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CloseAll right, let's figure out where the hell we're going based on what quests we have.
"Radio Free Monarch"
Story-line quest.
-Visit Phineas in his lab to determine our next move.
"Weapons From the Void"
Quest obtained via Alex Hawthorne's personal logs on the Unreliable
-Phineas has a Science weapon on board his lab. Maybe convince him it would be best served in our hands?
-A battered Mardet datapad purchased from Gladys on the Groundbreaker seems to indicate that there might be a weapon there. The quest maker on the Groundbreaker for this quest points to Gladys, herself, though. So, I'm not sure how to approach this part of the quest.
"Herrick's Handiwork"
Quest obtained on Monarch.
-Steal Caleb's stash to force him, and the others, to go back to work.
-Find evidence of Velma's tampering of the warehouse accounts. This has no quest-marker associated with it, so, I'm not sure how to approach it.
"The Ice Palace"
Quest obtained on the Groundbreaker. SubLight Salvage & Shipping faction quest.
-Install the override cartridge obtained from Lilya to claim HRS-1084 for SubLight.
"Canid's Cradle"
Quest obtained on Monarch. Faction quest for either the Iconoclasts or Monarch Stellar Industries.
-Give the targeting module of the Cantankerous Canid to Sanjar in Stellar Bay to ally with MSI.
-Give the targeting module of the Cantankerous Canid to Graham in Amber Heights to ally with the Iconoclasts.
"Star-Crossed Troopers"
Quest obtained on Monarch. Nyoka companion quest.
-Return to Emerald Vale to search up some old friends for Nyoka.
"The Empty Man"
Quest obtained on Terra 2, Emerald Vale area. Vicor Max companion quest.
-There is supposed to be a hermit on Scylla that could translate Max's book.
Of these, the only ones I care to complete (outside of the story-mission) is the companion quests. Let's see if we can't make some kind of progress on "The Empty Man", then. When I get to Scylla, Felix has a few words concerning a communication from a long-lost friend, and the quest "Friendship's Due" enters into my journal. The quest-marker for that is pointing me to the Unreliable's navigation console, and accessing it doesn't do anything out of the ordinary. Well, I can worry about that later. I can still progress "The Empty Man".
Vicor Max finally obtains that which he sought. No, not a translation of the book. Something else. A self-realization that the answers he seeks can be found from within oneself.
When I return to the Unreliable, I try accessing the nav-panel again. Another landing pad has been unlocked on Scylla, which I might not have noticed before. In short-enough time, we meet with Harlow. Seems to be a leader of pirates and/or outlaws, looking to overthrow the Board. He wants Felix to be part of the revolution, when the time comes. Of course, there is also a test to determine loyalty to the cause. To that end, we are to find a man named Trask, and obtain his ring. Harlow considers Trask a traitor, and wants him dead. However, it seems possible we don't need to kill him. I guess we'll find out when we find him.
For now, I tag "Star-Crossed Troopers", and re-visit Emerald Vale. The closest fast-travel point to our quest-maker is the geothermal plant. We find Nyoka's comrades dead, a journal on a bed next to their corpses. The journal speaks of barely scraping by on Monarch, and the hopes things would be different on Terra-2. Except, of course, they weren't different at all. They were still barely scraping by, and the journal noted that there were considerations of submitting an employment application to Spacer's Choice just to be able to eat, shower, and other things we might take for granted. Ultimately, with marauders knocking at their door, and one of them bleeding to death, the other, I must presume, took the easy way out, and shot them both to death. It seems such a damn shame and such a waste.
The place where they once held camp long ago, the site she wants these people buried at, has become the home of a mantiqueen. Well, something like that! I know she keeps mentioning luring out a matinqueen. In any event, Nyoka believes that some Primal glands might make a good method to bait it out, and that we can find a good source of such on Scylla. The hell. I just came from there. If I had any inclination this was going to happen, I would have done this first, and do both "The Empty Man" (and now "Star-Crossed Troopers") in one go. Alas.
Rather than be annoyed by going back to Scylla immediately, I go back to the Groundbreaker. If anybody knows where Trask is, it's his wife, and that's the last known location for her. I don't want to push her too hard, so, she only tells me that he's hiding out in Emerald Vale. Where I just came from. WHAT THE HELL GAME. I mean, okay, I didn't expect him to be on the Groundbreaker. That would be too easy. I also am perfectly aware that, as this is a first play, and not looking crap up, that there would be some backtracking, and revisiting old areas. I just didn't think it would be a case of "go here, do this thing, only be there for all of five/ten minutes (if that), go someplace else, just to learn that there was something else I could have done in that place I just left". It's just frustrating as hell.
Sorry, I think I need to cool off a tad, and thus, call it a session.
"Radio Free Monarch"
Story-line quest.
-Visit Phineas in his lab to determine our next move.
"Weapons From the Void"
Quest obtained via Alex Hawthorne's personal logs on the Unreliable
-Phineas has a Science weapon on board his lab. Maybe convince him it would be best served in our hands?
-A battered Mardet datapad purchased from Gladys on the Groundbreaker seems to indicate that there might be a weapon there. The quest maker on the Groundbreaker for this quest points to Gladys, herself, though. So, I'm not sure how to approach this part of the quest.
"Herrick's Handiwork"
Quest obtained on Monarch.
-Steal Caleb's stash to force him, and the others, to go back to work.
-Find evidence of Velma's tampering of the warehouse accounts. This has no quest-marker associated with it, so, I'm not sure how to approach it.
"The Ice Palace"
Quest obtained on the Groundbreaker. SubLight Salvage & Shipping faction quest.
-Install the override cartridge obtained from Lilya to claim HRS-1084 for SubLight.
"Canid's Cradle"
Quest obtained on Monarch. Faction quest for either the Iconoclasts or Monarch Stellar Industries.
-Give the targeting module of the Cantankerous Canid to Sanjar in Stellar Bay to ally with MSI.
-Give the targeting module of the Cantankerous Canid to Graham in Amber Heights to ally with the Iconoclasts.
"Star-Crossed Troopers"
Quest obtained on Monarch. Nyoka companion quest.
