tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45863476836444627712024-03-19T04:51:40.875+00:00MonkeyBoxGamingWhere games go to be loved up and down!
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.comBlogger98125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-38865759248775081922016-02-18T21:41:00.001+00:002016-02-18T21:41:45.391+00:00Super Mario Kart - 101 Racers<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Just thought you might enjoy this little video by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRC4bcpS2y1hh-Rabs0-vkQ" target="_blank">Hat-Loving Gamer</a> on YouTube.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9HBTeP22nkA" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alas, tis just an animation....but a boy can dream. Be sure to check out the other videos from Hat-Loving Gamer by clicking the link on their name above the video.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-86742263699508028242016-02-13T22:17:00.001+00:002016-02-13T22:17:42.304+00:00How To Survive<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRBXxBMLfYxj9GNnJ0MOqYYGbaz92JpQcz0fCsboH8NjPSjlenV-4N_KHUS-atmPt0XNbIkNZ_nZNW8rTDbfPtuQXKOT5lOTIx07i5zlfmtZj54udIS7S2yJoY7NRGgnfKtkwRaLDZhF0/s1600/how+to+survive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRBXxBMLfYxj9GNnJ0MOqYYGbaz92JpQcz0fCsboH8NjPSjlenV-4N_KHUS-atmPt0XNbIkNZ_nZNW8rTDbfPtuQXKOT5lOTIx07i5zlfmtZj54udIS7S2yJoY7NRGgnfKtkwRaLDZhF0/s320/how+to+survive.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>How To Survive</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Platform:</b> PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Genre:</b> Action-RPG-Survival-Horror</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kovac's Rules: If you find yourself here on this island, then you had better prepare to fight, to survive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Basically, this is a really bloody good game, with an awful lot going for it. It's a top-down, isometric view game, whereby you play as a survivor who crashed his/her boat onto a strange island after receiving duff info about how safe the seas were. Upon waking, you find that the island you have landed on is chocked full of zombies, junk, strange plants and parts of a survival guide called "Kovac's Rules", written by...well...Kovac.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You will eventually get to meet this Kovac (and other random survivors) who will start to train you how to survive by eating the right plants, crafting awesome weapons and tools (over 100 combinations to be made) and giving you tips and hints on how to survive, hence the name!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The gameplay is very easy with either a gamepad or keyboard and mouse, and you can play multiplayer either locally on the same machine or over the interweb. It's a good idea for noobies to start off with the Story Mode which will ease you into the game, progressively getting harder as you go on, but then there are other game modes such as Iron Man or Barricade to test your skills when you choose to go for them. The inventories and skills menus are intuitive and well thought out, and for a game that has the potential to be overly complex, it's pretty easy to pick up and play from scratch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This isn't just a run and gun type game though, you need to eat, sleep and drink to survive, using Kovac's special armoured huts to sleep or filling up water bottles from the various wells to drink and of course hunt the variety of wild animals to get more food if you don't want to just eat the exotic flora. Running low on these things will mess you up, from slowing you down to putting your aim off and also killing you, so you need to keep up your strength because the biggest enemies are those 3 ramma-jammas right there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The sounds are pretty much spot on, the sound effects of the zombies and monsters being spot on, what music there is being again - spot on, the only thing that quibbled to knock it down a bit was some of the annoying sounds like the background animals - but it's a minor quibble, nothing that's game breaking or owt!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The visuals are brilliant, just what you'd want from a game such as this - nothing earth shattering, but exactly what you want and would expect from a game like this, the fire and water looks good in the game (something I always look for is good water and fire...just a thing of mine), the zombies are good and gruesome and the environments are really great. Even the menus look good, God bless you sir.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All in all, a very good game one that is very much worthy of it's scores below...</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gameplay: </b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9 - Easy and intuitive gameplay, smooth controls with either gamepad or keyboard & mouse. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Sound: </b>8 - Brilliant sounds all round from the menus to the music to the zombies growls.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Visuals: </b>9 - Absolutely on point for a game like this, a great example of games like this showing substance over style....with a lot of style!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Replayability: </b>8 - Very much an awesomely replayable game, but maybe needs a bit of time in between play throughs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Fun Factor: </b>9 - Awesome good fun, killing zombies in weird and wonderful ways with the help of Kovac's Rules!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Overall Percentage Score: </b>86% - A must buy really, with fun gameplay easy to grasp controls, lacing humour and horror into this brilliant weave of a game that doesn't disappoint and tapers the difficulty in a great way that doesn't leave you bored and doesn't push too far, too soon. Just remember to pay attention to Kovac's Rules!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-20889846211612485262016-02-12T19:29:00.003+00:002016-02-12T19:29:56.505+00:00Bewjeweled 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOb0qVOXuXNXcAYACTM6W05h4nEyPViqIDa8CZmvWhsErkoDPAT08HrjDPh4n0bzPhR9GWOohBkDWP6va2hf4VHl3RBx2ZCu9nscqTJTWxveZo-N87OTRNsOuxXEuBkbzqw_QAS3WaAwo/s1600/bejeweled3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOb0qVOXuXNXcAYACTM6W05h4nEyPViqIDa8CZmvWhsErkoDPAT08HrjDPh4n0bzPhR9GWOohBkDWP6va2hf4VHl3RBx2ZCu9nscqTJTWxveZo-N87OTRNsOuxXEuBkbzqw_QAS3WaAwo/s320/bejeweled3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Bejeweled 3</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Platform:</b> PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, iOS, Windows Phone</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Genre:</b> Puzzle</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right well, let me start off the whole tone of this review by letting you know one simple thing which you should definitely bare in mind: I only own this game, as it was free in one of Origin's "On The House" offers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bejeweled 3, much like Bejeweled and even Bejeweled 2 is a puzzle game about swapping jewel tiles to make at least a row of 3 to get through 4 different game modes: </span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Classic (continuously play until there are no possible moves)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Zen (much like Classic, but there is no end, and calming music plays to relax players)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lightning (essentially time-trial mode)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Quest which has a fairly sizeable amount of mini-games and puzzles. