Ah - a fresh new year is before me - a year as of yet untouched by vice or violence - I wonder what this new year will bring of new wonders and terrors.
My street contacts are telling me that a new "distribution grid" is being set up for black market deals - which could mean that it will be both easier to get the loot we pick up from here and there sold off, but perhaps also allow for access to new opportunities and upgrades. Could be exciting - for myself, I am keeping an eye on the "black market trucks" which should start rolling around the Rogue Isles within a forseeable future.
And I am still looking into the foretold return of the 5th Column - wether or not this has any substance remains to be seen, but there are certainly plenty of clues pointing towards this as a definate option.
Ah well - it would be an almost nostalgic fun to punch in the skull-like metal faceguards of the 5th Column again ... scratch that, it would just be plain fun.
But for now, looking back on 2006 it was a hectic year that brought me to a new pinacle of power - and what better way to end it, than to party out with a Dark Ringmistress in Pocket D? The Carnival of Shadows might be a bunch of crazed lunatics, but they sure know how to party like there's no tomorrow ... which of course there might not be, since the Ringmistresses have a tendency to bite the head of their mate just like certain female insects - so watch yourself in the more ... intimate ... situations with these sorotity girls from hell.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Click for detailed Arachnos Surveillance PhotoMonday, December 11, 2006
Cloak & Dagger Games
Many are the secrets and dire mysteries of the Rogue Isles, the place I call home these days, in fact it might be almost accurate to call it all a huge game of cloak and dagger - of course some play this game better than others, and amongst the very elite are the Malta Group - that shadowy organization made up of malcontents from the intelligence communities of the world, a hard-core gathering of operatives who believe that meta-humans should be subjugated and used to fight the shadow wars that play out in the folds of the robe of everyday life.
I had a run-in with a cell of them a little while ago, and have been able to reproduce the survelliance and video files from some of the encounters that make up that run-in - of course, had it not been for the assistance rendered by Johnny Buzz, our in-house data-expert and all-star hacker, the data would probably have been lost in the Malta Group's aggressive scouring of the net and their desire to keep their activities a secret.
Click for detailed Arachnos Surveillance Photo
Source: Arachnos Sureveillance
Time: 21:00 hours zulu time
Subject: Malta Group (cross ref: Rhinioxx, Titan Project)
Transcript:
[backup video systems coming online - video recording focuses from white noise to regular picture feed - 8 black clad people in military style fatigues have appeared in hallway - hacking suspected]
A man clad in black military fatigues and sporting a stetson-style hat (1) is gesturing towards the rest of the intruders. Identified as Malta Group Gunslinger.
VOICE (1): Spread out and gather the information we want - Omicron Alpha-2 assures me that we are shielded from detection for another 15.28 minutes! Move it!
[loud booming noises in background - sounds like metal being beated - seemingly agitating the intruders]
VOICE (1): Prepare to repel attack - Engineer Theta-21a(2) and Alpha-234c(3) setup sentinels! Sapper ready your wep-sys in case of Meta-Human interferrence!
[2 of the intruders hurriedly unpacks what appears to be a transportable gun-system from their backpacks - whirring as servos kicks in and ammo rolls into the guns from the drumrolls]
[Crashing noise of metal - whole picture shutters - debris flying by, hitting one of the intruders who goes down in a shower of blood. Battle-armour clad person stomping by Camera 213az-tellion - identified as Rhinoxx (4) - loud-pitched noise emitting identified as battle-cry sonic attack originating from battle-armour of (4)]
VOICE (4): Come out and play Kingdom Red 1-0-1 (1?) - I know you and your cronies are here! We need to settle at little debt you owe me for dumping those doctored files on me into the lap of Arbiter Zacharias!!! (ref Arachnos Arbiter omega-z1231). Do you have any idea how hard it is to escape that sort of scrutiny?
VOICE (1): Dammit - I thought the spider-boys would have dealt with him by now - Engineer Alpha-234c abandon post and penetrate deeper into the base for Titan activation!!! We will hold this meta-human creep!!
VOICE (3): Yessir! Commencing sequence now!
[(3) leaves the camera coverage - huge humanoid shape (4) moves past primary camera at blurred speed - screams and gunfire follow - primary camera is splashed with dark substance (most likely blood) then explodes in a gunfire strafing.]
