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: Automata’s 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.



We’ve 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. There’s a sole Resistance member manning the camp. Let’s see what their story is...



We’ve got a squadmate waiting in a rocky stretch up ahead. Head on over. Just remember that there’s 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, we’re more than prepared for the journey. But thanks anyway, guy.





The old world’s 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 didn’t conclude with a 90 second ad for Squarespace. It’s worth noting, the Council of Humanity’s broadcast concludes with dropping a text file of the speech into 2B’s email. Just in case any androids were busy doing their job or something.

Council of Humanity’s less than effective pep talk aside, there isn’t 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, it’s just a frustrating to negotiate series of dead ends with mediocre loot. So we’ll avoid that for now.



Machine lifeform wise, there’s a few Stubbies and the occasional roaming larger guys wandering the wastes. But there’s 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. That’s it... That’s all they do. They just silently watch the androids. They literally cannot attack and make no effort to defend themselves. It’s really creepy the first time it’s encountered.





A strong attack can knock off their stacked segments until they’re just a little stubby boy, if you wanna be a jerk/don’t like the cut of their jib. They’ll 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.



It’s not like there’s a drought of weird creepy Pokey bots in the area, 9S. We’ll be here all day if we try scrapping them all. Chill out. Let’s 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 X dot is pointing. So...



Name’s Jackass. Nice to meetcha. I hear you’re 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...





Don’t go trying to be a hero, all right?



Right, then. Barrier problem solved, I suppose. So that was Jackass. She’s 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.



There’s gotta be an easier way, right?

Oh, 9S... Stop your bellyaching. We’re through, right? What’s the alternative? A catapult to get over the cavern system? That’d 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 they’re well... dressed. That’s new. Also there’s the part where they’re 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... I’m sure that’s 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 we’ve already encountered sans clothing. At least they’re 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 we’re 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! You’re 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.