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are other game modes, but you need to play and unlock them by playing the 4 game modes listed above. The visuals are OK, if not a little too much for a game such as this, and the sounds are just grating. I played the Zen mode for a while and the sounds are grating and any sense of "zen" is undone by the weirdly deep and slightly gravelling voice saying "AWESOME" when you put together a decent combo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although yes, it's essentially Candy Crush Saga, but that's kind of like saying that (by no way am I comparing the greatness of these games by the way) Quake is essentially Battlefield 3. Do you get what I'm saying? Yes they are both the same genre, yes the gameplay is similar, but they aren't comparable, not really.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was always going to be a very quick fire review, because essentially life is too short for games like this, I would seriously not recommend putting your hand in your wallet for this, but if it's free (legitimately so) then fill your boots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Gameplay:</b> 5 - Easy to pick up and play, but boring no real challenge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Sound:</b> 4 - Grating, overloading with various sound effects, music and voice overs doesn't enhance, it detracts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Visuals:</b> 4 - Essentially the same reasoning as the sound, it's focus on weird shiny graphics serve to pull the game down further showing that no matter how you dress one up, a turd is a turd.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Replayability:</b> 3 - Boring and repetitive.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Fun Factor:</b> 5 - Not really fun at all, maybe for a 10-15 minute break here and there but with no real progressive game modes (like the level system in Candy Crush) this game falls flat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Overall Percentage Score:</b> 42% - Don't bother. I only own it because it was free through Origin, and even then I had to "um and urr" for a bit before downloading. Repetitive, boring, and overloaded with crap sounds and OTT graphics make this game one of the worst I own.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-39784381509062921412016-02-07T19:17:00.001+00:002016-02-07T19:17:10.667+00:00Killing Floor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpUO7YbJvNNULv_ALuD7dEEcI4IF6j3Xs8vR2-y0bN9Ck9yiaIV4yIG-eJsgA_8sCFY2RKTlr9NBnfRnHj4P0bn0OaLrQClo0DRUmelIHus-XOebW__bu5Ot7x6FpYcBi33baXBapI9A/s1600/killing-floor-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpUO7YbJvNNULv_ALuD7dEEcI4IF6j3Xs8vR2-y0bN9Ck9yiaIV4yIG-eJsgA_8sCFY2RKTlr9NBnfRnHj4P0bn0OaLrQClo0DRUmelIHus-XOebW__bu5Ot7x6FpYcBi33baXBapI9A/s320/killing-floor-logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Killing Floor</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Platform:</b> PC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Genre:</b> FPS Survival Horror</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Straight in with another game that I've played on and off for the last 6-7 years or so - Killing Floor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wont go into the background or anything, or even attempt to make out that the plot is remotely important - it isn't - but basically a mad scientist has unleashed a load of weird mutant clones onto the city of London, himself being the Patriarch of these mutants and it's your job as a part of what's left of either the Met Police or the British Army to kill the clones in waves ending with the Patriarch either on your own or with some chums/strangers online. Simple right? Right!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's your basic wave style game with each wave increasing in difficulty and number of enemies until the final wave consisting of the Patriarch who is a bit of a bitch to kill and will hunt you down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are some DLC packs that you could purchase through Steam as well, and you can explore fan-made mods that you can then implement into your game via the Steam Workshop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The music can get grating after a few minutes but the sound effects are pretty much as you would expect for a game such as this. The visuals are OK, but considering it was originally made in 2005 as a fan made mod from Unreal Tournement 2004, they aren't going to be as good as you would expect from more recent games - however this doesn't detract from how fun the game is and how it can pull you back in time and time again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's easy to pick up and play, it's difficulties scale up pretty well and it's damn good fun especially when playing online.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Gameplay:</b> 8 - Easy to pick up and play, smooth easy gameplay, classic FPS game style.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Sound:</b> 7 - Crap music, otherwise all good!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Visuals:</b> 7 - Decent graphics, not demanding on your PC at all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Replayability:</b> 8 - Although it can be forgotten among your other games, it's ability to pull you back in time and time and time again is exceptionally high.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Fun Factor:</b> 9 - Overall, this is as fun an FPS as you can get. Well deserved 9/10.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Overall Percentage Score:</b> 78% - definitely worth going for whenever you have the cash to hand, fun, varying difficulties, and easy gameplay make this a really good game for your collection, sound and visuals let it down slightly but not enough to stop you purchasing it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-15071850036599584682016-02-07T12:02:00.002+00:002016-02-07T12:09:36.579+00:00DOOM Trailer<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">OK. Well this is pretty much at the top of my wishlist right now and for good, gore-infested reasons. DOOM returning to it's roots of being a run and gun blood-fest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Please watch this trailer from Bethesda/id Software at your own discretion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The only minor downside thus far? No out-of-the-box co-op. There will be an extensive level creator however which can be made to cater for co-op play - so there is hope yet, especially with the fast-paced multiplayer that will no doubt keep players hooked for many a late night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><i>This video and more available on Bethesda Softworks YouTube page. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvZHe-SP3xC7DdOk4Ri8QBw" target="_blank">LINKED</a>)</i></b></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-84770442197073491622016-02-06T23:53:00.002+00:002016-02-06T23:53:42.248+00:00Abyss Odyssey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi72Tm9fVxarOtjILIbgJSGo1lzz5K2rXE_0zhNtXF6c9J1QmOmHrA6CakPpY98XTNSJv21xs-yJvbJxDtZkvgjtkRsMbXCQc2ykNZjNiFlL0m7f1hmEoyBYi9PGv4nxiOUaUxAWtWm4f8/s1600/Abyss+odyssey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi72Tm9fVxarOtjILIbgJSGo1lzz5K2rXE_0zhNtXF6c9J1QmOmHrA6CakPpY98XTNSJv21xs-yJvbJxDtZkvgjtkRsMbXCQc2ykNZjNiFlL0m7f1hmEoyBYi9PGv4nxiOUaUxAWtWm4f8/s320/Abyss+odyssey.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Abyss Odyssey</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Platforms: </b>PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and PC (Steam)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Genre: </b>Platform Action Adventure</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'll get right to it. In this new year of gaming reviews, Abyss Odyssey (number 2 on my list of games, chosen at random) was chosen as the first game for me to play and review, so here it is. