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

[Zhym]

6 minutes ago, cranebump said:

HvH was a moron...(kidding).:-)

I did rather enjoy the mission where HvH said, basically, that he's just a guy with a bow & arrows and that who we really needed was Axios.  And my character, of course.

[Ankylosaur]

4 hours ago, TerroirNoir2 said:

Not JUST robots though, AUGMENTED HUMANS.  So, that's why they stole the Crey Revenant stuff!

 

Actually the Riki Transformation pods is how they are augmenting themselves to avoid radiation... I may need to make that more clear. 

 

(Originally, they were making/using their own Revenants so I may have missed an update there. When I did the pass to integrate the new Gold Brickers, I decided that their own Revenant army unnecessarily overcomplicated things, and the robots made more sense. Never mind that the Praetorian DE have ACU and BCU units that are infected. I never could figure out how the DE infected robots to work for them exactly, but what can you do...)

Edited November 7, 2022 by Ankylosaur

[Ankylosaur]

19 minutes ago, Zhym said:

did rather enjoy the mission where HvH said, basically, that he's just a guy with a bow & arrows

 

All those bow-and-arrow heroes always seemed pretty brutal - running people through with piercing weapons is pretty extreme. Big bloody mess if you accidentally go after the wrong person because they were framed.

 

I suppose though so is burning them alive or hitting them with an axe, or just plain ole shooting them with bullets or any number of "heroic" powers.

Edited November 7, 2022 by Ankylosaur

[Ankylosaur]

20 hours ago, TerroirNoir2 said:

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?

 

Bruto Louie is supposed to be a Mook too (I mean it's all Family I suppose, but this is just reinforcing the schism and their distribution role). - maybe I forgot to update his boss group...

 

And it is a lot of glowies - not the last time either. I decided that they always seem to give you loads of space for them on these maps - why not fill up a few maps to make the point that there is a lot of stuff. Less important here since the warehouses already have a lot of boxes, but still.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Ankylosaur

[Darmian]

@TerroirNoir2/@TerroirNoir, you realise you've crossed the 150 (!) mission mark now! 

[Ankylosaur]

On 11/7/2022 at 10:05 AM, TerroirNoir2 said:

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

 

 

Great pic - sad story 😞

[Ankylosaur]

On 11/7/2022 at 10:05 AM, TerroirNoir2 said:

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.

 

 

One of those weird little things in AE - finally found a use for them. 🙂

[TerroirNoir2]

10 minutes ago, Ankylosaur said:

 

One of those weird little things in AE - finally found a use for them. 🙂

They ARE a bit odd though!

[cranebump]

1 hour ago, TerroirNoir2 said:

They ARE a bit odd though!

Where the hell did you get that, @Ankylosaur? Never even seen that.

[Ankylosaur]

@cranebump - It's basically a prison door, and it's probably an error that it shows up at all, but it's a more convincing portal than the "Mystical Portal Well" at least. 🙂

 

If you add a boss, and look wayyyy down the list past all those Longbow Wardens in the Longbow mob, you will see "Reinforced Door" as an option.

 

You could do a whole 2001 thing with it.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2022 by Ankylosaur

[TerroirNoir2]

Arc 11 from our second author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @cranebump's Mobius 3: The Sign of the Five.

 

Mission 1: A Study in Scanning. Several months later. Engineria is in a secret underground facility. Johann Parker is speaking.  He's seemingly cured of his earlier madness. Three main missions.  The first two are (a) monitoring Time Spikes and (b) the task of freeing the "inside team in the Mobius Strip".  That last one is headed up by Milos.  Another man cured of time madness.  I'm still wary of both of them.  The third mission is that of the Chalikar.  Dangerous and nasty Chalikar. So the plan is to lure them in and destroy them.  Oh lovely. Set up devices that initiate their response and wait for them to show up.

 

I'm loving this already.  How did I get into this again?  Joe Freitag.  I'm going to put sugar in his gas tank, see how he likes that!

Working for the Autumn Wards.  Well, it's all getting very interesting.

Just need to set up the control panel and then...and then, yeah.

 

 

Oh!  Those guys ported in really fast! Along with what appear to be Wards agents!  