[Tertiary survelliance systems coming online - security alert still not transmitted - internal defense systems offline - hallway is now an inferno of fire, blood, debris, shellcasings and torn bodies - (1) and (4) are fighting amidst the chaos, (1) appearing to use some sort of personal teleportation system to blink around (4) while discharging guns akimbo-style - both display signs of damage]
VOICE (1): Give it up Rhinoxx! We have more tricks up our sleeve than just framing you for the Aeon Lab job!!! (Ref Aeon Lab Breakin 21-9-zetha) Surrender and you get a nice control collar and the chance to do something right you Meta-Human Scum - if not Dreadnought Red 5-6-5 will deal with ...
[voice of (1) interrupted as (4) rips out a part of the wall and hits (1) square in the face with the jagged piece of metal]
VOICE (4): Give it up eh? How about you just eat some floor cowboy? [laughter]
[rumbling in background - metallic booms sounding like steps - part of wall exploding outwards - large metallic construct (5) errupts through ruined wall and scorches area occupied by (4) a moment earlier with laser impulse canon - identified as Malta Zeus Class Titan]
VOICE (5): Your extermination is at hand Meta-Human - surrender is no longer an option!!! The armoured fist of the Malta Group is reaching for you!!!
[Laser fire from Titan almost white-outs the surveillance cameras - (4) and (5) exchanges tremendous blows that make the walls shake and destroys the audio system]
[(4) manages to deal (5) a series of blows that appears to stun the titan's battle systems and allowing (4) to rip the primary cannon arm off (5) and crush its head and chest area with it - (5) falls to the floor once again making the walls shake - (4) stomps outside of camera range]
//Transcript ends
Click for detailed Arachnos Surveillance Photo
Having dealt with Kingdom Red 1-0-1 (what is it with the Malta bosses and their need to have these James Bondesque names?) I brought the datacore from the titan back to HQ along with some holo-plates I had found on the operatives - fortunately Doctor Mandible was able to extract some useful information from them.
It appeared that the strike against the Aeon Lab in Cap au Diable wasn't just a random strike against Arachnos - rather they had stolen the blueprints to a next-generation powersource that would allow them to activate a series of Kronos Class Titans they had secretly been constructing in Warburg. Guess they should have blamed someone other than me and their little scheme might have succeeded.
Still - Kronos Class Titans could be a serious threat to the stability of my adopted home. Knowing that they were designed to battle the Freedom Phalanx and other high-powered supergroups, they are serious military-grade hardware.
Knowing that such a facility would be heavily manned and guarded, not to mention the danger of the Malta Group having already activated whatever number of Kronos Titans they had available, I sent word to the underground network and recruited a number of powerful villains who saw eye to eye with me on this topic - alongside Dark Cobalt and Horus Priest (our resident atomic woman and egyptian para-god respectively) from the Seventh Cabal.
We did a very successful strike against the Titan Facility - it turned out that the mad Arachnos renegades in Warburg had actually allowed them to create a titan factory. Having waded through endless hordes of Malta Operatives and Titans we penetrated the factory proper and managed to deactivate four of the five!!! Kronos Class Titans we found there on a permanent basis.
Unfortunately the Malta Engineers managed to power up the fifth unit and an epic battle followed as our fight tore through the factory, demolishing all before us and finally spilling into Warburg itself.
Had we been just delayed a bit longer the monstrous robot might have had time to start all of it's weapon systems and charge to full power, but as it was, the fight was still incredibly hard and I hope I never have to encounter one of these monsters in full battlemode.
In the end we prevailed and sealed the whole deal by diverting one of the Warburg missiles and detonating it over the Malta facility - burning it from the face of the earth.
Now I just have to find a way to finance the extensive repairs to my battle-armour - but I am betting that the Malta Group will be interested in buying back the blue prints I leeched from the facility mainframe - and if not them, then Crey probably will be.
Sometimes, it's just great to be a villain - but most of the time, it rocks!
Click for detailed Arachnos Surveillance Photo
I had a run-in with a cell of them a little while ago, and have been able to reproduce the survelliance and video files from some of the encounters that make up that run-in - of course, had it not been for the assistance rendered by Johnny Buzz, our in-house data-expert and all-star hacker, the data would probably have been lost in the Malta Group's aggressive scouring of the net and their desire to keep their activities a secret.