-Return to Emerald Vale to search up some old friends for Nyoka.
"The Empty Man"
Quest obtained on Terra 2, Emerald Vale area. Vicor Max companion quest.
-There is supposed to be a hermit on Scylla that could translate Max's book.
Of these, the only ones I care to complete (outside of the story-mission) is the companion quests. Let's see if we can't make some kind of progress on "The Empty Man", then. When I get to Scylla, Felix has a few words concerning a communication from a long-lost friend, and the quest "Friendship's Due" enters into my journal. The quest-marker for that is pointing me to the Unreliable's navigation console, and accessing it doesn't do anything out of the ordinary. Well, I can worry about that later. I can still progress "The Empty Man".
Vicor Max finally obtains that which he sought. No, not a translation of the book. Something else. A self-realization that the answers he seeks can be found from within oneself.
When I return to the Unreliable, I try accessing the nav-panel again. Another landing pad has been unlocked on Scylla, which I might not have noticed before. In short-enough time, we meet with Harlow. Seems to be a leader of pirates and/or outlaws, looking to overthrow the Board. He wants Felix to be part of the revolution, when the time comes. Of course, there is also a test to determine loyalty to the cause. To that end, we are to find a man named Trask, and obtain his ring. Harlow considers Trask a traitor, and wants him dead. However, it seems possible we don't need to kill him. I guess we'll find out when we find him.
For now, I tag "Star-Crossed Troopers", and re-visit Emerald Vale. The closest fast-travel point to our quest-maker is the geothermal plant. We find Nyoka's comrades dead, a journal on a bed next to their corpses. The journal speaks of barely scraping by on Monarch, and the hopes things would be different on Terra-2. Except, of course, they weren't different at all. They were still barely scraping by, and the journal noted that there were considerations of submitting an employment application to Spacer's Choice just to be able to eat, shower, and other things we might take for granted. Ultimately, with marauders knocking at their door, and one of them bleeding to death, the other, I must presume, took the easy way out, and shot them both to death. It seems such a damn shame and such a waste.
The place where they once held camp long ago, the site she wants these people buried at, has become the home of a mantiqueen. Well, something like that! I know she keeps mentioning luring out a matinqueen. In any event, Nyoka believes that some Primal glands might make a good method to bait it out, and that we can find a good source of such on Scylla. The hell. I just came from there. If I had any inclination this was going to happen, I would have done this first, and do both "The Empty Man" (and now "Star-Crossed Troopers") in one go. Alas.
Rather than be annoyed by going back to Scylla immediately, I go back to the Groundbreaker. If anybody knows where Trask is, it's his wife, and that's the last known location for her. I don't want to push her too hard, so, she only tells me that he's hiding out in Emerald Vale. Where I just came from. WHAT THE HELL GAME. I mean, okay, I didn't expect him to be on the Groundbreaker. That would be too easy. I also am perfectly aware that, as this is a first play, and not looking crap up, that there would be some backtracking, and revisiting old areas. I just didn't think it would be a case of "go here, do this thing, only be there for all of five/ten minutes (if that), go someplace else, just to learn that there was something else I could have done in that place I just left". It's just frustrating as hell.
Sorry, I think I need to cool off a tad, and thus, call it a session.
The Primal glands have been extracted. To complete "Star-Crossed Troopers", we must return to Monarch. Which definitely puts it into the "later" category of things to do. For now, I switch back to "Friendship's Due", and revisit Emerald Vale.
The closest fast-travel point to Trask's hideout is the Botanical Lab. As I approach the quest marker, I can see a gathering of people. So, he's not alone. Wasn't entirely expecting that, but, I'm still hoping we can have a peaceable conclusion here. Thankfully, there is a peaceable solution. One other thing of note. Perhaps, Harlow is the one that has been bought by the Board. Trask has supposedly hid evidence of such in Harlow's Base. Which, yes, means going back to Scylla, but, at this point, whatever. Besides, that was going to happen either way.
I wasn't 100% sure if there would be a quest-marker pointing me to Trask's evidence. Thankfully there was. What this evidence entails is a collection of receipts made to Harlow on behalf of the Halcyon Holdings Board of Directors. It lists the freighters his group targeted, their manifests, and the value of the cargo delivered to Board authorities. Showing him this evidence, and telling Trask's side of the story only makes him hostile. Or, at least the conversation options I was choosing led to that outcome. If we just hand over the ring, and tell him Trask is dead, the conversation still redirects to Trask's accusation. However, a different set of conversation options allow us to keep Felix a party-member, and Harlow alive. I don't actually know if Harlow is 100% honest about his intentions. If he really does desire to overthrow the Board when he's using their services, and being used by them in return. Perhaps there is a bit of irony in that, though.
Besides, if nothing else, I felt like the choice to be with his old friend, or me, really should have lied with Felix, himself. I suppose I could have used Determination to order him to be with me, but, that just doesn't seem fair. The quest is complete after a heart-to-heart with Felix on the Unreliable. Which means we're goin' back to Monarch for Nyoka's quest. The closest fast-travel point to the quest-marker is the Cascadia turnpike.
It's a mantisaur hive, so, one would certainly expect the entire family of manti-creatures. To say nothing of the queen, itself, that Nyoka spoke of. Nyoka has a few words before we set the bait, but, in the end, the job is done. The base is clear. Nyoka's old 'family', such as they were, can rest in peace.
I've a bunch of junk items to load off at Stellar Bay, but, after that, I guess it's time to head to Phinea's Lab.
I find it odd that the quest-marker for "Weapons From the Void", a weapon that was so adamantly refused to Alex Hawthorne, was pretty much out in the open for me to take. Not a crime at all.
The run-down from Phineas is as thus: the chemical dimethyl sulfoxide is the thing we'll be needing to resuscitate the remainder of the Hope's crew. The information broker has pointed to a certain Minister Clark on Byzatinum that has been hording that chemical. I am to steal it. Let me make it perfectly clear that Byzatium is the very heart of Board-controlled property on Terra-2, and that the estate in question is likely to be heavily guarded. Phineas' plan involves a bit of subterfuge. I am to meet with an associate of Phineas on Byzantium, and the details of the infiltration, or whatever it is that we're going to end up doing, will likely be smoothed over with them.