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is an alright platform game cut from the same kind of cloth as Child of Light (even with some enemies looking incredibly similar, if not identical) only without the turn-based-combat-RPG element that helped make Child of Light so fun and playable. The combat can feel a little button-bashy, an the way your character Katrien moves is a little on the clunky side.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, this game does have some truly beautiful art work and music, and the sound effects are of a high quality.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This game was created by Chilean games developer ACE Team and the game itself must be set in around 19th Century Chile, where a mysterious and powerful Warlock is dreaming deep underground, and due to his power, his dreams are creating weird and dark demons and monsters which are attacking the surface world. It is up to you, Katrien, who was also created by the Warlocks dreams, to defeat the evil, and stop the Warlock...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Overall a good little game, usually £10.99 on Steam but currently available for just £2.19 during the current sale (due to end 12-Feb-16), which I would definitely recommend - I would not however recommend paying the full price for it. Wait until the next sale if you're reading this too late!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Scores:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Gameplay: </b>5 - Not great, but not exactly terrible. A little too clunky and button bashy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Sound: </b>8 - Beautiful music and well worked sound effects.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Visuals:</b> 8 - Stunning art work, a beautiful game.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Replayability: </b>5 - Due to clunky gameplay and button bashiness, I doubt I'll be going back to Abyss Odyssey for a second or third helping any time soon, but it's not entirely out of the picture!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Fun Factor: </b>7 - Despite the gameplay and replayability middle of the road scores, it is a fun game and will definitely fill a few hours of gaming.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Overall Percentage Score:</b> 66% - Worth a punt if it's on sale, otherwise I would spend your money elsewhere. Add to your Steam Wishlist to find out when it's on sale at quick notice!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-47007463830903255072016-02-06T23:31:00.003+00:002016-02-06T23:31:56.776+00:00New Year, New MonkeyBoxGaming<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well it's been another long time since last I posted, however I have a new impetus to play and review. Only my reviews aren't going to be long winded - they are going to provide you, my loyal reader (I shouldn't really talk to myself), with the information you need in a bite size amount to do what a game review is meant to do - help you decide if you should buy said game.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I will provide a short written review of the game, giving you a slice of qualitative feedback on it, and then I'll provide you with something most people look for and that is the quantitative feedback on the game.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now each game will have a percentage score, based on scoring on 5 different areas that I deem important: </span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gameplay - is it easy to learn? Is it challenging enough? Are the controls intuitive? etc. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sound - including music.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Visuals - not just "are the graphics high quality?", but do I find the game visually appealing? This will include things such as menus, HUDs, backgrounds, all major and minor details.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Replayability - is it good enough to go in for sloppy seconds? Thirds? Scheduled annual replays?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fun Factor - Perhaps the most important aspect of any game, "Is it fun?"</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Each of these areas will have a score out of 10 (with a maximum overall score of 50), this score is then doubled to create the score out of 100 or its percentage score.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have a pretty decent amount of games, some shit, some amazing, and I'll be randomly picking which game to play and review, that first review will be coming soon. Promise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-68948307472570469192015-07-27T16:53:00.000+01:002015-07-27T16:53:33.915+01:00Bucket List Games<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bucket List
Games<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is MonkeyBoxGaming. The place where games go to be
loved up and down. And because of this, I thought I’d go through some games
that should be on a proverbial bucket list of games that you should play in
your life, preferably before you die. Hence – Bucket List Games.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now there are a lot of games that would make many others
lists, games that I thought about but ultimately decided against, and games
that I just haven’t played. But the list is as follows.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Super Mario
Bros 3<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now we start with a classic. Essentially, without Mario and
the popularity of Mario, a lot of people wouldn’t be playing games today. The
premise is quite frankly, the stuff of a mad man’s drug induced hallucination.
A pair of Italian plumber brothers end up in a fairy tale land of aggressive
turtles and peaceful mushroom people, and have to rescue a princess from a
weird humanoid crocodile/dragon hybrid. Instant winner right? Well…right!
Platform gaming at its finest, colourful, iconic music, replayable and fun from
start to finish. A game that spawned a generation of gamers, myself included. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Minecraft<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This one almost slipped my mind. After chatting with the
wife (Carriecakes) this game immediately came to her mind and rightly so. Open
world gaming at its simplistic best, and again a game with a premise that – on paper
– seems strange in a gaming world of blockbuster Hollywood-esque titles. The
premise is that there is no premise. Just go and build, mine, build, mine and
try not to get killed by the mobs that come out at night and in the dark. Yes
there are bosses, such as the Ender Dragon, but defeating it is no sign of
completion. It’s as addictive a game as has ever been made, and proof that
graphics don’t necessarily make the game. Another game that has spawned a
generation of gamers, but also potential architects in the process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Secret
of Monkey Island<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Aaah now here is a game that does have a good premise! You
are Guybrush Threepwood, aspiring mighty pirate and all round…erm…how
appropriate! You fight like a cow! Now that’s not right. In a golden age of
Lucasarts Adventure games including The Dig, Indiana Jones and Maniac Mansion
to name a few, Monkey Island came along jam packed with gags and broke the
fourth wall so often that it was reduced to a small pile of bricks and dust.
Point and click adventure games were all the rage, and rightly so, they
illuminated the 90’s gaming scene and seemed like they’d be with us forever.
