Part 15: Sunrise over a sea of blood

Sunrise over a sea of blood

Last time we saved two poor girls from a fiery death and became a legendary prize fighter.

This time we will enter the last arc of the game and get on with killing those filthy mutants. Also we may find our sister, as that is still a thing.

Onward to Vesseltown!


As there will be a big fight coming, I changed my loadout a tiny bit. Butch grabbed a m249 "SAW" which I named "PTSD" and took the 40mm launcher for the complete GI theme. Our boy Keno, grabbed the SVD and named it "Natasha" because it sends you love from Russia.


First impressions can be deceptive, Seagull.

The map actually has two areas. The upper area has some houses and the harbor area/facilities.

The lower area however..



Vesseltown is more than a funky name. The folks around actually settled in the derelict ships. Let me say that this is one of my favorite areas. The map is really well designed and you can find a good deal of backstory, if you look for it. But more on that later.

For now, we have to find a way to get down there. You might think "Use rope!" but there are a lot of Shadows down there which wouldn't be pleased by our daisy chain antics. We also can't just snipe em from up here as they do not count as hostiles, for now. A crafty plan is needed.

A crane and a freight container?



Let's chat up a guy next to it.

:"Hey, I need to go down there."



:"Listen. I can eat three of those Shadow jerks for breakfast and spit them out again before lunch! You're going to lower me down there! And I mean now!"


Of course you want something. It's hard out here for a Saviour.

:"The MBA? Should I have heard of it?"


That sounds like a really horrible internet fetish.

Have another look at the harbor before I make my way over to the corpse museum.

Industry!

The MBA is kind of hidden in the upper corner of the map.

We could just talk to the guy in front but that wouldn't get us anywhere.

Here's the deal.
To get the door code we either have to help a woman find her runaway donkey, which sounds like an euphemism for a dirty sex-move, and is a lame fetchquest. Or we have to trick the museum guy into thinking that we are really cultured and care a whole lot about the MBA. How do we pull that? By answering all his questions about the MBA. Of course we don't know shit about it, but behind the building are several handy brochures on the ground.






I feel much more sophisticated already! Also the translator forgot the last line.

:"This is the "Museum of Body Art", isn't it?"

:"Who're you and why do you want to know?"

:"I've come a long way to have a look at the MBA."

:"Delightful! You do look well traveled. This is a nice surprise indeed!"


:"Certainly, I have been around quite a bit! And now I'd like to know the opening hours."



His quiz works via a multiple choice pattern. If you fuck up, you have to start over.

:"Who was the architect of the MBA?"

:"Ian Wymers."

:"Well I never, that's correct! But that question wasn't too hard."

:"Who was the inventor of Body Mummy Art?"

:"Ephraim Ruben."
Aka: A sick fuck.

:"Yes, it was him! An exceptionally gifted artist. You seem to be a well-educated person after all!"


:"When was the first superstar mummified?"

:"12 January 2043."

:"Very good! You appear to enjoy our little quiz."
NO!

:"Which superstar was the first to be mummified?"

:"Gene "Angel" Morgan."

:"Excellent! You are quite the expert, if you allow me to say so. If you can answer the next question, I'll give you the code. But this one is not so easy."

:"Which words did Gene "Angel" Morgan NOT say when he was the first superstar to sign a mummification contract. Careful, several answers are correct! And you have to tell me them all..."
Oh, you tricky dick!


We have to name the three things that the guy didn't say. It's in the brochure but it's easy to fuck up here.

:"Right three times! I must say, I'm seriously impressed!"



:"0443."


My new job? Wait..I..

:"New job? Hang on a moment, I.. Ah, what the hell? This Andrew fella will do it. He wanted to move in anyway."
Oh, that's alright then.


Inside are several glass coffins and Rupert will tell us about the people in them. Also you can find several historical documents in here. This is all quite neat fluff and backstory stuff but I'll show that in a separate bonus update. So you can easily skip it if you don't care. But before I leave, I quickly pick up two quest items for later.

Before I go back to the crane, I quickly loot the area. I manage to find another SAW, a suit of Dt21 and second M46 suit!

