Part 14: Episode XIII: Jackass
Episode XIII: Jackass
Despite the initially vast appearance of the City Ruins and its place as the central hub of NieR: Automatas game world... it turns out the whole place is only about three city blocks wide by maybe four blocks long. Give or take some collapsed infrastructure.
New Music: Memories of Dust (Quiet)
Just past a sandy stretch of road on the outskirts of the city, we come upon one of the few Save Terminals not under assault by irritable stubby machines. This is the final android outpost before leaving the city.
Weve got a bit of a buffer zone to transverse before we reach the Desert proper. But this is the last chance for resupply before we head out. Theres a sole Resistance member manning the camp. Lets see what their story is...
Weve got a squadmate waiting in a rocky stretch up ahead. Head on over. Just remember that theres nowhere to resupply out there. If you need anything, best to take care of it here while you can. What can I help you with?
This guy sells the same junk as the supply trader back in the Resistance Camp proper. Thanks to those couple of sidequests early and retrieving all our Prologue supplies, were more than prepared for the journey. But thanks anyway, guy.
The old worlds intact ruins have definitely dried up a bit out in the encroaching desert sands. At most all that is left is the occasional skeleton of an ancient building and an oil pipeline, which will be our guide toward our final destination. But before we can begin exploring, the Council of Humanity chimes in with a broadcast.
Currently, our struggle against the machine lifeforms is at a stalemate. This battle has raged for far too long. I am sure all of you find the effort grueling. But now is not the time to give up. Now, more than ever, we must forge on. Remember that several hundred thousand humans on the moon want nothing more than to return to Earth. Glory to mankind.
Those Council broadcasts are always so stiff.
Look, 9S. Let me tell you about human broadcasts back in the day and how you should be lucky that message didnt conclude with a 90 second ad for Squarespace. Its worth noting, the Council of Humanitys broadcast concludes with dropping a text file of the speech into 2Bs email. Just in case any androids were busy doing their job or something.
Council of Humanitys less than effective pep talk aside, there isnt much in this new zone. There are some nooks and crannies we could explore, including a subterranean cave network beneath. But at this point in the game, its just a frustrating to negotiate series of dead ends with mediocre loot. So well avoid that for now.
Machine lifeform wise, theres a few Stubbies and the occasional roaming larger guys wandering the wastes. But theres also... these guys.
...Yeah. These stacked up fellers. Umm... So they very slowly wander around aimlessly until 2B and 9S approach. At which point, they just turn and... stare. Thats it... Thats all they do. They just silently watch the androids. They literally cannot attack and make no effort to defend themselves. Its really creepy the first time its encountered.
A strong attack can knock off their stacked segments until theyre just a little stubby boy, if you wanna be a jerk/dont like the cut of their jib. Theyll still make no effort to do anything but stare. 9S takes this as a signal to go wild and start killing all stacked machines anywhere remotely nearby.
Its not like theres a drought of weird creepy Pokey bots in the area, 9S. Well be here all day if we try scrapping them all. Chill out. Lets continue with the mission.
The rusty oil pipeline eventually dead ends at a crudely constructed but currently impenetrable barricade being overlooked by another Resistance member. We were told to contact them when we arrived and that is where the big red
Names Jackass. Nice to meetcha. I hear youre planning to take out all the machines in the desert? Guess that means we need to get that entrance open.
Looks like it. So, um, Jack...ass, was it? Err... What are you doing all the way out here?
Hmm? Oh, that. Well...
Dont go trying to be a hero, all right?
Right, then. Barrier problem solved, I suppose. So that was Jackass. Shes the best android in the game. We may see her a few times again in the future. Explosives and science may or may not frequently be involved.
Theres gotta be an easier way, right?
Oh, 9S... Stop your bellyaching. Were through, right? Whats the alternative? A catapult to get over the cavern system? Thatd be a completely irresponsible use of YoRHa resources. So about this newly opened cave...
There are some... interestingly dressed machine lifeforms in here. Insofar as theyre well... dressed. Thats new. Also theres the part where theyre wearing Façade masks from the original Nier a weird desert dwelling tribe of masked people that had a society bound by an absurd amount of rules. Hmm... Im sure thats just a strange coincidence.
The mask and cloak has no tangible benefit in combat, as it turns out. These machines are functionally identical to the ones weve already encountered sans clothing. At least theyre better dressed for the desert than our YoRHa operatives.
So earlier, I said we were in more of a connection zone leading to the Desert proper. So... welcome...
...to the actual Desert Zone the largest area in the game. 9S, I think were just a wee bit overdressed for this mission.
Video: Episode 13 Highlight Reel (If you cannot hear an ear-piercing high pitched sound at the end of this video, congrats! Youre old and your hearing is starting to get fucked!)
Desert Resistance Member Concept Art I wonder how many android generations back was the one with all Splinter-Cell goggles, cargo pants and cloaks.