Thankfully, Phineas handed over his old NavKey to Byzantium. I don't have to do another mess of quests for that. I am semi-expecting a mass of quests for Byzantium, though. I suppose I can do a bit of a detour, and do "The Ice Palace" before the new story-mission "The City and the Stars". However, I am somewhat inclined to advance the story forward.
As it happens, going to the Byzantium landing pad triggers a quest tied to the Peril on Gorgon DLC, "The Ones Who Walk Away From Gorgon". However, I'll leave that alone, for now.
The marker for "The City and the Stars" actually isn't all that far from the landing pad. We learn two important things from the informant. One, is that Minister Clarke almost never leaves his estate. When he does, he's with guards. Some of them, when they are off-duty, go to the local bar for a drinkor five. Either way, it's in our best interest to get a lay of the area as a whole before making any moves.
After I get back to the pub, I talk to the guard that's there. Seems he's a new hire, and he's here celebrating his employment. Was tipsy enough to squawk about having a key to Minister Clark's estate on his person. Let's just say that I helped him celebrate his employment with three bottles of Spectrum Vodka. Seems like he drank the majority of those bottles too, as the conversation closed, with him walking over to a bench to lie down. With him thoroughly passed out, I took the opportunity presented me, and took his key. I'm kinda feeling sorry for this guy, but, this seems like the best way to Minister Clark. Or, at least, to where he's stashed the dimethyl sulfoxide.
Going through the front door is a no-go. That, we pretty much knew from the start. There are at least two side-entrances that we might be able to use that I noticed during my exploration of the city. One looks accessible from a balcony on an upper level, and the other looks accessible from a ladder coming up from a river running through the city. Getting to the balcony entrance doesn't seem possible from the ground, so, this leaves the river entrance. On an unsaved game, I got maybe a couple of feet inside the building before being spotted by guards. Call me crazy, but, I would like to do this without altering the authorities. The Holographic Shroud might help with that, if I knew how, or where, I might acquire a relevant datapad. So, what I'm going to do is call it a session here, and look up to see if such a thing even exists, and what I need to do to get it.
The closest fast-travel point to Trask's hideout is the Botanical Lab. As I approach the quest marker, I can see a gathering of people. So, he's not alone. Wasn't entirely expecting that, but, I'm still hoping we can have a peaceable conclusion here. Thankfully, there is a peaceable solution. One other thing of note. Perhaps, Harlow is the one that has been bought by the Board. Trask has supposedly hid evidence of such in Harlow's Base. Which, yes, means going back to Scylla, but, at this point, whatever. Besides, that was going to happen either way.
I wasn't 100% sure if there would be a quest-marker pointing me to Trask's evidence. Thankfully there was. What this evidence entails is a collection of receipts made to Harlow on behalf of the Halcyon Holdings Board of Directors. It lists the freighters his group targeted, their manifests, and the value of the cargo delivered to Board authorities. Showing him this evidence, and telling Trask's side of the story only makes him hostile. Or, at least the conversation options I was choosing led to that outcome. If we just hand over the ring, and tell him Trask is dead, the conversation still redirects to Trask's accusation. However, a different set of conversation options allow us to keep Felix a party-member, and Harlow alive. I don't actually know if Harlow is 100% honest about his intentions. If he really does desire to overthrow the Board when he's using their services, and being used by them in return. Perhaps there is a bit of irony in that, though.
Besides, if nothing else, I felt like the choice to be with his old friend, or me, really should have lied with Felix, himself. I suppose I could have used Determination to order him to be with me, but, that just doesn't seem fair. The quest is complete after a heart-to-heart with Felix on the Unreliable. Which means we're goin' back to Monarch for Nyoka's quest. The closest fast-travel point to the quest-marker is the Cascadia turnpike.
It's a mantisaur hive, so, one would certainly expect the entire family of manti-creatures. To say nothing of the queen, itself, that Nyoka spoke of. Nyoka has a few words before we set the bait, but, in the end, the job is done. The base is clear. Nyoka's old 'family', such as they were, can rest in peace.
I've a bunch of junk items to load off at Stellar Bay, but, after that, I guess it's time to head to Phinea's Lab.
I find it odd that the quest-marker for "Weapons From the Void", a weapon that was so adamantly refused to Alex Hawthorne, was pretty much out in the open for me to take. Not a crime at all.
The run-down from Phineas is as thus: the chemical dimethyl sulfoxide is the thing we'll be needing to resuscitate the remainder of the Hope's crew. The information broker has pointed to a certain Minister Clark on Byzatinum that has been hording that chemical. I am to steal it. Let me make it perfectly clear that Byzatium is the very heart of Board-controlled property on Terra-2, and that the estate in question is likely to be heavily guarded. Phineas' plan involves a bit of subterfuge. I am to meet with an associate of Phineas on Byzantium, and the details of the infiltration, or whatever it is that we're going to end up doing, will likely be smoothed over with them.
Thankfully, Phineas handed over his old NavKey to Byzantium. I don't have to do another mess of quests for that. I am semi-expecting a mass of quests for Byzantium, though. I suppose I can do a bit of a detour, and do "The Ice Palace" before the new story-mission "The City and the Stars". However, I am somewhat inclined to advance the story forward.
As it happens, going to the Byzantium landing pad triggers a quest tied to the Peril on Gorgon DLC, "The Ones Who Walk Away From Gorgon". However, I'll leave that alone, for now.
The marker for "The City and the Stars" actually isn't all that far from the landing pad. We learn two important things from the informant. One, is that Minister Clarke almost never leaves his estate. When he does, he's with guards. Some of them, when they are off-duty, go to the local bar for a drink
After I get back to the pub, I talk to the guard that's there. Seems he's a new hire, and he's here celebrating his employment. Was tipsy enough to squawk about having a key to Minister Clark's estate on his person. Let's just say that I helped him celebrate his employment with three bottles of Spectrum Vodka. Seems like he drank the majority of those bottles too, as the conversation closed, with him walking over to a bench to lie down. With him thoroughly passed out, I took the opportunity presented me, and took his key. I'm kinda feeling sorry for this guy, but, this seems like the best way to Minister Clark. Or, at least, to where he's stashed the dimethyl sulfoxide.