 

 

But even so the trap is set and they are biting!  Which is exactly what we want.  Well, what Parker says we want. I dunno.  I'm still just nodding and smiling, and occasionally edging away from the stranger ones.  Yes, yes, of course.  Absolutely.  

And since I haven't done this in AGES.

OW.  Lovely view of the ceiling from here.  Well, I say "lovely"...

 

 

So with the TP'ing intruders dealt with, the extra superfluous scanners removed. I can download the data from the ACTUAL scanning device, and if I was paying attention properly then this will allow Parker and his science wizards to track the Chalikar back to wherever.  I think.

 

 

And we are done and a tapeworm is sent through the signal and out we go!  Not a mediporter used!

Whew!

 

[Mission 1 = Good intro!  Sowing the seeds of proactivity so that we drive the story forward rather than being mostly reactive, like too many arcs.  Good stuff]

 

Mission 2: The Field, Bizarre. So, after scanning and analyzing it's time for Alpha team, led by yours truly, to go crack some heads.  Said heads being those of the Chalikar. We get in and hit the site as hard as we can. Teknique is coming with us to keep her focus on the fight ahead rather than brooding about her lost friends.

 

Oh excellent!  Briggs-Hughes is on my team.  She's a go-to-gal for back up. Hang on, yeah, I DO hear something.  Come on, this way!

 

 

We proceed through the Chalikar site, finding scanners and Time Spikes.  And dealing with them in turn.  Still no sign of the rest of the team, which is troubling.  Nevertheless, on we go,

#

 

Smollin, Vacarro and Teknique still MIA.  Hang on, there's Vacarro!  Ok, got her.  On we go. 

And now we have Smollin. She's not good.  Oh gal you get out and back.  We're going on for Teknique.  And also blasting every damn Chalikar we can find.  Which is a few!  Along with their scanners and those Time Spikes!

 

 

And there's Tekinque.  Poor gal got overwhelmed by the look of it.  Let's get her outta that situation!  BOOM! Chalikar! BOOM!

Datapad?  Ah, then she was on to something before they grabbed her.  It's tucked behind a weapons rack.  Looks like these creeps were planning an attack on the Circle of Thorns.  Well, on the regular robe wearing Circle of Thorns I suppose.  Time to get back to Johann and report in!

 

 

[Mission 2 = Totally straighforward mission. Storywise we're one of a set of coordinated attacks on these guys.  Works as it says.  Plenty of combat and destruction and moves the plot along. Nice]

 

Mission 3: Waxen Gambit. No sleep til Brooklyn! Apparently.  So, Engineria is called back in rapidly after preliminary examination of the data pad reveals that the Chalikar are developing something they call Antiphasics.  Some sort of defence thing.  No, we don't know what it is. But we do know where they're developing it so guess where I'm going?  Three guesses.  Got it in one. Why the rush?  They know we can track them so that means they'll change their MO up so we can't.  Yada yada. 

 

No team this time.  Just little me.  Ok, rolls shoulders, cracks knuckles.  (ow)

We're in Faultline (correction, I'M in Faultline, or under Faultline) and there's a lot of abandoned old labs and bases in this part of the city, and the Chalikar are down here doing their evil thing.  Time to unevil them.

 

After avoiding Arachnos infiltrators I get inside to find ...bodies.  Someone is here ahead of me.  Ah.  You.  Well that explains that.

 

And it begins.  Cue Mission Impossible theme!  Angevin is a monster!  Also, he insists on coating me in ice armor.  I suppose it helps.  I'm alive anyway!

Tring!!!  Dun Dun Dun! Dun Dun Dun. Diddle dooo! Diddle dooo!

 

Closing in on you!  Oh, you can try purging all your data but we're taking you down. Look at Angevin doing his slow broody move in!  Seconds later that Lead Technician is chopped and down.  I manage to get a shot off.  Looks like I AM the squire in this one.

 

 

You're damn right you have a breach!  Were you not hearing every one of your friends get kicked in the head?  Also, since us two walked in here and NOT your friends, yeah. Breach.  Now, you have some data we want, so tell us where it is.  And I'll let you go.

Ahem, THIS guy won't though. Psike!

 

 

And there we go. And I think we got most of it.

