langston scientists have been hitting the same problem that Parson was raving about earlier.  They too are having trouble accessing the "present" of Praetoria, mostly getting sent into the past or just after the end of the War.  And they don't know why either.  

And then we run into an old friend.  Well, "old friend" to me anyway. Dunno if they others have met him.  It's Fort Knoxxer.  He's pissed at me.  Seems they are so close to...something.  I have the curious notion that it actually isn't taking over Praetoria.  There's a bigger thing here.  I'm sure of it.  Aurora has him pinned, I blast him with radiation and when Marauder reaches him...it's goodnight!

Manticore is off being Manticore somewhere.  We can here the muffled groans of AU Goldbrickers as he wades through them, invisibly. 

 

 

Gold Brickster goes down in much the same way, unfortunately for him.  Marauder seems amused to be "working with a red Chimera", whatever the hell that means.  I'll ask him later.

 

And there's William Langston!  Looks like Grandpappy Goldbricker has hisself ANOTHER body.  Well, not for long!   Though I expect him to have a back up somewhere.

 

 

Then he starts singing.  I...these guys are sooo strange.  I really think we should, you know, take them in for psychiatric analysis or something.  It's a riff on the old Carly Simon thing and he's singing it to Marauder.  Me, maybe that would work.  Did Praetoria even HAVE a Carly Simon over there?  Or a music industry to speak of?  More questions to ask the Praetorians after we get off this ship.

 

And there we go, he'll see me again soon.  Bodyhopping Old Man Langston.  Creepy as hell.  Now, we have some portals to dismantle and some bombs to plant, and then vamoose!

 

 

Or not!  King Midas himself his here.  Oh oh.  That's not good.  Ok, none of this is "good" but after a while I have a sliding scale of what's doable and what will probably kill me.  Suffice it to say, Midas is on the far end of the "kill" end.  But I also have a team of badasses with me so I have a chance.  

Spoke too soon, it's just me and Aurora!  Where the hell are the other two?

 

 

Ah! There they are, and just in time too.  I was getting hammered there.  And time for you to take a snooze, your majesty.  You're done.  It's the Isles where your prize is?  See!  I damn well knew it wasn't Praetoria, and the earlier guy spoke of building a force in Paragon.  Something big is going to happen in the Rogue Isles.  But what? 

 

 

And after Midas takes a snooze we just have some bombs to deploy.  And I get cocky and ...someone help me up.  I mean shoot that Goldbricker first obviously and then help me up.  

 

 

Bombs planted, portals destroyed, we get back out to the little tug boat and sail away!  

 

We get back to the New Praetorians base.  Well, most of us.  Manticore has vanished.  Again. 

All that talk of freedom is peculiar though.  Pendragon and Marchand have the last word on the matter.

 

 

[Mission 5 = A great romp around a (for now) new map.  Really fits the Goldbrickers (obviously) and adds to the mood. Whetting the appetite for what comes next]

 

Verdict.  This was a fun arc.  Plenty of investigation and combat. It did feel like a middle section though rather than self contained, so we'll see what happens in the next one, which will be All that Glitters 4.3: Grand Designs in Grandville.

 

Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is @cranebump's Mobius 3: The Sign of the Five.

Edited November 9, 2022 by TerroirNoir2

[Darmian]

3 hours ago, Zhym said:

Not just that—I care more about the Meteors than I do about the Freedom Phalanx or the Vindicators. 

 

Mid-level supergroups ("B-list" my ass, Liberty!) are better for story purposes anyway.  They're a lot easier to identify with.  And with the "top tier" groups, there's the problem of justifying why they should be considered top tier—which IMO never happened with the Freedom Phalanx.

Thanks both of you.  I hope the five of them (And non evil Blue Spectrum) came across as people with powers, rather than powers with a bio, which was my intent anyway.

[cranebump]

49 minutes ago, Darmian said:

Thanks both of you.  I hope the five of them (And non evil Blue Spectrum) came across as people with powers, rather than powers with a bio, which was my intent anyway.

They did! For example, Maven was solid and inspirational. Axios was imposing. HvH was a moron...(kidding).:-)

 

I remember these guys more than I do the mishes - which speaks (less to) my shitty memory and (more so) the memorable nature of the team.

 

Well, I remember them and "carriage return.":-)