Part 11: The Hired Gun.

Back on Starbase 2. Last place I want to be.



Hey, are you ok? Hey!

She's...dead. Everyone on the station is like this... Zelly!



: 3?
: There was a slight detour, but nothing we couldn't handle.
: I've been doing some spring cleaning as you can see.
: Yeah, I see it. You psycho.
: High Command was very disappointed to learn of a spy within our ranks. It was necessary to alleviate all doubt. Only one task remains. I've just spoken with your new Commander, Nomak. He's allowed me to enlist your services one last time.
: What do you have in mind?
: Before I thinned the ranks, one of my crewmen went missing. Blune. I want you to find him and finish him. That way High Command will have only you, Psyme, and myself to blame if there are further holes in Krill security.
: You want me to kill Blune?



: It will be a simple matter. He took a shuttle to Starbase 1, faking a transfer to cover his tracks. He won't see it coming. Not from you.
: And what's to keep you from bumping me off next?
Good question Recker. Well?
: I have shielded you from certain details. Rest assured, Mister Recker, you are no great threat to me. Get it done and report back to me. Dismissed.

This sucks. Blune was finally becoming a nice guy, I don't want to kill him...



One uneventful trip to Starbase 1 later...



: So I can execute him. Is this really standard Krill procedure? Eliminating an entire Starbase crew?
: You mean she really killed them all? Phooo... Foul woman that one. Worse than the Tyrannical Overlord I'd bet.
: Well Blune's blood will be on her hands. Where is he?
: I gave him some busy work on the Forest Planet to buy a little time. You'll find him somewhere down there.



: Yeah?
: Don't trust Commander Zelly for a second.

Bloss is still my favorite Commander because he's actually sane and nice to us. Nomak, while not as bad as Zelly, we'll soon discover to be less of a nice guy than we initially thought...



With our new Krill Puck, we can explore the orange areas here.





Enemies in this area are occasionally still the weak ones from the beginning of the game. Take note of how many enemies there are on in that image.



Now how many are there? And after one shot too. This shows pretty well how you can tear through weak enemies with the right gun data. In this case, the three shots from the triple cannon hit, and each exploded into the Fork impact data, hitting more things.

VIDEO: Forest Planet Random Battle

Watch in video form how destructive my weapons are. Also, that rare Krill ship makes an appearance!



These are weird they can only be killed by hitting them with the Krill Puck.



When you do, their...eyes open up. Then you have to shoot them with your gun. Strange.





Inside this cave is the Impact Data, Duo Counter. For every enemy you kill, your counter is dropped by 2 instead of 1. I don't like using it because I sort of think it's cheating, and you don't get the experience you would get from killing all the enemies normally.



This looks like the right way to go.





This cave has the Cannon Data, Twin Nodes. It's better than Patrol Node, but still not good enough that I'll be switching to a Node variant. Plus I like being able to fire straight forwards in from of my ship, where these instead flank you.



A data plug right before the small room at the end of the orange path? I bet I know what's next door...



: Hello Recker. Thought I'd never see you again. Psyme...?
: She's fine. Zelly tried to make it look like an accident. She dumped us on a virus infested Planet, but her plan failed.
: Glad to hear it. Something huge is going down. High Command ordered Commander Zelly to slay her crew once they analyzed the scan data of the first three planets.
: She said the crew was killed because of a security breach.
: That's just a cover story. High Command wants to be the only ones who know which planets are synchronizing. Once they've found them all, you and Psyme will be eliminated.
: Blune... I'm here because Zelly sent me.
: I figured as much. Were you instructed to bring me in alive?
: ... *Recker turns away*
: Dead. Then High Command is really cleaning things up. Don't think I'll go without a fight.
: *faces Blune again* Don't be ridiculous. I'm not going to kill you. All I want is answers.
Hooray! I knew Recker wouldn't do it!
: Let's look at the facts. We've found three synchronized planets, one with a mile long parasite living beneath the surface feeding on some sort of living matter. It's a safe bet that all three planets contain this matter.
: Kind of a stretch but okay.
: From what you've told me, two of them had human settlements on them. And the Overlord had me searching for six planets total.
: So that means Krill found one of them, and Earth found two. If this is some sort of arms race, Earth is ahead.
: So you think this matter is a bio weapon?
: Yes. Your overlord is going to use the matter to create a weapon to destroy Earth. Maybe other planets too.
Recker should be more careful here, he's coming dangerously close to blowing his cover. I wouldn't be surprised if Blune was a little right now.
: How could you know this?
See?
: I listened in back at Zelly's office.
At least Recker knows how to quickly defuse such situations.
: That was a big risk. And something you would certainly be tempted to share with Earth.
: Don't think I haven't considered it.
: You have to be more careful! You could end up exiled by both Earth and the Krill!
: Ha ha... I'll be like you.
: No, I will be dead.
: Come on! There's got to be a way to convince her I killed you.
: Yeah, I've got an idea. But it won't be pleasant.
*screen fades to white, followed by a slash sound, then a wretched scream. Fade back in*