Going through the front door is a no-go. That, we pretty much knew from the start. There are at least two side-entrances that we might be able to use that I noticed during my exploration of the city. One looks accessible from a balcony on an upper level, and the other looks accessible from a ladder coming up from a river running through the city. Getting to the balcony entrance doesn't seem possible from the ground, so, this leaves the river entrance. On an unsaved game, I got maybe a couple of feet inside the building before being spotted by guards. Call me crazy, but, I would like to do this without altering the authorities. The Holographic Shroud might help with that, if I knew how, or where, I might acquire a relevant datapad. So, what I'm going to do is call it a session here, and look up to see if such a thing even exists, and what I need to do to get it.
I did my best not to read too far ahead of where I am, but, the trick to getting inside is completely different than what I thought it would be. We are going through the front gate. I had a brief talk with a guard earlier, and he let drop that Minister Clark was expecting a package. I didn't make anything of it at the time, but, apparently, being a deliverywoman is apparently Masako's way in.
The conversation with the Minister was an interesting one. He's apparently under house arrest by order of Chairman Rockwell of the Board. If I am to believe Clark, the Chairman has been buying up the dimethyl sulfoxide in Clark's name. It behooves us to investigate if there is truth behind Clark's words. Of course, Chairman Rockwell resides in the Acropolis district, and is probably as well-guarded as this estate, if not better. We might be able to get into the district by way of a maintenance tunnel. Clark made it sound like the route would be dangerous, but, that's never stopped us before!
I was also given the task ("The Lying Earth") to send a message on behalf of Clark to the Earth Directorate, and appraise them of the situation on Halycon. Not sure what good that would do, but, why not.
I'll note that the quest-marker is not denoting the location of the tunnel, but is denoting the location of the building I'm to infiltrate once I get out of the tunnels. The entrance to said tunnels was along the path back to the landing pad of the Unreliable, however, so, it could have been a lot worse.
As it happens, I come out of the tunnels right behind a guarded perimeter. I sneak past them, and get into the Halycon Holdings Corporation building. There was a smidgen of red tape to cut, but, I eventually get into Minister Clark's old office, and his terminal. We can observe several takes of Chairman Rockwell's announcement of a "Lifetime Employment Plan".
Now, maybe I'm misinterpreting a number of things here, but, what I'm gathering is that the Board was looking at the population of Halycon, versus how much it costs to maintain that population. There was a particular focus on food, I'm pretty sure. What I'm not sure of is if they made any comparison in regards to a growth of that population. In any event, they came to the conclusion that the current population could not be sustained. Hence, they hatch this "Lifetime Employment Plan". On the surface, is a call to people to sign up to be entered into status, and to be restored back to life when the food crisis facing Halycon has been solved. While it's true that people in status don't need to eat, the machine still needs to maintained. That's why I'm thinking that the reality of this plan actually involves murder: it would simply be the most cost-efficient way to stabilize until the crisis is abated.
Aside from sending off Minister Clark's message to Earth, we learn that the dimethyl sulfoxide should be with the Ministry ofTruth Accuracy and Morale. The building is located west of the Halcyon Holding Corporation's Building, still very much within the Board-restricted area of Acropolis. The door would normally be locked, but, we were able to make a key at Clark's office. As with the HHC Building, it doesn't seem to be a crime to wander about inside the building. Looking at the map, it seems like the chemicals are on the bottom floor. We can get to the floor easy enough. A bit of a conversation with one of the clerks here allows me access to the floor, but, the floor, itself, is still very much a restricted area. However, there was a locked door with a datapad for a Board-aligned security guard for use by the Holographic Shroud.
The distance I have to cover is too vast for the Shroud to last the entire time there and back. It can be recharged with successful dialog checks, and I manage to make the journey with three such checks. I had to access a console to be able to take the chemicals, but, I learned two things from that console. One was that this lab was for the testing for the effects of continual freezing and unfreezing of people with the least amount of drawback, and functionality. The other tidbit was to remove all of the chemicals I needed would induce death for the test subjects currently in the system. I don't pretend to know how many people they had there to test the system, but, the amount I could safely extract was about 23% of the total that the lab had in storage. I don't know if that's enough to revive the people of the Hope, but, it's what we got.
As something of an aside, I didn't expect the "Lifetime Employment Plan" was ever about the human factor. It's still about making as much money as possible, but, it's not as grim as I imagined. Still, the project is more about the preservation of labor and industry than about trying to actually solve the problems of Halycon. I suppose resorting to murder to keep costs down and profits up would put the Board in too much of an "evil" light.
Either way, we've gotten what we came here to do, and I can't fast-travel to the Unreliable fast enough. A communication from Adjunct Sophia Akande greets me as I enter the cockpit. I don't pretend to care what it is she's offering, but, she wants me to hack Phineas' communications terminal to set up a tracking signal so that he might be captured by the Board. If I had any intention of betraying Phineas' trust in me, I probably would have done so on the Groundbreaker. I didn't feel any particular desire to betray him then, and I don't have any particular desire to betray him now. We can safely put this "Long Distance" quest with the other quests I have zero intention to complete.
Even so, we can return to Phineas' Lab now, and probably complete "The City and the Stars". Or, I can run off and do "The Ice Palace". Yeah, let's take a detour from the main story, and do "The Ice Palace".
I needed to turn the power back on before I could turn the station over to SubLight. There was a patrol of UDL ships that came by as the power went on, and I was able to convince them to leave peacefully. Of course, they turned on the security remotely, as a "just in case" thing, which meant that certain areas were flagged as restricted. Thankfully, I found a UDL datapad, and let the Holographic Shroud do it's work. It was, partially, in thanks to it that I was able to convince the patrol to leave. Back to the Groundbreaker then!