And after many years in the wilderness, have been resurrected pretty much
single handed by TellTale Games. But that’s all beside the point. From complicated
but ultimately hilarious puzzle quests and a fighting mechanic based on
insulting each other, Monkey Island showed us that games could be funny, while
also being playable. Classic characters like LeChuck or Stan and a game that
consistently hit you with gags and funny lines set in the pirate infested
Caribbean makes this game timeless. The HD remaster took nothing away from the
game (so much so you can switch seamlessly between HD and Classic with the only
difference being the graphics) this is one game that you need to chuckle your
way through to the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wolf 3D<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’ve mentioned Wolf 3D numerous times on this blog, and with
good reason. Now there are lots of firsts in gaming. First game with a female protagonist
(Ms Pac Man), first motion capture game (Rise of Robots), first electronic RPG
(m199h) and many more. However the modern era of gaming can owe a lot to Wolf
3D. Called the “Granddaddy of the FPS”, this game is where modern blockbusters
including Call of Duty and Battlefield can trace their roots. Set in WW2, you
are BJ Blazkowicz, and you are being held prisoner in Castle Wolfenstein, until
you overpower your guard and with a pistol and 8 bullets, you must now fight
through waves of Nazi’s to escape. Well that’s Episode One. You need to
run-and-gun your way through floor after floor of enemies and battle evil
bosses such as Hans and Gretal Grosse, Doctor Schabbs and even Adolf Hitler
himself. A game that must be played at some point in your life to truly
understand the FPS genre.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Candy Crush
Saga<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right let me explain. Candy Crush is a game, and is the only
casual game you’ll see on this list. The reason it is on there is because it’s
a game that keeps pulling you back into it, and is quick and easy to pick up
and play whenever you want. On the bus? Play some Candy Crush. Walking to work?
Play some Candy Crush. Having a dump? Play some Candy Crush. Simple to play and
frustrating as hell at times, you need to play this if only to see why most
people seem to be playing it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Star Wars:
Knights of the Old Republic<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">KoTOR for short, this game is epic in scope and set so far
away from the movie franchise (almost 4,000 years in fact) that being a fan of
the films is not necessarily a pre-requisite requirement. A game of huge scope,
friendship, betrayal, love and loss, this Star Wars game is storytelling done
right. Expect to take anywhere between 25 – 40 hours to complete, this is
undoubtedly one of the jewels in the Bioware crown. Wield and customise your lightsaber
(or sabers – plural) hone your Force abilities and walk the line between the
Light and the Dark Side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">GTA: Vice
City<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Realistically a list such as this couldn’t go by without a
GTA game involved. And after some soul searching, including thinking about GTA
III where the 3<sup>rd</sup> person GTA’s started, or San Andreas being quite
simply one of the best games of all time I had to go with Vice City. Set in the
80’s, it’s bright, hard hitting and GTA all over from start to finish. Tommy
Vercetti is the name, and Scarface is the game. Impossible to play without
nodding your head constantly to the amazing soundtrack and a storyline with
such a good backbone to it you’d be mad to bypass it – even though it is easy
enough to do with San Andreas and the most recent iteration of GTA V both being
world beating games. Well worth your time and well worth being on this list.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Red Dead
Redemption<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another Rockstar game, this time set in the dying days of
the Old West. A magnificent and beautiful game that has a storyline worthy of a
multiple award winning movie blockbuster. John Marston is forced by the Federal
Government to do their bidding by hunting down and either bringing in or
killing his old gang-mates in exchange for the safe return of his wife and son.
Revolutions and cattle ranching sit alongside his story and the DLC – Undead Nightmare
– has to be included in this entry as it’s an outstanding additional story that
could have easily been a standalone game (when you consider some games that are
released standalone this is better than a lot of them). Classic GTA style gameplay,
with horses and carts replacing motor vehicles and enough side quests and
places to explore to keep you hooked and keep you coming back for more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Heavy Rain<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Out of any game I’ve played, Heavy Rain is the most like
playing through a movie that I’ve ever experienced. Children are going missing,
and then being found in random locations, drowned with a piece of Origami
placed in their hand. You play a father still coping with the loss of his
oldest son, whose only other son is the latest to go missing. You also play a
private investigator who is looking into the murders himself and looking for
the likely culprit. Oh and you also play as a drug addict FBI agent, who is
drafted into the city to assist in the investigation. And finally you also play
as a freelance photojournalist who suffers from insomnia and night terrors who
ends up looking into the murders herself. The game doesn’t follow the usual
path of games – whereby if you make a mistake, just load your last save and try
again – no it’s a lot harsher than that. You make a mistake with a character, a
mistake that could even kill that character, and that’s it. That character is
now dead and out of the game. Because of this, there are multiple endings for
each character, which then results in multiple overall endings when put
together. Compelling and incredibly drama filled, this game needs to be played
by most gamers if only for the snap decisions you are forced into making
especially when you put yourself in each characters shoes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Plants vs
Zombies<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A lighter note. PvZ is another game on this list with a
ridiculous premise. Zombies are overrunning the world, so your obvious choice
of defence is some sunflowers and pea-shooters. Aided by Crazy Dave and faced
with multiple types of enemy, including the standard zombie, and harder zombies
that might have a bucket on their head or holding a screen door, or zombie
American Footballers or even zombies on the back of zombie dolphins, this game
is as ridiculous as they come. And it’s also one of the most satisfying games
to play and complete that you will ever play. Simple and easy to understand
gameplay, it’s easy to learn but can be quite hard to master. The song at the
end will have you randomly singing in a zombie voice “There’s butter on my head”
for months.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Civilization
II<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Civ II is a masterful game of turn based strategy greatness.