 

 

And we're out.  A cloaked transport picks us up and we're back to Boundless Antiquities to get debriefed.

 

[Mission 3 = Yeah! Really moving this thing forward and taking the fight to the Chalikar (who I do not like!) Good stuff there]

 

Mission 4: Speckled Bands. Ok, this is a doozy of a plan. The Chalikar have gone all Sauron!  They're about to seize the Azh Gaddur!  (Nope, not a clue but I'm a Tolkien fan so when Johann refers to it as "one thorn to rule them all" I get it.  So, THIS Spirit Thorn will allow its user to control ALL the Circle of Thorns.  Seems Baron Zoria is actually a restrained individual and has had it locked away, never to be used.  OH, I'm getting a terrible feeling of Frodo-ness about now.  (Looks around for a Gollum). So this Anaphasic tech will let the Chalikar get by the old CoT magic barriers, and Johann says we can replicate it.  Oh good. And now it begins.

 

And I'm through!  Time to meet up with Angevin.  That sword wielding madman is around here somewhere.

Creepy place.  Ok, Angevin, where are you?

 

Ah, found you.  Gimme a second, am I standing on caltrops?  Hard to see on the sand.  Why is there sand?  

Key Holders.  Gotcha.  So we face the Chalikar AND the Circle of Thorns.  And whatever else is here.  

 

 

Hmm, got a bit ahead of Angevin and lost him.  Last I saw he was chopping up some Chalikar.  I thought I saw a Key Holder.  I'm going to go back and get Angevin, two is better than one in this sort of thing.

 

AH!  Ok, flying out over the void is dangerous.  My flight power just shut off and I'm falling.  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (Mediporters better work out here!)

 

 

JEEZ LOUISE. I'm catapulted back to the entrance of this place.  Mediporter?  Mediporter. Note to self, don't do that again.  OH!  I hope Angevin hasn't fallen too!

 

 

Oh, I ache.  But getting back I manage to find Angevin. Fortunately, he had not fallen off into the void. And there's a Key Holder. Let's get him.

 

 

One down.  Then a second and then a third!  Oh, we're getting them good. Once we have the last Key Holder one of our assistant bots gets the data and calculates the location of the Azh Gaddur.  So, off to get it.

Aaaand....we have to deal with Zoria now.  Well, why am I not surprised by that?  No, that was rhetorical. 

 

 

And the Herald of Zoria appears to guide us to her master.  Ah, so...a chat?  Or am I getting my skin taken off and fed to me?

 

 

AH HELL.  Zoria you are an utter utter... genius.  I suppose.  So, we can't prevent the Chalikar from getting it, because they simply CAN'T get it.  Stalemate I suppose.  Well played, Baron.  Well played.

 

 

We arrive back to report in only to find the base in absolute chaos!  The Chalikar struck while Angevin and I were in CoT-Land.  (I don't think that was Oranbega) And while the rest of the group were rescuing the Missing Five (Four, Teknique already here). We have to get down to where they are and stop them!

 

[Mission 4 = Ok, tricky to judge this one. Storywise it works well and I like it.  The map has issues!  Nothing @cranebump can do about that short of changing it for another map unfortunately.  I died three times after the one shown above, but that was deliberate.  I was testing the boundaries of the void, and yeah, there's spots where your flight just cuts out and you die.  The Herald needs a flight power if you want her to be able to follow you to Zoria, then again it wasn't a needed objective so didn't prevent a mission completion.  The Key Holders can appear under trees and on the outside boundary but that just slows you down, it doesn't affect the story.  Now, despite all that, I liked this mission!]

 

Mission 5: The Veiled Lodger. The attackers have collapsed elevators and other access points into the lab with the bridging tech to get to the Mobius Strip. (Can someone tell me what the hell it actually is. So we're going in through an emergency teleportal.  

 

Yep, time to kick these guys out once and for all.

Right. Two Levels.  Angevin is on the upper doing his thing.  I'm sure Johann will send in bots to hose the blood off the walls afterwards.  While me and my gand are on the lower level. We've got to shut off the emergency teleportal sealing the Chalikar in here.  And us with them for now.  Then get the security back up. And then...doom?

