Part 21: The Graveyard Shift

Part 21 - The Graveyard Shift









And so we arrive on Sam's last station. Jessica is here, as are our old buddies Coyote and Jake alongside a priest and some woman we haven't seen before.

The cemetery is actually a surprisingly large area and holds a bunch of things we can repossess from those for whom earthly possessions no longer hold value.







Our shameless graverobbing exploration nets us a Force 4 Abomination Elemental Fetish, a frag grenade and some Jazz, all the ingredients for a memorable night out on town.



With the important things out of the way, we can proceed with this burial business.





If you're going to have a Catholic priest in your game, you have to give them an Irish surname. Otherwise it's video game prison for you.

Thank you, Father. I know that my mother rests easier now that she's finally in the parish cemetery.

I'm sorry for the recent loss of your brother but am glad that reinterring your mother's body here has brought you comfort. She loved this parish so.



Lynne, huh. Feels like we've heard that name somewhere before...



Referring to a Catholic burial as an "ancient ritual" is kind of humorous but not entirely inaccurate.

[Jessica speaks to the rest of you.]

Thank you all for coming. I didn't realize Sam had so many friends. I appreciate your support and your friendship with him.

I saw him out the night he died. Only fitting I see him out today.

Sam may have had his problems, but he was our friend. Part of the Union family.

May he rest in peace.

Sam, you... seemed like kind of an asshole to be honest, but you probably didn't deserve to get outright murdered. Probably.

Miss Watts, family members, and friends. Thank you for attending the service. I suggest we don't linger long, the cemetery isn't safe after dark.

Thank you, Father. We'll just be a moment.

Of course, we didn't come here just to see Sam off.

Ms. Watts, I know this isn't the best time, but we need to talk.

[She's guarded but playing polite.] Very well. But let's not keep Father O'Malley.





Coyote knows how cemetery visits usually end up like in RPGs so she wisely brought a shotgun ahead of time.



All right, what would you like to talk about, Amazon?

There are actually quite a few different versions of this conversation depending on which order you bring up topics in. It makes no difference in practice but it's pretty cool and a relative rarity in this game.





Let's start with your mother. Did you know she was an organ donor?

[Jessica's demeanor turns oddly cool and stony in response to such a simple question.]

I'm afraid you're mistaken.

Then can you explain how her body parts made their way into half a dozen recipients?

You don't know what you're talking about.

Like that's ever stopped us before.

I know Sam helped your mother save lives. Through that donation--

[Her jaw clenches.] She wasn't a donor. She was a victim. A victim of my brother's greed. He took from her, desecrating her body, all to benefit himself. She never would have agreed to such a thing.

Not even to save the lives of others? Lives like Sam's?



Your mother's gift meant a second chance for him.

It was not a gift, it was stolen! And I wasn't about to let him destroy what little remained of her with his vulgar appetites!

And so you hired Holmes to get it back?







Well that was easier than expected.

He killed Sam and a half dozen other people whose lives had been saved by your mother.

[She snaps.] Those people were scavengers! Ghouls! They deserved to die for desecrating my mother's body!

Why does everybody in this city have to be so damn crazy?



My mother deserved honor and dignity. I gave her that today. She's finally whole again with a proper Catholic burial. Those ghouls who stole her organs, including Sam, have paid the price for their sins!

This whole family is terrible. Sam and Jessica Butts, more like.



"It's almost dinner time, please confess to being a deranged murderer some other day."

My old family is dead and buried where they should be. They can't taint my NEW family now. They can't corrupt my children. I won't go through that again!

JESSICA! We need to go. Now! [She presses a button on her commlink.]



Now, you and your friends have to die. Let their blood be on your hands.

Hah, what are you gonna do, scratch us to death with your designer nails?



A heavily-armed security unit is another option, sure.




(New combat music! Incidentally the combat theme is mostly based on an ambient part of Blood Hounds which we haven't heard, but which is probably the most recognizable track in the series due to it serving as the safe house theme in Dragonfall with a version of it getting carried over to Hong Kong as well.)




Cheating themselves infinite AP, Jessica and Lynne immediately bolt it out of the cemetery on the first combat turn.



The bad guys seem to be coming from the east, so the logical thing to do is to make use of the convenient cover here at the entrance.

Right?



Jake opens up the fight by letting his trustworthy but now a little outdated Ares Predator sing while also throwing accuracy buffs around on his spare time. Everyone now has 3 AP so our group is considerably more powerful and flexible than before.