Source: Arachnos Sureveillance
Time: 21:00 hours zulu time
Subject: Malta Group (cross ref: Rhinioxx, Titan Project)
Transcript:
[backup video systems coming online - video recording focuses from white noise to regular picture feed - 8 black clad people in military style fatigues have appeared in hallway - hacking suspected]
A man clad in black military fatigues and sporting a stetson-style hat (1) is gesturing towards the rest of the intruders. Identified as Malta Group Gunslinger.
VOICE (1): Spread out and gather the information we want - Omicron Alpha-2 assures me that we are shielded from detection for another 15.28 minutes! Move it!
[loud booming noises in background - sounds like metal being beated - seemingly agitating the intruders]
VOICE (1): Prepare to repel attack - Engineer Theta-21a(2) and Alpha-234c(3) setup sentinels! Sapper ready your wep-sys in case of Meta-Human interferrence!
[2 of the intruders hurriedly unpacks what appears to be a transportable gun-system from their backpacks - whirring as servos kicks in and ammo rolls into the guns from the drumrolls]
[Crashing noise of metal - whole picture shutters - debris flying by, hitting one of the intruders who goes down in a shower of blood. Battle-armour clad person stomping by Camera 213az-tellion - identified as Rhinoxx (4) - loud-pitched noise emitting identified as battle-cry sonic attack originating from battle-armour of (4)]
VOICE (4): Come out and play Kingdom Red 1-0-1 (1?) - I know you and your cronies are here! We need to settle at little debt you owe me for dumping those doctored files on me into the lap of Arbiter Zacharias!!! (ref Arachnos Arbiter omega-z1231). Do you have any idea how hard it is to escape that sort of scrutiny?
VOICE (1): Dammit - I thought the spider-boys would have dealt with him by now - Engineer Alpha-234c abandon post and penetrate deeper into the base for Titan activation!!! We will hold this meta-human creep!!
VOICE (3): Yessir! Commencing sequence now!
[(3) leaves the camera coverage - huge humanoid shape (4) moves past primary camera at blurred speed - screams and gunfire follow - primary camera is splashed with dark substance (most likely blood) then explodes in a gunfire strafing.]
[Tertiary survelliance systems coming online - security alert still not transmitted - internal defense systems offline - hallway is now an inferno of fire, blood, debris, shellcasings and torn bodies - (1) and (4) are fighting amidst the chaos, (1) appearing to use some sort of personal teleportation system to blink around (4) while discharging guns akimbo-style - both display signs of damage]
VOICE (1): Give it up Rhinoxx! We have more tricks up our sleeve than just framing you for the Aeon Lab job!!! (Ref Aeon Lab Breakin 21-9-zetha) Surrender and you get a nice control collar and the chance to do something right you Meta-Human Scum - if not Dreadnought Red 5-6-5 will deal with ...
[voice of (1) interrupted as (4) rips out a part of the wall and hits (1) square in the face with the jagged piece of metal]
VOICE (4): Give it up eh? How about you just eat some floor cowboy? [laughter]
[rumbling in background - metallic booms sounding like steps - part of wall exploding outwards - large metallic construct (5) errupts through ruined wall and scorches area occupied by (4) a moment earlier with laser impulse canon - identified as Malta Zeus Class Titan]
VOICE (5): Your extermination is at hand Meta-Human - surrender is no longer an option!!! The armoured fist of the Malta Group is reaching for you!!!
[Laser fire from Titan almost white-outs the surveillance cameras - (4) and (5) exchanges tremendous blows that make the walls shake and destroys the audio system]
[(4) manages to deal (5) a series of blows that appears to stun the titan's battle systems and allowing (4) to rip the primary cannon arm off (5) and crush its head and chest area with it - (5) falls to the floor once again making the walls shake - (4) stomps outside of camera range]
//Transcript ends
Having dealt with Kingdom Red 1-0-1 (what is it with the Malta bosses and their need to have these James Bondesque names?) I brought the datacore from the titan back to HQ along with some holo-plates I had found on the operatives - fortunately Doctor Mandible was able to extract some useful information from them.
It appeared that the strike against the Aeon Lab in Cap au Diable wasn't just a random strike against Arachnos - rather they had stolen the blueprints to a next-generation powersource that would allow them to activate a series of Kronos Class Titans they had secretly been constructing in Warburg. Guess they should have blamed someone other than me and their little scheme might have succeeded.