 

Oh you do, do you?  My advice to you is to suck that floor and not move.  Best all round for you.

 

 

OH SWEET BEARD OF ZEUS!  Where did all my endurance go?!!?

RUN!  So I run as fast as is HUMANLY possible, weaving and dodging, and throwing grenades and Plasmatic Tasers (popped when a sliver of blue rebuilds) behind me in a bid to get away from the bunch of bots that literally just tanked all my endurance.

 

 

I get away. Rest.  And then refit stealth and go hunting.  Snipe and run. Grenade and run. Smokeflashing my way around them to drop Line of Sight and moving around them.  And they are done.  Ok,

 

Oh hey!  Briggs-Hughes!  Am I glad to see you.  What do you mean Teknique is here?  No, she's not on my team.  Hmmm. Teknique is here. Only Milos can reprogram the bots and Johann doesn't know how the Chalikar got it.  I'm thinking, Briggsy, that this is not an outside job.  And I'm not happy about that.  Teknique better hope I find her before Angevin does.

 

TEKNIQUE!  What the hell are you doing?  No, I don't need excuses, I need an explanation.  And down you go! Jeez, Briggs-Hughes is a great shot. 

 

 

Teknique falls.  When I see Richard I'm to tell him not to look for her. Ok, sister. Stay down.  We'll deal with you later.  For now we have other things on our mind.  Namely Milos and his bot friends.  Time to call in Buddy, no offence Briggsy, but three of us is better than two.

PRETEND TO LOSE?

Oh the ego on some people.  I mean I'm no Angevin (Or Axios or Hornet) but I can take a punch and get up again.  Take him down, team!

 

 

And we take down Milos and his bots.  And it was rough.  Those bots hurt!  But the attack is over, as far as I know.  So we head back to see Johann and Buddy goes back to his base. (Note to self, Buddy needs a commendation)

 

Johann is packing up his stuff. He's getting reassigned, because someone has to take the blame for all this.  For letting Milos, a mole, on the inside, and for Teknique's betrayal. 

Johann's last official act was to order a second autopsy on Milos.  There's a lot of tech speak I don't understand, but whoever that was, it wasn't Milos. 

 

[Mission 5 = Great action romp through the lab/base.  Lots of "Oh hell!" moments to pull the fat out of the fire, and a great finale that ends setting up the next arc. Good stuff]

 

Verdict.  A lot of background is now foreground and you get a feel, if not an answer, to what is going on.  A few hiccups with that particular map and maybe a further polish up but definitely a sound addition to the long-running story. Next up from @cranebump is Mobius 4: Dempsey's Hard 8.

 

Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is @Darmian's Bridge of Forever. 

Edited November 13, 2022 by TerroirNoir2

[cranebump]

Ugh...I did some work on Mobius 4, and 3 (to make an open map easier to find stuff). In the process, I accidentally used the wrong skin for one of the good guys in M3-2. Should be fixed within an hour of posting this (doing a test run). So, @TerroirNoir, if you're planning a run, sometime after that the mish should be fixed. 

 

Need tp pull this arc down to work on it. Will announce when Mobius 3 is back up.

Edited November 11, 2022 by cranebump

[TerroirNoir]

1 hour ago, cranebump said:

Ugh...I did some work on Mobius 4, and 3 (to make an open map easier to find stuff). In the process, I accidentally used the wrong skin for one of the good guys in M3-2. Should be fixed within an hour of posting this (doing a test run). So, @TerroirNoir, if you're planning a run, sometime after that the mish should be fixed. 

 

Need tp pull this arc down to work on it. Will announce when Mobius 3 is back up.

I'll just pause it then and redo the arc when you're ready, but I'm leaving the Mission 1 playthough as is up, okay?

[cranebump]

Sorry for the inconvenience. Mish 4 is a work in progress, but the basics are there. New info:

[cranebump]

50 minutes ago, TerroirNoir said:

I'll just pause it then and redo the arc when you're ready, but I'm leaving the Mission 1 playthough as is up, okay?

Absolutely. Nothing has changed, textually. Had an open map in a later mish, and wanted to make it less of a runaround, using Anky's escort tip. Plus, there's a cool new map to use there. it will need some fine tuning, I'm sure. I keep forgetting, I only just did these things. Your runs and @Zhym are the first player tests outside me.