I turn in "The Ice Palace", and it's beginning to look like the game is, once again, going to force me into the next quest, whether I like it or not. However, I can leave the conversation. I didn't want to get as involved as I am with SubLight in the first place, so, maybe I can take this opportunity to give that faction a rest.
As a point of curiosity, I took Parvati to Junlei. Having Felix in my party triggered some commentary from the Chief Engineer, but, no particular extra thing because of Parvati. Ah, well. I figure it couldn't hurt to check. Right, then! To Phineas' Lab!
When I relay what I know, and what I have, Phineas expresses rage at the Board's plan, and notes that what I've brought is not enough to revive all the colonist still on board the Hope. Maybe a few more, if that. He's of the belief that the Board is going to sacrifice the people on the Hope to make room for it's "Lifetime Employment Plan". Which, I can kinda see where he's coming from.
The plan we put together is a crazy, risky plan. What we're going to do is use the Hope's skip-dive (ie: the game's FTL travel device) to send it into orbit around Terra-2's rings. It's probably not in the best of shape, so, we use the Unreliable to get there, and do what we can. Also, he mentioned sending a corrupted signal to Adjunct Sophia to buy him some time. Phineas is fully aware of how long the Board has been after him, and believes they will probably find him sooner or later. With this, he'll know they're coming, and we'll be buying him some time to prepare himself for the company (pun somewhat intended).
Sophia seems to be of the belief that it was Phineas that corrupted the signal. Not going to correct her on that point. She wants me to visit her on Byzantium, and have a talk about the future of the colony. I have nothing I want to discuss with her. I've got a Hope to revive. However, that will be another session! It's definitely feeling like I'm looming in on the end of this game, but, I guess we'll see!
The conversation with the Minister was an interesting one. He's apparently under house arrest by order of Chairman Rockwell of the Board. If I am to believe Clark, the Chairman has been buying up the dimethyl sulfoxide in Clark's name. It behooves us to investigate if there is truth behind Clark's words. Of course, Chairman Rockwell resides in the Acropolis district, and is probably as well-guarded as this estate, if not better. We might be able to get into the district by way of a maintenance tunnel. Clark made it sound like the route would be dangerous, but, that's never stopped us before!
I was also given the task ("The Lying Earth") to send a message on behalf of Clark to the Earth Directorate, and appraise them of the situation on Halycon. Not sure what good that would do, but, why not.
I'll note that the quest-marker is not denoting the location of the tunnel, but is denoting the location of the building I'm to infiltrate once I get out of the tunnels. The entrance to said tunnels was along the path back to the landing pad of the Unreliable, however, so, it could have been a lot worse.
As it happens, I come out of the tunnels right behind a guarded perimeter. I sneak past them, and get into the Halycon Holdings Corporation building. There was a smidgen of red tape to cut, but, I eventually get into Minister Clark's old office, and his terminal. We can observe several takes of Chairman Rockwell's announcement of a "Lifetime Employment Plan".
Now, maybe I'm misinterpreting a number of things here, but, what I'm gathering is that the Board was looking at the population of Halycon, versus how much it costs to maintain that population. There was a particular focus on food, I'm pretty sure. What I'm not sure of is if they made any comparison in regards to a growth of that population. In any event, they came to the conclusion that the current population could not be sustained. Hence, they hatch this "Lifetime Employment Plan". On the surface, is a call to people to sign up to be entered into status, and to be restored back to life when the food crisis facing Halycon has been solved. While it's true that people in status don't need to eat, the machine still needs to maintained. That's why I'm thinking that the reality of this plan actually involves murder: it would simply be the most cost-efficient way to stabilize until the crisis is abated.
Aside from sending off Minister Clark's message to Earth, we learn that the dimethyl sulfoxide should be with the Ministry of
The distance I have to cover is too vast for the Shroud to last the entire time there and back. It can be recharged with successful dialog checks, and I manage to make the journey with three such checks. I had to access a console to be able to take the chemicals, but, I learned two things from that console. One was that this lab was for the testing for the effects of continual freezing and unfreezing of people with the least amount of drawback, and functionality. The other tidbit was to remove all of the chemicals I needed would induce death for the test subjects currently in the system. I don't pretend to know how many people they had there to test the system, but, the amount I could safely extract was about 23% of the total that the lab had in storage. I don't know if that's enough to revive the people of the Hope, but, it's what we got.
As something of an aside, I didn't expect the "Lifetime Employment Plan" was ever about the human factor. It's still about making as much money as possible, but, it's not as grim as I imagined. Still, the project is more about the preservation of labor and industry than about trying to actually solve the problems of Halycon. I suppose resorting to murder to keep costs down and profits up would put the Board in too much of an "evil" light.
Either way, we've gotten what we came here to do, and I can't fast-travel to the Unreliable fast enough. A communication from Adjunct Sophia Akande greets me as I enter the cockpit. I don't pretend to care what it is she's offering, but, she wants me to hack Phineas' communications terminal to set up a tracking signal so that he might be captured by the Board. If I had any intention of betraying Phineas' trust in me, I probably would have done so on the Groundbreaker. I didn't feel any particular desire to betray him then, and I don't have any particular desire to betray him now. We can safely put this "Long Distance" quest with the other quests I have zero intention to complete.
Even so, we can return to Phineas' Lab now, and probably complete "The City and the Stars". Or, I can run off and do "The Ice Palace". Yeah, let's take a detour from the main story, and do "The Ice Palace".
I needed to turn the power back on before I could turn the station over to SubLight. There was a patrol of UDL ships that came by as the power went on, and I was able to convince them to leave peacefully. Of course, they turned on the security remotely, as a "just in case" thing, which meant that certain areas were flagged as restricted. Thankfully, I found a UDL datapad, and let the Holographic Shroud do it's work. It was, partially, in thanks to it that I was able to convince the patrol to leave. Back to the Groundbreaker then!
I turn in "The Ice Palace", and it's beginning to look like the game is, once again, going to force me into the next quest, whether I like it or not. However, I can leave the conversation. I didn't want to get as involved as I am with SubLight in the first place, so, maybe I can take this opportunity to give that faction a rest.