Still - Kronos Class Titans could be a serious threat to the stability of my adopted home. Knowing that they were designed to battle the Freedom Phalanx and other high-powered supergroups, they are serious military-grade hardware.
Knowing that such a facility would be heavily manned and guarded, not to mention the danger of the Malta Group having already activated whatever number of Kronos Titans they had available, I sent word to the underground network and recruited a number of powerful villains who saw eye to eye with me on this topic - alongside Dark Cobalt and Horus Priest (our resident atomic woman and egyptian para-god respectively) from the Seventh Cabal.
We did a very successful strike against the Titan Facility - it turned out that the mad Arachnos renegades in Warburg had actually allowed them to create a titan factory. Having waded through endless hordes of Malta Operatives and Titans we penetrated the factory proper and managed to deactivate four of the five!!! Kronos Class Titans we found there on a permanent basis.
Unfortunately the Malta Engineers managed to power up the fifth unit and an epic battle followed as our fight tore through the factory, demolishing all before us and finally spilling into Warburg itself.
Had we been just delayed a bit longer the monstrous robot might have had time to start all of it's weapon systems and charge to full power, but as it was, the fight was still incredibly hard and I hope I never have to encounter one of these monsters in full battlemode.
In the end we prevailed and sealed the whole deal by diverting one of the Warburg missiles and detonating it over the Malta facility - burning it from the face of the earth.
Now I just have to find a way to finance the extensive repairs to my battle-armour - but I am betting that the Malta Group will be interested in buying back the blue prints I leeched from the facility mainframe - and if not them, then Crey probably will be.
Sometimes, it's just great to be a villain - but most of the time, it rocks!
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Get your Freak on!!!
Many things are alike when you compare The City and the sprawling web of misery and violence that is the Rogue Isles - heroes, villains, some sort of not-so-effective police force, places to rob and of course the ever present gangs which consists of all manners of meta-humans, mutants, soldier-types and freaks.
Indeed many of the same gangs are present in both places - some because they are widespread organizations such as The Council, the Family and the Malta Group (just to mention a few) and others because they want to carve a future for themselves away from the established regime.
Such is the case with the Freakshow - the cybernetic enhancement cult feared by common citizens and heroes alike in The City; and I do mean cult - they might be organized like a gang, committing roberies, acts of wanton destruction and stealing high-tech shipments from anywhere they can find - but the underlying purpose is always to finance their obsession with enhancing their bodies with cybernetic implants and becoming more machine than men.
Click for detailed Arachnos Surveillance Photo
The Freakshow you can encounter on the Rogue Isles are probably the equivalent of a "splinter cell" - if by splinter cell we understand a bunch of people far away from the force that normally beats them into submission so they can act like rebellious teenagers; in this case, the non-presence of Dreck means that the Freaks are under no particular control and are evolving into a stand-alone faction. This is further complicated by the addition of new members to the Freakshow cult who have never been to Paragon City and never been under the iron fist of Dreck's rule and have a hard time seeing why they should obey a guy they've never seen when the credo of the Freakshow is unlimited freedom.
Ah - you gotta love how anarchy have a way of eating it's own tail.
At any rate - you can always count on the Freakshow to put on a great fight no matter where you encounter them - with all their hooks, claws and regime of combat drugs these boys are ready to give as good as they get, and if you don't watch out, you might be the one needing limb replacement after a scrap with them. The massive Tank Freaks, the nasty Swipers, the Smashers and the Stunners - even the regular thugs that haven't made enough of a name for themselves to get implants - they are all tough opponents and with the drugs in their system, you better make sure they are down before you turn your back on them if you don't want a fistfull of sharp, rusty metal in it - i've seen more than one Freak rise from a beating that have killed other men.
They might not be the smartest boys on the block, but you have to respect their mad dedication to their ideals and their drive to cause mayhem and destruction - and have a good time while doing it.
Click for detailed Arachnos Surveillance Photo
Ah yes, but given the Freakshows desire to explore "self-improvement" it is hardly surprising that they fall in with all sorts of people here on the Rogue Isles. It's common knowledge they have formed an alliance with the renegade servants of Doctor Vahzilok known as "Meat Doctors" who assist them with their crazed cybernetic implant fixation - and in return get a host of willing test-subjects for all their mad experiments.