Have another sneek-peek at Vesseltown.

I wonder what this cage could be for?

Also, hidden on the outskirts of the harbor is a familiar face.


:"I know you from New Safford! I even collected headlines for you."

:"Uuuh.. Yeah.. I remember. That was before I founded the publishing company. My newspaper-boys now deliver to virtually all of the south-western USA. People really like my paper!"

:"Really? I.. wouldn't have expected that when I saw you standing there with your broken printing press."

:"People often underestimate the power of the printed word. Naturally we're already planning to expand further. Our success is due in part to your efforts.. But now you'll have to excuse me. We're having an important business meeting."

Oh I see how it is. Now that you are sitting pretty you forget your old friends, eh? Fine! I didn't want to be a reporter anyway. See if I care about your dumb little paper.



Hey..Uhm.. I didn't mean it like that. Your paper is totally cool and I want in on the hot writing action. Please? I covered wars, you know?!

With our dreams crushed, let's go and kill some mutants!

:"Ok, the code is 0443. Have fun with it. And now start the crane, I've lost enough time already."


WHAT?!

:"Stop! You're going to stay here until I'm down there, understand? Tell me what's wrong with the crane!"

:"Well, the kids have damaged the carburetor. The engine used to purr like a kitten... One of those little scum-bags was shooting around here and put a hole in it."
This is a really lame way to stretch out play time. If you don't have a tech person you need to find car parts so Andrew can fix the crane.

But we have Butch!
:"Hmm.. This shouldn't be too much of a problem. Let's see.. Ha, I'll be able to fix that."


You probably can't really see it, but Butch is fixing things in there.

Then a cutscene plays..





That's no joke. There are corpses everywhere! The Shadows really razed this place. Time for some payback!

I thought about making a short vid for this, but the fight will be very chaotic and I have not found a way to show it off nicely. So it's screens.

I start between two groups of Shadows.





The AI has a real hard-on for killing Keno. This will turn into a problem later.

I wanted to give him a chance to shine. Show his camo skill and night sight.


Didn't work out that well.

I really think that the skill is bugged. Like so many other things.

Back to the old tactics.



Yep, Keno still takes all the damage. Luckily I had Agnes bring plenty of healing.

I ambush some lone Shadows.


And then things go south. Like deep south.

A second, much bigger, group shows up on my flank. You know what they got? Machine guns and grenades.


Keno!


He burned all of his supplies, and the damage keeps coming. Victor goes on a brave mission and creeps forward to chuck grenades.


Don't die!


Agnes to the rescue!


That was way too close. If I hadn't given him the second suit of M46 he would have been the first downed member. Agnes could have picked him up again but still.

Let's give him some revenge.





When I kill the last mutant..


:"I didn't say you could die! Me - a traitor of humanity? Who was it that started the killing then?! You dirty rat.. Ahh, who cares? That fella's dead."
That was much more cryptic than I would like....
Still he had a key on him, so let's rescue some people.

Also the surviving villagers come out of their holes and move back into Vesseltown. I take a quick look at the dead Shadows but they mainly have junk.
Except for..



This is the only reason to skill one of your crew with light weapons. Obviously it goes on the endgame pile.

Back to the matter at hand.


:"Oh, my god! There's Anie. And she seems to be in good shape."




:"All the time I was hoping that I'd get out of here. It was so terrible! But.. but to see you here.. I never dreamed that would happen. I thought.. I thought, you were..."
_{This is told in a sobbing voice}

:"Easy, easy. It's all over now. I'm fine. Tell me what happened to you? I couldn't find you anywhere after the attack on our village."




Wesley...*flashback of chainsaw sounds*

:"Did they do anything to you?"

:"Not at the beginning. They dragged us through various villages and we eventually ended up here. When we arrived, they locked us up. Shortly after that they led us out, one by one, and gave each of us an injection."

:"An injection?"

:"Yes, look. It must be poison or something. My skin is all blotchy where the needle went in and sometimes I suddenly feel very weak. Everyone's the same."
I don't like this one bit.

:"Damn! Those sons of bitches... I've no idea what it is. What else could it be but poison? We have to find an antidote somehow. But where to look?"