Start off with nothing but a unit of nomadic settlers around 3000 BC and start
your empire. Research technologies wage war, make peace, create wonders and vie
to be the greatest Civilization on the planet. Play through scenarios, or play
on a map of our world, or play through randomly generated maps, just play this
game and prepare your body for the lack of sleep that it will bring. One of the
cornerstone games of the 90’s, its popularity deserves an HD remaster with no
extra bells or whistles attached to it. The close second in this series of
games is Civilization V – well worth the outlay as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Portal<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I suppose not strictly a FPS in the sense that what you’re shooting
is a gun with bullets or lasers or some other projectile meant to harm. What
you’re shooting is a Portal gun. Create 2 portal holes on the walls, floors or
ceilings to create a doorway through the dimensions so you can enter here ->
() and come out…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">()-> here. Work your way through the Aperture Science lab
being guided by GLaDOS and work your way to the elusive cake at the end of the
Portal Tunnel…it won’t take you long to play through, but some puzzles will
seemingly take forever. Another game with a wonderful post-game song, and
required playing for sane gamers looking for a slice of insane thinking in
order to get through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LIMBO<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another game on the list that can easily be described as
simplistic. A platform game set in a strange dark place, inhabited by giant
spiders, Lord of the Flies type kids, random machine gun turrets, gravity
defying machines, and puzzle after puzzle after puzzle after puzzle with an
ending that is as open to interpretation as Inception. A dark world of silhouettes
and danger round every corner and over every jump, prepare to do everything you
can to get your little guy to the end where he is so desperate to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mass Effect<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right. Now a list that I was going to write about this kind
of stuff wouldn’t be complete without Bioware’s space opera. A true action-RPG
in a sci-fi universe that actually dares to be as deep and meaningful as Star Wars
and Star Trek. Politics, a brilliant morality system, and a system of saves
that carry’s your decisions over from one game to the next. You are Commander
Shepard, and this is your story. Now Bioware, famously copped a lot of flak for
the way the trilogy ended, and even more when they released a graphic stating
along the lines of “It’s not the destination it’s the journey” – or something
like that, but over the years that is completely true. There’s nothing like
forging the strong bonds between your crew and fighting insurmountable odds all
the while feeling like you’re a part of a much larger universe. A must play
game (and trilogy) that I’ve probably played enough to fill up the worlds quota
of play time on this game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right, well that’s it. For now. If I think of any others or
play a game that make me immediately want to add it on, I’ll let you know.
These aren’t in any particular order and these are just a handful of the great
swathes of amazing games out there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Toolbox24</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-89883669173607430402015-07-05T21:43:00.005+01:002015-07-05T21:43:43.971+01:00Short Review - Child of Light<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Short Review - Child of Light</b></span><div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1Wpsh0B2bwU6e_vP4cx2n-gogOsycfLOTKlE7SJVkBfweeZJTIVCmX0sJr57Re1z3ikUv6EjYdJBCjbyjHM2sy_ab_oGDCqyQVknse-Xyc92d6At3-HXqd6wfEKiiEafdNM9DfUzgtk/s1600/2015-07-05_00006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1Wpsh0B2bwU6e_vP4cx2n-gogOsycfLOTKlE7SJVkBfweeZJTIVCmX0sJr57Re1z3ikUv6EjYdJBCjbyjHM2sy_ab_oGDCqyQVknse-Xyc92d6At3-HXqd6wfEKiiEafdNM9DfUzgtk/s320/2015-07-05_00006.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wow. I first saw a trailer for Child of Light in April 2014 (here's the <a href="http://monkeyboxgaming.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/child-of-light.html" target="_blank">post</a> avec trailer), and I thought, "That looks like a really beautiful game. I must play that one day."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then things happened, work, Leeds United stuff, life...and I pretty much forgot it's existence. But boy if ever there was an advert for having a Wishlist on Steam, this would be it. When I first saw the trailer, I put the game immediately on my Steam Account Wishlist - a great thing to do, as you'll then get email notifications when games on your wishlist are on sale. And I am so glad I did with Child of Light.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Massively reduced in the recent Steam Summer Sale, I had to grab it - for £1.99, it's a bargain. Less than a meal deal from the shop or just a couple of bottles of Coke. And to be honest, this is probably the best £1.99 I've ever spent on a game.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The game is a mixture of platformer and turn based RPG. You are Aurora, a young girl who has seemingly died in her sleep, in typical fairy-tale fashion, only to awake in the mysterious world of Lemuria. The fairy-tale part of this is apt, as there are nods to Sleeping Beauty, the tale of King Arthur and Snow White to name a few, and the whole game is the closest I've felt to being in a fairy-tale - which is important being a father of 2 princesses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You embark on an adventure across Lemuria picking up companions from your light up buddy Igniculous, to the little dwarven wizard Finn from the village of Capilli , the mousey Populi trader Robert, the Aerostati jester Rubella and many more to boot. The narrative of the entire game takes place as a massive poem, even when noticing strange runes or talking with NPC's for side-quests...except Rubella, who seems to have trouble rhyming - only to be corrected by various other characters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another aspect that is immediately apparent, is the wonderful beauty of the game. I've played an awful lot of games in the past almost-25 years, but I must say, this is just another level. Every animation is so fluid, there is no clunky part to the graphics or the gameplay, and playing the game feels like such a natural thing it's as if I were born simply to play this. The learning curve is so small, it's barely a curve at all - this is thanks in large part due to the simple controls, and the easy to work out game mechanics. Some games are stunning and epic in scope...but are so hard to work out, and have such a steep learning curve, that it becomes something of a chore to play them - which defeats the object somewhat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The music and sounds on the game are just as stunning, I am constantly finding myself whistling the little tune that Aurora plays on her flute (the main theme from the game) and the music can really help you lose yourself in the game for hours on end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You travel Lemuria in the style of a platformer, exploring the lands and avoiding obstacles and encountering foes. This is where the majority of the game is spent, and this is where the movement feels so fluid. The fighting takes place in classic turn-based RPG style, with you and your enemies on opposite sides of the screen facing off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are certain tactics to employ pre-fight, by using Oculi. These are gems to use that you collect such as Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald which add extras to your weapons such as Lightening, Fire and Water. So suppose you're in a fiery area, facing off against fiery foes, using Sapphire to add water damage to your weapon, and adding Ruby to your defence will add Fire resistence etc. It's quite simple, but you should really stay on top as you can craft new Oculi for example 3 rough gems will create a tumbled gem, 3 tumbled gems will create a faceted gem, 3 faceted gems will create a brilliant gem - each getting more powerful as you go along. You can also mix gems to create other gems to add light damage or dodge abilities etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finally, the Skill Trees. The above screenshot shows my current skill tree after completing the game and starting a New Game+ (once you've completed the game, you can go through again with the enemies being harder and your skill set from the first playthrough intact). It's all very simple and very easy to understand, such as adding extra physical or magical defence or hit points or magic points or increasing the power of your attack or defensive moves. Again, it's all so simple.