[Darmian]

1 hour ago, cranebump said:

Your runs and @Zhym are the first player tests outside me.

I'll get to those over the weekend hopefully.

[cranebump]

3 hours ago, Darmian said:

I'll get to those over the weekend hopefully.

I'm in final test of first draft of Mobius 4, so that should be there for ya, if you get to it. Interested to see what you think of the stripped down version. Feels much easier to follow and less fragmented to me (but then, I know the scenario, so...).:-)

[TerroirNoir2]

Arc 11 from our third author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @Darmian's Bridge of Forever.

 

(Caveat. I have played these before but never reviewed them.  Although it has been a while, considering the number of other AEs and stuff I've been getting through!)

Bridge of Forever is subtitled "(Imperial Power, Ch. 6)" which means it is meant to follow on directly from "Project Phoenix (Imperial Power, Ch. 5"

 

Mission 1: The Dossier. Engineria (Praetorian Engineria, with her blue and gold trim uniform and Top Dog badge) is summoned to meet Praetor Sinclair AKA Chimera.  He has a job for her. It seems members of Powers Division are going missing. Praetor Tilman's Seers are unable to locate them and Praetor White is angry at the loss of his subordinates. The Seers say that it's possible they are no longer in Praetoria's dimension. Sinclair informs Engineria that such a thing is actually possible. I'm given a dossier on the missing people, which is based on the investigations of Officer Welks of the PPD.  I'm to meet her at the CMF. Welks has been working directly for Provost Marchand on this case.

 

So off I go.

The CMF yard is a small area where Clockwork are normally repaired.  Welks is there making notes and has been searching for a Dominic Kincaid, the latest Powers Div officer to vanish. All she's found so far is a box of Clockwork parts.

 

 

So, these parts then?  Ok, let's give them the once over at least. We have a look and yes, there's some oddity here.  Something that looks like a holo-emitter.  So we switch it on and there's a signal from elsewhere in the CMF yard.  We track that down and find a body!

 

 

No idea who this guy is. Kincaid I suppose. But we've suddenly got company! Time to load up and fight back, Welks!

 

 

This Vargas guys and his goons are Resistance.  We fight them off but he summons help, and that help comes running. Welks is a pretty good sidekick actually, taking plenty out with her rifle.

 

 

And we drop them.  I salute Welks, gather up the clues we have and bring the body back for examination.

On returning to Praetor Sinclair he proceeds to list out where he thinks things are going. This is more than just a simple missing persons case, if it ever was.  And since only Sinclair and Marchand knew I was meeting Welks, the leak had to come from Marchand's office. Vargas has been taken to interrogation.  Which means Praetor Tilman's Seers now have him.  Might be better for him if I'd just shot him in the head. 

 

[Mission 1 = Short, quite short intro but immediately getting into the mystery. Very detailed notes on everything so clue reading essential. Great stuff]

 

Mission 2: Following Vargas's Leads. Now that Engineria has been "adequately loyal" (Oh, I love working for Chimera), I report back and find that Kincaid's body is totally normal.  Sinclair is paranoid as hell though and brought in Transmuter to look it over for occult traces and so on. The weird signal device has been examined by Alec Parson and he's determined it's part of the Brandt protocol. Somehow infected with a psychic virus.  Nope, no idea how a psychic virus infects tech but hey! 

And Vargas got interrogated and gave up everything.  They always do, I'm told.  A friendly face, to use Vargas's words, contacted them about eliminating Welks.  And therefore stopping the investigation most likely. Sinclair thinks this further points to a mole in Marchand's offices.  (I'm not sure how you can get so paranoid and function normally) So I'm off to meet Zane, one of Marauder's team, and do an inspection of the office.

 

I head along to the office which is around the corner from the Loyalist Lounge.  And there's no sign of Marchand's staff but Zane is surrounded by Clockwork!  Time to help out! Zane says Marchand doesn't use Clockwork so someone knew we were coming.  And one of the Clockwork mentions a hostage.