But I recently ran across another a new branch of their search for new ways to alter themselves - a branch of the Sharkhead chapter had somehow come into contact with an ancient representative of the Coralax species (the same semi-coral creatures native to the Rogue Isles waters) and entered into something called "The Cult of the Shaper." I stumbled upon it by accident but have since then devoted some time and effort into stamping this cult out.
If the result is magically enhanced Freaks burning with the energy of the mystic Red Corals and who effectively become living metal and almost impossible to damage, that is something I want to see an end to.
I had a run-in with one of their priests and that is not something I wish to repeat anytime soon - liquid metal flowing to repair damaged areas, swirls of black magic energy surrounding them, capable of calling up Slag Golems to assist them in addition to their regular features of horrible strength and lethal mechanical limbs.
At least I was able to eliminate the cult part I found and with the cave-in I caused afterwards, their secrets should be safe. But the investigation will continue - there are just some things even a villain don't want to see walking the earth.
Indeed many of the same gangs are present in both places - some because they are widespread organizations such as The Council, the Family and the Malta Group (just to mention a few) and others because they want to carve a future for themselves away from the established regime.
Such is the case with the Freakshow - the cybernetic enhancement cult feared by common citizens and heroes alike in The City; and I do mean cult - they might be organized like a gang, committing roberies, acts of wanton destruction and stealing high-tech shipments from anywhere they can find - but the underlying purpose is always to finance their obsession with enhancing their bodies with cybernetic implants and becoming more machine than men.
The Freakshow you can encounter on the Rogue Isles are probably the equivalent of a "splinter cell" - if by splinter cell we understand a bunch of people far away from the force that normally beats them into submission so they can act like rebellious teenagers; in this case, the non-presence of Dreck means that the Freaks are under no particular control and are evolving into a stand-alone faction. This is further complicated by the addition of new members to the Freakshow cult who have never been to Paragon City and never been under the iron fist of Dreck's rule and have a hard time seeing why they should obey a guy they've never seen when the credo of the Freakshow is unlimited freedom.
Ah - you gotta love how anarchy have a way of eating it's own tail.
At any rate - you can always count on the Freakshow to put on a great fight no matter where you encounter them - with all their hooks, claws and regime of combat drugs these boys are ready to give as good as they get, and if you don't watch out, you might be the one needing limb replacement after a scrap with them. The massive Tank Freaks, the nasty Swipers, the Smashers and the Stunners - even the regular thugs that haven't made enough of a name for themselves to get implants - they are all tough opponents and with the drugs in their system, you better make sure they are down before you turn your back on them if you don't want a fistfull of sharp, rusty metal in it - i've seen more than one Freak rise from a beating that have killed other men.
They might not be the smartest boys on the block, but you have to respect their mad dedication to their ideals and their drive to cause mayhem and destruction - and have a good time while doing it.
Ah yes, but given the Freakshows desire to explore "self-improvement" it is hardly surprising that they fall in with all sorts of people here on the Rogue Isles. It's common knowledge they have formed an alliance with the renegade servants of Doctor Vahzilok known as "Meat Doctors" who assist them with their crazed cybernetic implant fixation - and in return get a host of willing test-subjects for all their mad experiments.
But I recently ran across another a new branch of their search for new ways to alter themselves - a branch of the Sharkhead chapter had somehow come into contact with an ancient representative of the Coralax species (the same semi-coral creatures native to the Rogue Isles waters) and entered into something called "The Cult of the Shaper." I stumbled upon it by accident but have since then devoted some time and effort into stamping this cult out.
If the result is magically enhanced Freaks burning with the energy of the mystic Red Corals and who effectively become living metal and almost impossible to damage, that is something I want to see an end to.
I had a run-in with one of their priests and that is not something I wish to repeat anytime soon - liquid metal flowing to repair damaged areas, swirls of black magic energy surrounding them, capable of calling up Slag Golems to assist them in addition to their regular features of horrible strength and lethal mechanical limbs.
At least I was able to eliminate the cult part I found and with the cave-in I caused afterwards, their secrets should be safe. But the investigation will continue - there are just some things even a villain don't want to see walking the earth.
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