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I would love to go into more detail about the story of the game, but I shan't. Rest assured that it's like a classic fairy-tale, a story of light vs dark, and redemption of a wonderful and mysterious land. In all honesty, out of the dozens or hundreds of games that I've played, Child of Light lends itself to a film adaptation more than any other game (including my beloved Mass Effect - mainly due to the amount of options in Mass Effect etc). The game is stunningly beautiful, incredibly easy to get to grips with and so easily playable you'll feel like you're watching a gorgeous story unfold as opposed to playing a game. Just be aware that you'll need to register (for free) with uPlay, Ubisoft's tiny version of Origin and Steam. But that's no biggy. You'll run through the game in between 14-17 hours, and it will be some of the most satisfying hours you'll spend playing a game.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Overall Score: <span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>10/10</b></span> - Rarely does one find a diamond in the rough. This diamond shines brilliantly and beautifully.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-79882558370817764282015-06-18T20:18:00.001+01:002015-06-18T20:18:18.522+01:00Short Review - Age of Empires II<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Short Review - Age of Empires II</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you have owned a PC between 1999 and now, and haven't played AoEII, then quite frankly there's a part of your soul missing. It's an amazing game with an even more amazing support structure - as I write, Steam is currently downloading an update for it at close to 800mb. That's support still coming 16 years after the release date - with no sign as yet of it stopping.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">AoEII is a RTS (Real Time Strategy), meaning that while you're tinkering away doing your thing your opponent, be it AI or person is also tinkering away doing there thing. Anyway, enough of "What is a RTS 101", onto the game and why you should be playing it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The single player game consists of 2 main parts, the Campaign and Standard Game. The Campaign has you battling through several different campaigns from the medieval world, from William Wallace's battles in Scotland to Ghengis Khan's horseback archers to Joan of Arc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The campaigns are a good way to learn the basics of the game and to pass some time with missions that have varying meaning as opposed to just "Defeat the enemy".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The standard game lets you set the objectives, you can either win by dominating and either conquering all other players or forcing them to resign; win by building a Wonder and having it stand for a set length of time, win by obtaining control of all relics that are randomly dotted across the map; Regicide - where all players have a king who you must keep safe, if the king dies, you're out as well as a few other game types.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You tend to start games in the Dark Age, advancing through to the Feudal Age, the Castle Age and finally the Imperial Age. This is meant to span approximately 1,000 years of civilization. You need to do things in order to progress through the ages, such as building certain buildings and acquiring a set amount of gold and in some cases food. You do this by creating villagers, who can then mine stone and gold, cut wood and gather food by hunting, farming, foraging and fishing. By gathering these supplies you can then use your villagers to construct buildings from houses (to boost your population limit), to barracks to build infantry units to castles or Wonders from Hagia Sofia to the Cathedral or Chartres.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The game is simple to pick up and simple to get to grips with, but can be difficult to master - as is found by the amount of times I've been mercilessly destroyed online. It's a simple game that can suck you in for hours at a time if you're not careful, and the sound effects and music just go along with it all so perfectly they feel like a snug blanket, keeping you cosy while playing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's all simple point-and-click controls, and the only feature which I feel could have added more to the game (especially in it's 2013 HD Remaster) would be a simple zoom function.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Overall Score: <span style="font-size: x-large;">9/10</span> - </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">as an RTS it's near perfect and a wonderful way to spend an evening or afternoon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b> </b></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-44095989353763363182015-06-13T20:45:00.002+01:002015-06-13T20:45:55.947+01:00Short Review - Gunpoint<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Short Review - Gunpoint (PC)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gunpoint is a puzzle game with a difference. It's a game with simple goals, but with complex routes to achieve them. It's a game where the story is appealing and there is also a good vein of humour running through it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You're Richard Conway, freelance spy. You've just purchased a pair of Bullfrog brand hypertrousers, giving you the ability to jump ridiculously high and land safely from those heights. You can hack computer systems and are as violent as your mouse finger dictates.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You are caught up in a murder mystery purely by chance...testing your new hypertrousers in your apartment and falling into the office across the street...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The music is just right, smooth and cool and a constant reminder that you're in a spy related game. The simple controls are quick to get used to, and the eventual upgrades that you can achieve are useful, fun, creative...and required in some cases.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In a nutshell, the game can be completed in a night but there's a wealth of new levels created by the Steam Community. Usually sells for £6, but presently (until 22 June 2015) on sale for £3. Well worth the tiny outlay (even at full price) and has good replayability. Pick it up <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/video/206190?snr=1_5_9__400" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Overall Score: <span style="font-size: x-large;">8/10</span> - A great little game more than worth the outlay, a perfect soundtrack for what you're playing and incredibly easy to grasp and master. Timing is critical sometimes and forward thinking a must.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-8076307641803699522015-05-28T20:48:00.000+01:002015-05-28T20:48:17.782+01:00Casually Hardcore Gamer?<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Evening all,</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now there are certain things in life that are inevitable. Taxes and death are 2 things that spring to mind, but one of the more social inevitabilities is that of labelling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You wear lots of black, white make-up and listen to dreary sounding rock music - you're a goth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You have a beard and wear off-beat clothes - you're a hipster.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You are a Tory voter - you're deluded.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You support Chelsea, Man Utd or Millwall - you're brainless.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The list goes on, and that list extends to the world of gaming, usually in the form of those who are fanboys, hardcore gamers, casual gamers, noobs, retro gamers and the list does tend to go on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now I tend to categorise myself in a group of gamers that can only be growing in size: I'm a Casually Hardcore Gamer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now there are certain elements that I've thought of that put's one in this category.