 

 

Right, talk of a hostage and a device.  Let's get to work.  We clear our way through Clockwork, Zane being very enthusiastic about chasing them down and turning them into scrap it seems.  Then we examine a nearby mainframe. We download what we can but the files are partially deleted.  So something valuable was definitely on this machine, especially as it is air gapped from the main network.

 

 

Now, what the hell is this thing?  Let's have a look. It's got a large chunk of masonry in it.  Which is peculiar.  It looks like part of a bigger piece too.  Ok, strange. 

 

 

Upstairs we find Assistant Director Kelly, one of Provost Marchand's staff. She seems to be the hostage mentioned earlier. And the Clockwork have wiped out the rest of her staff.  Zane and Engineria promptly take out her captors and free her.  She presses a memory key into my hand before she runs off and asks me to give it to Chimera.  Will do, ma'am.  Happy to oblige.

 

 

After that Engineria and Zane leave.  No doubt there will be a PPD clean up crew along, or Marchand's own version of that.  Time to report back to the Praetor.

Praetor Sinclair thinks that Marchand is personally compromised somehow, since Kelly didn't give the memory key to HIM.  And there's a strange etching on the key that Sinclair seems to recognize but he will get Transmuter to examine it first.

He'll send in his own scene of crime team to go over everything.  And Engineria and Zane performed well.  That will go in his report to the Emperor. (Oh dear)

He'll send for me later.

 

[Mission 2 = Another small mission but definitely building on the earlier mystery.  And the air of menace and paranoia coming from Chimera is creepy. Excellent]

 

Mission 3: First Ward. Summoned back to see Chimera, Engineria is told that thanks to the SOC team, Parson and Transmuter, we have a slim lead to a project that was designed to replicate the power of a device seized by the government in the War on Magic. All traces of that device are in fact missing, but Chimera knows where it was last.  A lab in First Ward.

So, time to go visit the ruins.

 

I get in and it looks active.  It shouldn't be.  So time to scout around. There's an alarm going off, and a secondary relay to that I need to shut off.  And done.  Plenty of D.U.S.T around, and Seers too.  Stealth seems the best option around these guys, so that's the plan I follow.

Now to find a mainframe with a listing of the device I need to find.

There we go.  Ah, no it isn't.  Blah.  Ok, a different mainframe then!

 

 

Sometimes you just cannot stealth your way through an area and you get shot by whoever.  D.U.S.T in this case, with whatever goop their weapons fire.  Sort of a green toxic spray.  I wonder is it like weed killer for Devouring Earth things?  Who knows.  It burns me that's for sure!

And down they go and I check the mainframe in the room they were in.

 

 

Right, the mainframe lists an artifact like Chimera described.  A crystal thing with shielding on it.  I need to crack that before a teleport tag can be attached and I send it back to Imperial City.

And there it is. Crystal Shard Alpha.  If they're calling it "Alpha" does that mean there's a "Beta" and so on? Never mind that for now though.

 

 

The shielding was psi shielding, so obviously that alerts the Seers.  Should have thought of that!  And their commander, Andromeda appears.  I manage to do her serious damage initially before getting flung to the floor and attacked by her reinforcements.

Struggling up (and munching on Break Frees) I, ha ha, break free and finish her off before making a fast escape. Praetor Keyes?  Interesting.

 

 

Getting out of First Ward and Back to Imperial City is usually by the Imperial Underground. 

Reporting to Chimera he tells me that they received the TP'd artifact a short while ago and he has Transmuter examining it at this moment. He ponders how long those Seers and D.U.S.T. have been in that lab, since Antimatter hasn't been a Praetor for years and the Seer commander had a name, not a number. Which means she may predate Praetor Tilman's accident.

And as usual by now he tells me to be on standby until he needs me for the next thing.

 

[Mission 3 = More mystery!  Delving into the past of Praetoria with hints of a pre ruined First Ward going on.  Plus reference to the War on Magic.  Great stuff]

 

Mission 4: Recall. So, I'm getting used to being summoned.  Praetor White isn't like this, he's just shouty all the time. There's been a break in the investigation. Officer Welks's data contains a bioprint of someone called Recall. One of the earliest missing Powers Division members and one who was part of seizing the crystal device originally.  The thing is Recall has reappeared in Praetoria.  Or his bioprint has and has been located in the Underground. Engineria is to meet up with Stern on site and capture Recall and bring him back. He may know the mole's identity and if he doesn't he'll spill other beans I'm sure once the Seers get him.