As a point of curiosity, I took Parvati to Junlei. Having Felix in my party triggered some commentary from the Chief Engineer, but, no particular extra thing because of Parvati. Ah, well. I figure it couldn't hurt to check. Right, then! To Phineas' Lab!
When I relay what I know, and what I have, Phineas expresses rage at the Board's plan, and notes that what I've brought is not enough to revive all the colonist still on board the Hope. Maybe a few more, if that. He's of the belief that the Board is going to sacrifice the people on the Hope to make room for it's "Lifetime Employment Plan". Which, I can kinda see where he's coming from.
The plan we put together is a crazy, risky plan. What we're going to do is use the Hope's skip-dive (ie: the game's FTL travel device) to send it into orbit around Terra-2's rings. It's probably not in the best of shape, so, we use the Unreliable to get there, and do what we can. Also, he mentioned sending a corrupted signal to Adjunct Sophia to buy him some time. Phineas is fully aware of how long the Board has been after him, and believes they will probably find him sooner or later. With this, he'll know they're coming, and we'll be buying him some time to prepare himself for the company (pun somewhat intended).
Sophia seems to be of the belief that it was Phineas that corrupted the signal. Not going to correct her on that point. She wants me to visit her on Byzantium, and have a talk about the future of the colony. I have nothing I want to discuss with her. I've got a Hope to revive. However, that will be another session! It's definitely feeling like I'm looming in on the end of this game, but, I guess we'll see!
I don't know if there is a point of no return in this game. However, I'm going to act as if this is such a point. I'm looking at my journal...
...now, to make sure that what things are still there are things I feel comfortable leaving unresolved. I'm not going to lie, I did give some due considerations to "The Ones Who Walk Away From Gorgon". However, in the end, I decide I'm okay with advancing the main-line story.
I took Parvati for her bonus to engineering, and SAM because why not. The Hope has a number of UDL sentries guarding it, and large portions of Board-restricted area. I find two UDL datapads for the Holographic Shroud as I walk through the ship, allowing me a bit of a wider birth to explore.
A few conversation checks later, and the Hope is successfully skipped into the rings of Terra-2. All without firing a single shot. ADA has taken the liberty of sending a message to Phineas relaying this, but, it seems he's busy. My guess is that the Board has found him.
No sooner had I poked my head into the cockpit of the Unreliable, ADA relays a message from Phineas, obviously under attack. He didn't expect the Board to come at him with as much force as they are bringing. He might be dead by the time I reach his lab, and the place infested with troops. I don't know if this is a firefight I can talk myself out of. However, I'm bound to go, and see what it is that I can do.
Phineas has been kidnapped an imprisoned. Taken to the prison-planet of Tartarus, no less. Phineas left me a NavKey to such in the back of the lab, which has heretofore been inaccessible. The crew of the Unreliable have a small round table discussion before we set off. Of course, I want to set Phineas free. Getting him out is going to be the toughest thing we've done yet. I'd rather continue to avoid shots being fired. Or, a least, with as few shots fired as possible. However, I just don't know how well that's going to work. Last level-up, I dumped all my skill points into Persuade, and it's only up to 75 at base value. We'll see how far that goes.
However, if nothing else, the game makes it abundantly clear that going to Tartarus is, in fact, this game's...
...point of no return. So! Am I really ready to tackle "Brave New World"? This might be a case of making a save and see how far I can get into Tartarus.
So, sooner do I land on Tartarus that I am buzzed by security, informing me of an explicit violation of landing here. There is, of course, a due process of filing the violation that takes who knows how long to file before my ship gets confiscated, and I'm executed. I weasel a datapad off this guy so I might not get immediately shot at when I disembark from the Unreliable. That said, I have no idea how far I need to get, and therefore, how often I'll need to recharge the Holographic Shroud. I'm pretty good at persuasion, so, I guess we'll see how many checks I'll need.
Something interesting happened when I disembarked from the Unreliable. A landing party from the Groundbreaker, led my Junlei, no less, have decided to wreck havoc. I'm technically under the Shroud, disguised as Tartarus security, but, I give them a wide berth.
I pass two conversation checks before getting into an area called The Pit. Another one until I meet with Charman Rockwell, himself. That was an interesting conversation. Barely managed the Persuade check to let me pass. At the moment, we seem to have something of an agreement. If I can make it out of here alive, with Phineas, I'll need somebody (ie: the Chairman) to convince the Board that the colonist still hibernating on the Hope, and all of Halcyon, is worth saving. Do I trust him? No. Not in the slightest. Do I have a choice? No. I'm deep in Board property. He's perfectly within his rights to have me shot up into Swiss cheese, and I'm sure he'd be more than capable, and happy, to speed up whatever paperwork needs to be filed with such a thing.
However, as convincing has I have been, I simply don't have what it takes to talk down Sophia Akadne, who has Phineas in custody. I don't remember all the skill-checks she was looking for, but one of them was one of the melee skills, which I have woefully ignored the entire game. So, it looks like I'm going to do some shooting after all. At least I confined it to this floor!
Before I can get to Phineas, I must go through a rather large room guarded by an automechanical. It's a though fight, and there's a number of smaller, flying units as followers/minions. Defeating the main boss seems to fell the minions, so that makes things a little easier to deal with. Then, there is Sophia, herself. However, she doesn't last very long against my party's onslaught. Maybe all of one clip, if that? The key to unlock Phinea's prison is on her corpse, and we have a little chit-chat about what we're going to do next.
Apparently, Phineas has learned through Sophia that Earth has gone dark. The last successful communication with Earth was some three years ago. It's probably safe to say that there's not going to be any assistance from there any time soon. Supposing any will come at all. The problems Halycon has, it must face them alone.
Then pretty much comes the ending slide-show. I didn't jot anything down, and the thing was all audio that I could barely hear with my default volume levels, with no text/subtitles. Still, I will endeavor to recall what points I can (with, perhaps, some embellishing on my part), underneath the hide-tag.
Phineas revives what colonists on board the Hope he can, and does his damnest to find some manner of solution to the food problem, along with those that he revived. He still punishes himself over his failures, and carries that burden even onto his deathbed.