:"In their headquarters maybe? I know where it is. It lies to the southeast of here. They spoke of it a lot when we were on the road. Their leader is also there."
Seek&destroy.

:"Their leader? I think that's our only chance. Come on, let's go now. Should you feel sick or dizzy, tell me. Then I'll carry you."

So how about that? We've finaly found Seagull's sister and she's alive too. Well, maybe not for long if that stuff was really poison. But then again, the Shadows have been really cryptic so far and the whole affair does not make much sense. Can Inspector Seagull crack this case?

We still have to talk to Anie about more things before we can move on. I won't show it all though.

:"I think you should know that Wesley betrayed our village to the Ratskulls. It was he who made the attack possible."

:"What?! That bastard! How come you know this? Where is he now?"

:"In hell, I hope. I killed him. The worst thing is that Dad survived the attack. It was Wesley that killed him. He knew that Dad would discover his treachery. But you'd best forget about him. He's no more than a piece of rotting meat in the wasteland."


:"I hope, the other hostages treated you well."



:"That's no reason. I'll take care of this."



:"Look here! They rammed needles into us!"

:"Take your stinking arm away! Which of you took my sister's food and water rations away from her?!"
I like to think that he cocks his gun at this point.


Actually, yes I would have. Aside from the pouring water over your head thing, you know?

:"You should've asked first. My sister would've given the weakest her share. You're lucky that I haven't got time for this shit. I have to go and you'd better go back to the GNO HQ."

:"You're not going to just leave us here? You can't do that! We need the antidote too! I heard how you talked about the Shadows' HQ. We'll come with you!"

:"No way. You're too weak and unarmed. My journey would be slowed down, and every minute counts for my sister. I'm not risking her life for yours. No one is stopping you from going to the HQ on your own. But I'm not taking you."


Now we are free to move on, kind of. I give the area a quick sweep and find another M46 helmet. My crew also got some levels but nothing important happens. Except for Ivana getting the driving talent "Driving tricks". This will improve the handling of any car and enable tighter turns.

Also this....

Yep, our own APC.

But as you might think, the turret does nothing. It handles like a tank(heh) and also has the biggest inventory and health. This will be our main ride for the last leg of the game.


At least they made a custom animation for getting in&out.

So, I said that we are kind of free because we can't leave the area now. First we need to find a way to get back up as the old crane-guy is gone.

In front of the crane-box we used to get down are two guys.

:"You beat the Shadows, right? Thanks, man!"

:"Yo, thanks, man!"



:"He moved into the MBA and won't be working the crane anymore. Is there no other way to get back up?"


A dangerous flying machine, eh?

:"Yo. We can make it."


They need some rotor blades and a windshield to finish the thing.




Both can be found on the map after some searching. Or rather a lot of searching.

The "Yo" brothers need some time to finish the machine though. So I entertain myself while waiting.


Marvel at my handiwork.

I take a rest because my guys started to whine.

And learn that there are real Tigers in this game. Seriously, I never saw those before.

I also finish a small quest which I will summarize for you. Basically, I meet a lady who is missing her inventor husband. We both think that he got killed in the wasteland and I help her with his research so she can provide for her kids. Turns out, that her man found some plants which can be turned into a strong sunblocker. But he was missing some things to perfect the formula. Luckily I grabbed the right items from the MBA and she can mix the lotion herself and can feed her kids again. Yay!

She even gives me a free sample.

Can only be used to trade though.

Finally the bros are ready.


Watch Seagull be an awesome pilot.

Seagull then operates the crane and lifts the others up.

:"Man, that was some freaky flying show you put on there! At first I thought you were doing some fancy moves. Until I realized that you somehow couldn't hold the thing steady any longer."

:"Yo, a steady flight looks different."

:"If I hadn't jumped just before the crash... That construction wasn't exactly mechanically sound!"




Whelp.. Now we can finally leave this area and haul ass towards the Shadows' HQ.

YEAH!

Anie has to walk though.

Next time: Nobody saw that coming...

Author's note: I said I would talk a bit about the plot but I lied. Let us wait till the next update, okay? Then things will be much clearer.