 

Off I go after the signal!

First things first, after dealing with a couple of Ghouls (Oh man, Ghouls are really annoying) I find that Stern isn't here.  He'll get chewed out by Chimera later I'm sure, but who is here is far more dangerous than Stern.  I think.  It's Mr. G.  He's got spies and fingers in every plot it's said.  So why he's here is curious. He says there's a few things that need doing along the way.  AND he knows my name.  Sheesh.

 

 

There's several caches of explosives rigged up down here. Guarded by Resistance members!  Ok, those are things that definitely should be dealt with but surely it's a Powers Div thing or PPD at the least?  Mr. G being down here to deal with it is odd.  This is the sort of thing I'd normally get sent to do!  

 

 

Anyway, we dispose of the explosives and their guards, along with more Ghouls and some odd looking ghouls in pajamas. 

After wandering down tunnels with more Ghouls thrashing around and having fits while I shoot them, and Mr. G cuts them open with swords, I spot Recall ahead.  Bit of trouble.  The PPD have him. And I have direct orders to bring him in so there's going to be what they call interdepartmental conflict.  In that I hit them a lot and take Recall off them.

 

 

That did not go according to plan!  Well, it ALMOST went according to plan. But Recall saw Mr. G and ran for it and Mr. G is no longer friendly to me!  I'm going to examine this beacon next to me as fast as I can before he has a go at skewering me!

And why do these sorts always say it's nothing personal?  It feels very damn personal to me!

 

 

The beacon... well, this says it all.  Looks like I got told!

 

 

And we have company!  I mean as well as Mr. G.  But this guy is NOT trying to kill me.  Maybe he'll be a temporary friend for a bit?  Here's hoping.  Also, him being here on the Emperor's business is a bit heavy!

 

 

Yeah, I'll forget you were here, sure.  (I'm totally reporting this to Chimera.  What?  You think he won't suspect I'm holding out and set the Seers on me?)  In the meantime, Mr. Electric and Engineria are taking down Mr. G!

 

 

And he does go down but he gives me some seriously cracked ribs along the way.  I also think he literally stuck a sword through my chest plate!

So, OW.

 

And now the bad thing.  Reporting back to Chimera that I don't have Recall.  

Oh, he knows.  Marchand has been in touch. And Chimera's agents picked up Recall as he fled the Underground.  Ok, not all bad.  Plus Chimera thinks that Mr. G himself was the mole.  Seems his abilities extend to shapeshifting.  Sigh of relief.  Mission a botch but not ultimately a failure.

I'm to rest up until summoned again.  Yes, boss!

 

[Mission 4 = This one is deceptively simple.  Meet a guy, catch another guy.  Except of course that's too simple for @Darmian! So more plot laid out and more mystery everywhere.  And another big player on the scene besides Sinclair. Good stuff]

 

Mission 5: Luna Palisade. Standing before Chimera once more, he informs Engineria that Recall has been questioned and revealed that he has crossed the dimensions to Primal Earth! Chimera isn't particularly bothered by most of what he got up to there, some Fixadine dealing or something, but Recall did cross paths with missing Powers Division members and killed some of them.  Along with some dimension hopping Resistance members. Chimera seems to think this points further at Mr. G being involved since that man has fingers in EVERY scheme, not just those of the Loyalists. Or so Chimera says.

So, Engineria is to infiltrate a cloning facility in Luna Palisade, one owned by Mr. G, and wipe it out.  This looks like a deliberate attack to let Mr. G know we're on to him. 

 

Off I go.

I have 3 data core mainframes to find, plus shutting off the security before it gets very dangerous for me.

Plenty of Syndicate types in here.  Chimera did say they would be here, though how they're connected to Mr. G is unknown. Time to stealth by them!

 

Ok, moving along and...those are NOT Syndicate.  Hmmm.

 

 

Ok, I avoid those and collect the data from the three mainframes.  And CCTV shows more of those Arachnos people, and a generator like the one in the First Ward lab.  Engineria's mission for Chimera is officially over, but let's keep looking.