Crow goes for a successful flanking maneuver, finishing what Jake started.



Of course this isn't going to be quite that easy. Two more enemies come running in, both unwisely stopping right next to Crow presumably because that's where they were scripted to stop.



While Amazon still doesn't have the space nor skill when it comes to firearms, her third AP is enough to paint a handy "SHOOT ME" marker on one enemy per turn.



Coyote wastes no time taking advantage of the accuracy boost. How do shotguns deal full damage from long ranges while simultaneously having so much spread that they can hit multiple targets standing near each other?



Since Coyote's target has 40 HP and she whiffs the rest of her shots, Pascal has to finish him off. Overall these guys are a decent step up from the hospital guards both in offense and defense.



Jake's bullets also hit their mark, leaving only one foe standing. Man, when will these villains stop underestimating us and



Hold on now.





Did they just drop a group of 5 into our flank without any warning? Isn't this against some kind of rules of engagement or something?



Crow deals with the last threat to the east, so at least we aren't going to get pincered.



Amazon uses her sole Action Point to take cover while Coyote quickly blasts one of the five newcomers to bits. Okay, this isn't the best situation but we can probably stabilize.



Whoa hey, time out time out



time ou-



Welp.

So yeah, the cemetery fight is maybe the most sudden difficulty spike in the game. Up until now the average fight has featured 2-3 poorly equipped enemies which we've practically sleepwalked through, so an ambush by five decently-armed ones mid-fight right next to where you've most likely made your stand while one person short is a nasty surprise.



Let's try this again. This time we've spent the first turn getting into a less precarious position north from the entrance, but as a result the initial ambush team is still alive and standing. You can see their outlines in the bottom right corner if you squint.

We've also improved Amazon's Body stat to increase her HP, 30 has been enough so far but that's obviously no longer the case.



The overall plan is the same as before, Jake throws around accuracy boosts and lands whatever shots he can from afar. Coyote helps him out with her shotgun.



...or at least she was supposed to, except in my cocaine shakes I managed to click the ground next to the enemy instead of the enemy itself, causing her to simply run next to them while using up all her AP.



Luckily she dodges most of the hits and only suffers a mild bruise. Most enemies only ever attack once per turn regardless of their remaining AP, but even then that could've gone much worse.



Crow eats a pistol bullet while Team B arrives on the scene again, not catching us with our pants down this time. Well, not as far down at least.



Coyote makes her way back to safety while Jake fires at the nearest B-teamer with limited success.



Amazon teams up with Crow, marking targets for the drone to ventilate. Or does she team up with herself since she's in direct control of the drone as well? Either way this particular fellow has 50 HP so he does manage to remain standing, albeit barely.



The blade-wielding woman Coyote immediately turned into paste last time manages to actually reach us this time, but that makes little difference.





Crow hunting season has begun and there's no shortage of eager participants.



Look at this mess though, these enemy numbers are like from a completely different game. Most of Group B spent their turn grouping up with Group A, making for pretty delicious targets for some AoE goodness.



Jake finally draws first blood with a couple of well-placed shots on an elf who was trying to get too intimate.



Coyote kindly ends the suffering of Crow's beat-up target from before as well.



While this is happening, the attack drone has pulled back to Amazon for some much-needed repairs. Not having to disable a drone to use items is another benefit of her having a spare AP.



The distances are a bit long for Pascal's mortar to land hits reliably, but at least there are plenty of targets for some good ol' fashioned flashbanging.



Coyote's second shot doesn't quite hit the mark, but it's enough to finish off the other injured enemy.

Meanwhile...



Something is stirring.





The group mage and leader who are the most dangerous fellows of the bunch team up on Jake. The man's probably used to it from the old days, but he does have to be a little careful with his HP now.





Amazon and Pascal also get their share of the attention. If the AI would focus down one target at a time this fight would get real hairy. It's still a noticeable stubble as it is.



Jake still possesses the Heal Wound spell which, in case you've forgotten, heals the previous instance of damage taken. 12 isn't too shabby.





The melee lady is the fourth target to go down with zero damage to her name, once again proving true the old saying about knives and gunfights.



Coyote helps Pascal to knock down a fifth. Things are definitely looking better this time around.



Another crit and another corpse. By now it's pretty evident that if you ever get in front of Coyote and her shotgun, you're just plain gonna have a bad day.



Even the pesky mage gets his share. 72 damage in one turn, just shotguns doing shotgun things.



More ominous noises, this time from the crypt behind us.