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Firstly: You must have a passion for gaming that is unmoveable.</b> I have a passion for gaming, have done since I was a tiny little Toolbox. Loved them all, from old DOS games like Gorillas.bas and Digger to Wolf3D, Doom and Quake, moving on through to games like Metal Gear Solid, WWF Attitude, FIFA (minus the massive amounts of alleged money embezzlement) to Championship Manager, then Football Manager, Mass Effect, GTA and many more. Gaming is a passion of mine that just cannot be quenched. Whether it's revisiting old games again, or exploring new ones - gaming doesn't get old for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Secondly: As much as you love gaming, life events tend to be more important. </b>Such is life. When I was younger, I went to school or college, then after a little bit of homework or a little bit of time with my mates - the computer beckoned. Sometimes, the mates would be fobbed off or homework left to the last minute because. hey, it's CLEARLY more important to me. But then you grow up a bit - this doesn't mean that gaming is no longer important - and things happen. You get married, you have kids, you have a more responsible job. These things inevitably...get in the way. Now that could be read wrong. My wife and kids don't "get in the way" of time that I could be spent gaming...no wait, they totally do - but it's alright, cos I love them dearly and would do anything for them. So games of Toy Story Happy Families and Guess Who? or going for walks to the park or spending some quality time with the Mrs are as, if not in a strange way MORE important than gaming. I know right, as if anything could be more important! But really, they are. I never would have thought it growing up, but there you go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Thirdly: Time spent playing is limited - but treasured.</b> This little nugget is so true. I don't tend to get on the computer for any "me time" until the kids have gone to play in their room before bed and the wife is on her laptop watching the tele. As much as I'd love to roll in from work, sit my fat arse down and play some GTA or Football Manger (the 2 games diving my gaming attention at the moment), that's just not gonna happen. Dinner needs to be made, the rubbish needs to be taken to the outside bin and other things need doing. But when the evening rolls round, and the kids are gone...then I'm no longer a father, or a husband. I'm Toolbox24 - gamer. The other thing though is that when I was younger, late nights gaming into the wee hours, even before work, were commonplace. I mean, I only worked at Argos, it's not like I needed to use much of my brain. Now however, I work an important job in the Civil Service, and as such, I need to go to work and actually use my brain for good. This means (unless it's the weekend) no late night gaming sesh's. So the time gaming, is minimal - especially with tea/coffee breaks with the wife - or getting the kids teeth cleaned and bedtime story read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Fourthly: You sneak gaming in wherever and whenever you can.</b> I work in an office. Sometimes I need to photocopy a ton of shit. While I'm stood over the photocopier waiting for it to do it's thing I could do 1 of 2 things. I could stand and wait, maybe check the stationary cupboard...OR I could whip my phone out and play some games. This sneaking of gaming in is where casual gaming comes into play. I generally wouldn't spend my evening playing Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, or Criminal Case. No, no, no...I would however play them whilst sitting on the porcelain throne or having a tea break. And in doing so, I have played over 500 games of pool on 8 Ball Pool on Miniclip, completed pretty much every Angry Birds iteration out there and am steadily approaching level 800 on Candy Crush Saga to name but a few. Gaming is somewhat of a way of life, and it's one I am immensely happy with - be it with "proper" games or casual ones.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Fifthly: You don't play just one type of game.</b> This one is important now, it's important for anyone who wants to really appreciate the art, sophistication and subtle nuances of gaming. Someone who just sits and plays CoD or Battlefield all day - no matter if they spend most of their days and nights doing so, can't really be called a hardcore gamer. They fit more snugly into the Fanboy category, along with the people who bicker over the superiority of the Playstation or Xbox. It's just not going to happen. I figure that you need to regularly play and enjoy at least 4 different types of game, to be embedded into the hardcore gamer fold. Now herein lies a caveat - no matter how many casual games you play, they cannot count towards the 5. The following game types can:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First Person Shooter (Call of Duty, Battlefield, Portal etc)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Role Playing Games (Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, Fallout etc)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sports Simulator (FIFA, NBA, Madden etc)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Real Time Strategy (Command & Conquer, Age of Empires, Starcraft etc)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other Strategy (Civilization, Hearthstone, etc)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Management Simulator (Football Manager, Prison Architect, Cities: Skylines etc)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Action/Adventure (The Witcher, GTA, Batman Arkham series etc)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Platform (Mario, Limbo, Terraria etc)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Survival / Horror (DayZ, Resident Evil, Dead Space etc)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The list does go on, but I would say that you need to be an aficionado of at least 4 genres - including the bonus indy game genre. Which of course is a mixture of all genres, but independently made. FTL, Game Dev Tycoon, Plague Inc: Evolved, Gunpoint to again name a few.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Roll those 5 elements together, and you have a hardcore gamer, who hasn't got time to be a hardcore gamer - so he does it casually. The usual type of gamer that this will end up being is a parent.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So yeah, I play casual games, I play proper games too. And I don't pretend that I'm some kind of divine Über gamer - I'm alright, I'm pretty decent and I occasionally have moments of greatness but overall, I'm pretty average. But that doesn't diminish how much I bloody love to play. When I get the chance. I mean even writing this, I've gotten one daughter a carrot, the other one a milk, sorted a tablet out that had disconnected from the wifi and had an incredibly brief chat with the Mrs before she went out to read her book.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So yeah. In summary, I'm a Casually Hardcore Gamer. I'm proud of this, and I won't pretend to be anything that I'm not. And I would imagine, that guys and gals who are in their mid-20's to late-30's who grew up on some awesome games in the 90's and early naughties, probably fit quite snugly into this category as well.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nighty Night.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-92171314523404353042015-05-17T20:54:00.000+01:002015-05-17T20:54:01.149+01:00Guess Who's Back...<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Evening All,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been a tumultuous 12-13 months. Some personal issues, a new job, and new education for the kids. As well as a little bit of gaming here and there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I never wanted to leave MonkeyBoxGaming, and I never wanted to take my hiatus this long.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To all none of you who read this, I'm sorry, but I'm here to make a conscious effort to try again - firstly, by cancelling the Mass Effect serialisation - I enjoyed doing it while it lasted, but it was taking so much time and with kids and work etc it didn't leave any time for some actual gaming. Also, looking back, meh - twas ambitious, to convert a 30+ hour game into a detailed written word story. Maybe if I win the Euromillions...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm going to start again, some retro reviews, some new reviews, posting trailers, opinions and other bits and pieces.