: Gasp...Gasp... Take... it...
: What have you done?!
: My parasite's tail... It will live... But it had a good grip... On my spine...

: This looks bad... Will you be ok?
: My chances are pretty good. The parasite will try to regenerate. Leave me here. But Recker... We can't follow Earth or Krill blindly anymore. Good people are being slaughtered on both sides to protect this weapon.
: I know.
: On both sides. Think about what that means before you take action.
: I will.
: I'll find you later. Don't worry about me. Go back to Zelly while that tail's still warm.



I'm sorry, my friend. I'll make sure she never discovers you.



On the way back to the starbase, we can take a detour towards the lower right of the map and the yellow rooms there. While we can't do anything important in those rooms, we can get some Gun Data that doesn't require whatever item is required to advance.



I guess I lied when I said there were only 3 minibosses on the Forest Planet. I ran across this hand thing, and there was another miniboss arena I ran into but rewound out of because the game was about to screw me over having put me into it with a big ship and no room to avoid the boss.



This hand is easy enough, you just shoot it, but the frequency with which it fires bullets makes it risky to sit in front of it. If you don't have a cannon that fires somewhere other than forwards, this is probably tough. When it dies, it drops about 2800 EXP. Also, don't crash into it. I did once and it drained about 2/3 of my health.



I like the Forest Planet's graphics. It looks pretty and alive.



Dunno what's up with the X of Krill Puck things. There's no Gun Data under them, just a pillar and red panel below them.





There is Gun Data over here though! This is the Impact Data, Boomerang. When a shot hits, a bullet flies backwards. Not as useful as Fork.



There's nothing else to do here, and Bloss doesn't talk to you again, so back to Starbase 2 we go.



: It is. I'm leaving. Your security is air tight now.
: If it isn't, we'll both know where to look.



Glad we don't have to talk to her any longer than we had to.



Back to Starbase 3. I hope I'm getting frequent flier miles.



: Yeah. I should be done with Zelly for good. Where is Scarlet?
: The Earth girl? She continues to misbehave. Ek is breaking her in. She'll acknowledge her master in time! Ha!
I don't even want to know.
: Let me see her.
: It will have to wait. Take these.



Sweet!
: What's this for?
: It's a way to remove obstacles. With the radiation gone, Psyme was able to detect a black box on the Ice Planet.
: I found it on long range surface scan. It should contain data on the virus they were breeding.
: Having the black box could help us create an anti-virus in case the humans try to breed one again.
: Why not get the information from Scarlet?
: Would you give this Earth girl thing a rest?! She's a prisoner of the Krill now, OK? Let us deal with her.
: I don't like what I'm seeing here. She's a scientist, not a soldier. She could be an asset. Instead you're treating her like an animal!
: You test my patience Mister Recker! This is my station and I'll run things as I see fit! You have your orders, now get out of here!
: I'll bring your black box. But we may need Scarlet Keys to interpret the contents of the box. Think it over before you do something rash.
: Your concern is noted, Recker! Now clear out!
Recker, you're one arrogant sonuvabitch. That's why we love you.



: her, we'll put 'er down.

Frankly I'm amazed that Recker hasn't snapped someone's neck about all this yet.



Join me next time as multiple shitstorms go down.

-----

Current Weapon Data:

: 3 - Triple Cannon. Fires shots in a forward spread.
: 3 - Heavy Shot. A large projectile with a large hit area.
: 10 - Fork. Shots fork forwards.