Sure enough, even more uninvited guests decide to crash the party as a pair of ghouls burst out of the crypt. Despite looking like slow zombies, ghouls are actually living people infected by a nasty virus which has given them enhanced physical strength, speed and potentially lifespan but done a number on their sanity (though sane ghouls exist as well).

They do have to eat fresh people meat to survive though, and luckily these guys aren't picky about their choice of meals as both of them rush towards the enemy leader.



This mage is a real jerk with his crits. It's a little hard to see (video capture automatically messes up the red text, unfortunately) but on top of the immediate damage Jake's inflicted by Mana Burn, dealing further 10 damage per turn.



By now Armitage is in really bad shape, one more hit would make his next morgue visit his last.



The good news is that the ghouls are keeping the leader too busy for him to have a chance at finishing the job.



And Pascal's medkits save the day! Both drones have been a godsend in this fight. If they had mouths or emotions, they'd definitely get extra treats after this one.



Coyote finally rids us of the magical menace.



Since we also heard scratching from the crypt behind us earlier, it'd be a real stupid move to keep standing in front of it. The group retreats further back towards the northeast.



Another pair of gray men come running out, one heading towards our main group and one towards Pascal.



The enemy boss is still busy playing the action hero, dodging hits and easily taking down one of the ghouls. Wish I could hire this guy for our team.



The other remaining goon kindly helps us against the fake-undead menace as well. For some reason this particular ghoul decides to ignore both him and us and runs south towards the boss instead. The guy must've picked the wrong aftershave this morning.



The other ghoul manages to almost reach Amazon, but instead ends up stopping in the middle of our group and is given a stern talking-to for his bad manners.





While Pascal joins the rest of the group, even more restless man-eaters show signs of wanting to get some fresh air and/or meat. This particular crypt is some ways to the north from us.



Down south the remaining ghoul of the original two finally manages to scratch the boss, causing a nasty infection to the tune of 6 damage per turn. This is actually how the ghoul virus would normally spread, but for obvious reasons here it's a simple damage over time effect.





This chump makes the mistake of turning his gun towards us again, so we promptly terminate our short-lived alliance with him.



The ever kind-hearted Coyote helps the boss in his pinch by bringing down one of his sticky admirers.



The northern crypt busts open and three ghouls charge out...



...and line up neatly right next to us. It's a free-for-all AoE party!









Ahh, satisfying.





Crow cleans up the weakened boss and the remaining ghoul and with that, finally wraps up our longest and most involved battle yet.







That looks uncomfortable.



Jessica Watts. She hired you. Where can I find her?



A man of few words, I can respect that.

We don't know each other too well, but it seems to me that you need to find a better group of people to associate with.

You're not the first person to tell me that.

Yeah, well, it's part of living in the shadows. Do the research, chummer.

Stumbling blindly forward has gotten us this far, it'd be crazy to stop now.

How did those troops materialize?

You didn't recognize who the elf was?

She looked familiar. Have I seen her somewhere?

How long can we keep a conversation going using nothing but questions?



The Universal Brotherhood turning out to be Plot-Relevant probably doesn't come as a major surprise to anyone at this point. Chekhov would be proud.



[You watch as Jake pulls out his modified PDA and slots the chip.]

Mister... Wylie here was with Eagle Security. They work for the UB, so that must've been Lynne Telestrian's security detail we just chewed through. If she's protecting Jessica, they'll be inside the Universal Brotherhood.

Great, that sure isn't the last place on the planet we'd like to visit. Dead children and abused mental patients are one thing, but new age religion? That just ain't right.



Suit yourself, lady. I was only stopping by to pay my respects to Sam. Merc hit squads, the Universal Brotherhood... not my scene, at the moment. I can call up some of Delilah's runners if you want to go there now, though. Let me know what you decide.

Bah, Jake has grown soft. We can choose to stop by the Union before heading out, so we might as well.



There isn't actually anything new to see at the Union so I won't bother covering the visit, we're only dropping by for the extra loading screen and to replace the drone repair kit we used.



There are a few new faces amongst the available runners again, and as before everyone has gone up in both price and skill.



Coyote's our free guest member this time. In addition we'll be bringing one of the newcomers, the dwarven Street Samurai Cadence, and for the sake of showing off a backer character we'll also be joined by Alexander Falk who is a dwarven mage and one of the more popular and useful Nephilim Network members.



There's no guessing what's going to be waiting for us at the Universal Brotherhood, but it's probably going to suck horribly.