No longer shackled by being a Spacer's Choice colony, Edgewater's cannery was eventually converted into a garden, under the leadership of Adelaide. Her rule is something of a "my way or the highway" deal, but, given the choice between working with her and starving, well, yeah. It's not the best situation to be in, but, this is pretty much what's happening across all of Halycon.
The Groundbreaker is as vigilant with it's independence as it ever was. I have no idea how much longer that independence lasts, but, I'm fairly certain that it will remain so for at least one more generation.
SubLight gains traction and legitimacy. Lilya Hagen is a fierce protector of her business, as well as her people.
The situation on Monarch isn't too bright. The Iconoclasts and Monarch Stellar Industries continue their fight over supremacy of the moon. The side that wins is the beasts that feed off of the overwhelming carcasses of the fallen. What few survivors do come out either go to Terra-2 or the Groundbreaker.
As the influence of the Board crumbles, and the eventual news that Halcyon isn't getting resupplied by Earth any time soon, the citizens of Byzatium find themselves in the awkward situation that the rest of the colony finds itself in. For, perhaps, the first time in it's history, it's citizen's need to actually worry about survival. Heavens forbid it, but, some citizens even find *gasp* jobs!
Chairman Rockwell, for better or worse, he is still very much the face of Halcyon. While he likely knew that Earth had gone dark long before anybody else, I think I finally understand where he was coming from. Even if his decisions still have the stink of corporate greed.
Minister Clark is released from house arrest. He turns his considerable efforts toward the issues facing Halcyon, quite possibly working side-by-side with Phineas, and what colonist he managed to revived from the Hope in dealing with the issue of starvation.
Felix was once enchanted with ideas of being a dissident. Of going up against the Board, and seeing it crash. However, even he realizes that there's a mess to clean up, and his willingness to do just about any job helps considerably in forwarding the endless task of clean-up.
Nyokoa returns to Monarch to create a new mercenary unit. Whether you're seeking a scout, or just want some good company to go with your beer, Nyoka's got you covered.
Parvati stays on board the Unreliable as it's first, and only, Chief Engineer. She prefers to be with ADA than among others, and her exchanges with ADA seem to brighten her day.
Vicor Max retires to assist others in his priestly work, raising arms only in the defense of the helpless. While he no longer seeks the path of enlightenment, he does what he can to enlighten others.
SAM was deployed to Monarch to "clean" the vast mess that is it's beast population. Did you know that SAMs are among the longest lasting of cleaning units?
It may take some time to find out what happened to Earth. Until then, Halcyon has to learn how to stand on it's own two feet. It is unfortunate that there was a non-zero number of people that died from starvation. It shouldn't have had to come to that. However, by and large, Halycon does pull through, thanks to the efforts of it's people.
Chairman Rockwell could only see reviving the colonists of the Hope as more mouths to feed. Another person saw it in the same say as Phineas did; as an opportunity to use the very best humanity has to offer to overcome the obstacles facing Halcyon. That person was the first to be thawed from the Hope, and her name, and ship, will be long-remembered in the annals of Halcyon's history.
Final save game-time: 38 hours, 52 minutes.
Aaaaaaaaand, there you have it! I must admit, my eyes rolled a bit in regards to the aftermath on Monarch, but, I'm ultimately pleased with this play-trough. Running it through "Story" difficulty was something of a mixed bag, though. Yes, I didn't have to worry about dying every other fight, but, it kinda meant less juicy stuff to write about. If there was, like, a difficulty between "Story" and "Normal", that might have been more interesting.
I'll probably play this again. Eventually. I may make similar choices, but, I might see the end of the SubLight faction quests, and maybe choose a faction on Monarch because, well, yeah. That, and play through "Peril on Gorgon". By the time I get back to this, the other DLC content, "Murder on Eridanos" likely would have released as well.
...now, to make sure that what things are still there are things I feel comfortable leaving unresolved. I'm not going to lie, I did give some due considerations to "The Ones Who Walk Away From Gorgon". However, in the end, I decide I'm okay with advancing the main-line story.
I took Parvati for her bonus to engineering, and SAM because why not. The Hope has a number of UDL sentries guarding it, and large portions of Board-restricted area. I find two UDL datapads for the Holographic Shroud as I walk through the ship, allowing me a bit of a wider birth to explore.
A few conversation checks later, and the Hope is successfully skipped into the rings of Terra-2. All without firing a single shot. ADA has taken the liberty of sending a message to Phineas relaying this, but, it seems he's busy. My guess is that the Board has found him.
No sooner had I poked my head into the cockpit of the Unreliable, ADA relays a message from Phineas, obviously under attack. He didn't expect the Board to come at him with as much force as they are bringing. He might be dead by the time I reach his lab, and the place infested with troops. I don't know if this is a firefight I can talk myself out of. However, I'm bound to go, and see what it is that I can do.
Phineas has been kidnapped an imprisoned. Taken to the prison-planet of Tartarus, no less. Phineas left me a NavKey to such in the back of the lab, which has heretofore been inaccessible. The crew of the Unreliable have a small round table discussion before we set off. Of course, I want to set Phineas free. Getting him out is going to be the toughest thing we've done yet. I'd rather continue to avoid shots being fired. Or, a least, with as few shots fired as possible. However, I just don't know how well that's going to work. Last level-up, I dumped all my skill points into Persuade, and it's only up to 75 at base value. We'll see how far that goes.
However, if nothing else, the game makes it abundantly clear that going to Tartarus is, in fact, this game's...
...point of no return. So! Am I really ready to tackle "Brave New World"? This might be a case of making a save and see how far I can get into Tartarus.
So, sooner do I land on Tartarus that I am buzzed by security, informing me of an explicit violation of landing here. There is, of course, a due process of filing the violation that takes who knows how long to file before my ship gets confiscated, and I'm executed. I weasel a datapad off this guy so I might not get immediately shot at when I disembark from the Unreliable. That said, I have no idea how far I need to get, and therefore, how often I'll need to recharge the Holographic Shroud. I'm pretty good at persuasion, so, I guess we'll see how many checks I'll need.