 

Oh well that'll teach me to be adventurous! This guy is no fun at all!

Feeble copy?  Who does he think he is?

 

 

The Emperor's insane plan?  Well that's getting put in my report!  These guys are nasty, particularly the floaty ones in red.  Really draining my endurance!  Then again, the old Plasmatic Taser rocks them pretty well!

 

 

I drop this Kaspian dude and then go hunting for the generator.  And there's more floaty boys!  Well, they get dealt with too.  In fact I think they take some damage when the generator blows!  All for the good then!

 

 

Time to get out and report in.  Data recovered, Arachnos agents in Praetoria from the other dimension.  A portal generator and someone called Sheridan.  And Mr. G is somehow linked to all of this.

 

First thing he does is ask why I didn't do what he asked me to do.  So I explain. 

Then he explains that the next thing he's doing is taking the fight to Primal Earth.  The Cassini Division is being formed.  

All Hail Emperor Cole!

 

[Mission 5 = Great finale, though it feels like a mid season thing as opposed to an end in itself. Good stuff]

 

Verdict.  Loved it. Again. And @Darmian I am really loving the frankly clipped and in control, though possibly deranged (!) tone of voice Chimera speaks in.  He's absolutely in charge but at the same time kinda twitchy. I wish Manticore sounded as good. Next up in Praetoria is The Cassini Division.

 

Next up on TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is @Ankylosaur's All that Glitters 4.3: Grand Designs in Grandville.

---

BONUS MATERIAL:

 

Spoiler

 

Well, I wonder who this could be!

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by TerroirNoir2

[cranebump]

Yeah that Zoria mish is probably going to be shifted into a cave or something. The Midnighter map would be great for a “repository,” but there’s no way to hide its origin and backdrop.  So that one still needs work. 
 

On a more positive note, Mobius 4 finally answers the questions about The Strip and The Five. Mulling finale right now, so unsure when that gets done.
 

Edited November 14, 2022 by cranebump

[Darmian]

Yes, @TerroirNoir2, this set of arcs is definitely designed to follow on from the earlier Imperial Power in game arcs.  And starts addressing in a meta way the fact that players leave Praetoria around level 20!  So members of Powers Division are disappearing!  

[Darmian]

Well, that's a testament to dedication, @TerroirNoir2!

 

Look at Engineria boldly go where no one has gone before!

 

[Zhym]

On 11/14/2022 at 8:34 AM, Darmian said:

Yes, @TerroirNoir2, this set of arcs is definitely designed to follow on from the earlier Imperial Power in game arcs.  And starts addressing in a meta way the fact that players leave Praetoria around level 20!  So members of Powers Division are disappearing!  

I really liked this aspect of these arcs.  You'd think Tyrant and his Praetors would start to notice all those Powers disappearing—although, given that they all seem to disappear once they reach a certain level of power, maybe each of the Praetors suspects the others of "disappearing" people once they start looking like they might get powerful enough to be a threat.  Something else I liked (but can't remember if @TerroirNoir has gotten there yet, so I'll spoiler it):

Spoiler

At some point when Chimera (it's Chimera, right?) talks about what he's heard is going on, he is skeptical that Cole would personally be meeting people as they leave.  Which now that you mention it does seem rather unlikely, doesn't it?

 

Or am I remembering another Mr. G machination?  It does seem just like Mr. G to impersonate Cole as you're leaving Praetoria for Primal Earth.  Now I need to go check Cole's dialogue in that scene for any Mr. G-style speaking tics...

 

Edited November 15, 2022 by Zhym

[cranebump]

On 11/14/2022 at 6:49 AM, Darmian said:

Well, that's a testament to dedication, @TerroirNoir2!

 

Look at Engineria boldly go where no one has gone before!

 

Not quite where no one has gone. I went there during tests (but not as often, nor with as much vigor).:-)

[TerroirNoir2]

Just now, cranebump said:

Not quite where no one has gone. I went there during tests (but not as often, nor with as much vigor).:-)

HA HA!

[TerroirNoir2]

@Darmian, ironically Engineria is wearing a Top Dog badge title, which is a badge you can't get in Praetoria!  But I felt it fit with Praetor White's Top Dogs.