Something interesting happened when I disembarked from the Unreliable. A landing party from the Groundbreaker, led my Junlei, no less, have decided to wreck havoc. I'm technically under the Shroud, disguised as Tartarus security, but, I give them a wide berth.
I pass two conversation checks before getting into an area called The Pit. Another one until I meet with Charman Rockwell, himself. That was an interesting conversation. Barely managed the Persuade check to let me pass. At the moment, we seem to have something of an agreement. If I can make it out of here alive, with Phineas, I'll need somebody (ie: the Chairman) to convince the Board that the colonist still hibernating on the Hope, and all of Halcyon, is worth saving. Do I trust him? No. Not in the slightest. Do I have a choice? No. I'm deep in Board property. He's perfectly within his rights to have me shot up into Swiss cheese, and I'm sure he'd be more than capable, and happy, to speed up whatever paperwork needs to be filed with such a thing.
However, as convincing has I have been, I simply don't have what it takes to talk down Sophia Akadne, who has Phineas in custody. I don't remember all the skill-checks she was looking for, but one of them was one of the melee skills, which I have woefully ignored the entire game. So, it looks like I'm going to do some shooting after all. At least I confined it to this floor!
Before I can get to Phineas, I must go through a rather large room guarded by an automechanical. It's a though fight, and there's a number of smaller, flying units as followers/minions. Defeating the main boss seems to fell the minions, so that makes things a little easier to deal with. Then, there is Sophia, herself. However, she doesn't last very long against my party's onslaught. Maybe all of one clip, if that? The key to unlock Phinea's prison is on her corpse, and we have a little chit-chat about what we're going to do next.
Apparently, Phineas has learned through Sophia that Earth has gone dark. The last successful communication with Earth was some three years ago. It's probably safe to say that there's not going to be any assistance from there any time soon. Supposing any will come at all. The problems Halycon has, it must face them alone.
Then pretty much comes the ending slide-show. I didn't jot anything down, and the thing was all audio that I could barely hear with my default volume levels, with no text/subtitles. Still, I will endeavor to recall what points I can (with, perhaps, some embellishing on my part), underneath the hide-tag.
Phineas revives what colonists on board the Hope he can, and does his damnest to find some manner of solution to the food problem, along with those that he revived. He still punishes himself over his failures, and carries that burden even onto his deathbed.
No longer shackled by being a Spacer's Choice colony, Edgewater's cannery was eventually converted into a garden, under the leadership of Adelaide. Her rule is something of a "my way or the highway" deal, but, given the choice between working with her and starving, well, yeah. It's not the best situation to be in, but, this is pretty much what's happening across all of Halycon.
The Groundbreaker is as vigilant with it's independence as it ever was. I have no idea how much longer that independence lasts, but, I'm fairly certain that it will remain so for at least one more generation.
SubLight gains traction and legitimacy. Lilya Hagen is a fierce protector of her business, as well as her people.
The situation on Monarch isn't too bright. The Iconoclasts and Monarch Stellar Industries continue their fight over supremacy of the moon. The side that wins is the beasts that feed off of the overwhelming carcasses of the fallen. What few survivors do come out either go to Terra-2 or the Groundbreaker.
As the influence of the Board crumbles, and the eventual news that Halcyon isn't getting resupplied by Earth any time soon, the citizens of Byzatium find themselves in the awkward situation that the rest of the colony finds itself in. For, perhaps, the first time in it's history, it's citizen's need to actually worry about survival. Heavens forbid it, but, some citizens even find *gasp* jobs!
Chairman Rockwell, for better or worse, he is still very much the face of Halcyon. While he likely knew that Earth had gone dark long before anybody else, I think I finally understand where he was coming from. Even if his decisions still have the stink of corporate greed.
Minister Clark is released from house arrest. He turns his considerable efforts toward the issues facing Halcyon, quite possibly working side-by-side with Phineas, and what colonist he managed to revived from the Hope in dealing with the issue of starvation.
Felix was once enchanted with ideas of being a dissident. Of going up against the Board, and seeing it crash. However, even he realizes that there's a mess to clean up, and his willingness to do just about any job helps considerably in forwarding the endless task of clean-up.
Nyokoa returns to Monarch to create a new mercenary unit. Whether you're seeking a scout, or just want some good company to go with your beer, Nyoka's got you covered.
Parvati stays on board the Unreliable as it's first, and only, Chief Engineer. She prefers to be with ADA than among others, and her exchanges with ADA seem to brighten her day.
Vicor Max retires to assist others in his priestly work, raising arms only in the defense of the helpless. While he no longer seeks the path of enlightenment, he does what he can to enlighten others.
SAM was deployed to Monarch to "clean" the vast mess that is it's beast population. Did you know that SAMs are among the longest lasting of cleaning units?
It may take some time to find out what happened to Earth. Until then, Halcyon has to learn how to stand on it's own two feet. It is unfortunate that there was a non-zero number of people that died from starvation. It shouldn't have had to come to that. However, by and large, Halycon does pull through, thanks to the efforts of it's people.
Chairman Rockwell could only see reviving the colonists of the Hope as more mouths to feed. Another person saw it in the same say as Phineas did; as an opportunity to use the very best humanity has to offer to overcome the obstacles facing Halcyon. That person was the first to be thawed from the Hope, and her name, and ship, will be long-remembered in the annals of Halcyon's history.
Final save game-time: 38 hours, 52 minutes.
Aaaaaaaaand, there you have it! I must admit, my eyes rolled a bit in regards to the aftermath on Monarch, but, I'm ultimately pleased with this play-trough. Running it through "Story" difficulty was something of a mixed bag, though. Yes, I didn't have to worry about dying every other fight, but, it kinda meant less juicy stuff to write about. If there was, like, a difficulty between "Story" and "Normal", that might have been more interesting.
I'll probably play this again. Eventually. I may make similar choices, but, I might see the end of the SubLight faction quests, and maybe choose a faction on Monarch because, well, yeah. That, and play through "Peril on Gorgon". By the time I get back to this, the other DLC content, "Murder on Eridanos" likely would have released as well.