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But, MBG, you were never forgotten, I love you. I always will.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-43706273345281642152014-04-26T00:35:00.001+01:002014-04-26T00:35:10.288+01:00Mass Effect Serialisation - Intermission<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hello again, you wonderful person, you.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Just to let you know, I'll be taking a break from the Mass Effect Serialisation (MES). The 16 chapters I've done so far is over 28,000 words and I've put in as much time to write what I have as it would have taken to complete the game twice, maybe three times.</span><div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started this project in December 2013, and it's been fun to write while I've been writing it, however I'm quite the Mass Effect lover - if you hadn't guessed that already - and doing this has stopped me from doing a clean play-through of the trilogy, which is something I last did in June/July 2013. To be perfectly honest...it's been too fucking long. In fact, even though I've been doing the MES, the closest I've felt to playing Mass Effect was downloading Shepard, Garrus, Wrex and Tali texture packs to replace Nick, Ellis, Coach and Rochelle respectively in Left 4 Dead 2, and then downloading husks to replace the common infected...yep.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I need to do a clean trilogy run...other games are enticing me for a while, like FTL or L4D2 and even jumping back into GTA5 for a bit, but nothing is grabbing my attention and I know why. Since Mass Effect 3 came out, I've done multiple trilogy runs. Paragon, Renegade, Paragade, Renegon, FemShep, ShepLoo, CustomShep, StraightShep, No Romance Shep, GayShep, etc etc, in other words, I go back time and time again to experience it all from start to finish, making subtle changes along the way to shape each experience as the tides shape the rocks on a beach.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is the longest I've gone between play-through's and it's starting to show. It's almost like playing through the trilogy gives me fuel to then go on and play other things, and I'm not treating the MES like a normal trilogy run, but more like a working project; and as a working project, I'll need fuel to make it happen.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So that's it basically. I'm off to play Mass Effect, not work on it.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-91422110856597557122014-04-24T21:32:00.001+01:002014-04-24T21:32:13.380+01:00Child of Light<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Good Hello There.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was just perusing around the magnificent Steam Store while thinking of what to do, and I came across a game that is out on 30th April 2014. That game is Child of Light.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It drew me in with it's beautiful artwork, and after watching the following trailer I immediately added it to my Steam Wishlist so that when I can, I can easily find it again and purchase as a little gift from me, to me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What struck me about it is that the game just looks stunningly beautiful. Not just that but it sounds beautiful and looks to be a mix of turn-based-RPG and platform with more than a sprinkle of JRPG added to the mix as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is the trailer, watch for yourself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/bpqTiwfzqdo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but few games are. This however speaks to me as a gamer who appreciates good story and certain unique qualities which have to be played to truly be understood.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I hope that Child of Light delivers on both.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-49786895487961270232014-04-19T22:33:00.001+01:002014-04-19T22:33:10.335+01:00Mass Effect Serialisation – Chapter 16<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mass Effect
Serialisation – Chapter 16<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Welcoming Liara<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The team that Shepard had assembled, including the newly
recruited Liara T’Soni were in the briefing room of the Normandy as they left
Therum. They only had to travel to Noveria or Feros, but first they would have
to return to the Citadel in order to brief Ambassador Udina in person, also so
they could inform Admiral Kahoku of the fate of his marines on Edolus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard entered the briefing room, as Joker spoke to them
through the comm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Too close, Commander. Ten more seconds and we’d have been
swimming in molten sulphur. The Normandy isn’t equipped to land in exploding
volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull… Just for future
reference.” Joker said sarcastically,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We almsot died out there and your pilot is making jokes?”
Liara said, very confused,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Joker pulled our asses out of there. I think he’s earned
the right to a few bad jokes.” Shepard explained,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I see. It must be a human thing. I’m afraid I don’t have
much experience dealing with your species, Commander.” Liara conceded. “But I
am grateful to you. You saved my life back there. And not just from the
volcano. Those geth would have killed me, or dragged me off to Saren.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMBhAwtNu9-0B6rE454EMkKIm9suOLqzaIi8Xbda73_ZdGvVRILfjdFohyphenhyphenbnV0617UkgSMIqJ6vkVRCEIF3L7tB6xxwk3X9vIVOrzp0oqLIGAwLMvoRm0Y0IkpQDBE116PTxFSpclMYi0/s1600/2014-04-18_00001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMBhAwtNu9-0B6rE454EMkKIm9suOLqzaIi8Xbda73_ZdGvVRILfjdFohyphenhyphenbnV0617UkgSMIqJ6vkVRCEIF3L7tB6xxwk3X9vIVOrzp0oqLIGAwLMvoRm0Y0IkpQDBE116PTxFSpclMYi0/s1600/2014-04-18_00001.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“What did Saren want with you? Do you know something about
the Conduit?” Kaidan asked,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean
extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the past fifty
years trying to figure out what happened to them.” Liara said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“How old are you, exactly?” Shepard asked, taken aback by
her revelation of studying the prothean extinction longer than he’d been alive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I hate to admit it, but I am only a hundred and six.” She
replied,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Damn!” Ashley said, “I hope I look that good when I’m your
age.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived
species like yours. But among the asari, I am barely considered more than a
child.” She said, clearly bitter that she’s still seen as a young girl to her
peers. “That is why my research has not received the attention it deserves.
Because of my youth, other asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what
happened to the Protheans.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I’ve got my own theory on why the Protheans disappeared.”
Shepard said with the knowledge from the beacon on Eden Prime bubbling just
below the surface of his consciousness,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“With all due respect, Commander, I have heard every theory
out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them. The Protheans left
remarkably little behind.” Liara replied, “It is almost as if someone did not
want the mystery solved. It’s like someone came along after the Protheans were
gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues. But here is the incredible part.
According to my findings, the Protheans were no the first galactic civilization
to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Where’d you come up with this theory? I thought there
wasn’t any evidence.” Shepard asked, intrigued by what Liara’s theory entailed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I have been working on this for fifty years. I have tracked
down every scrap and shread of evidence. Eventually, subtle patterns start to
emerge. Patterns that hint at the truth. It is difficult to explain to someone
else. I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case. It is more a
feeling derived from a half-century of dedicated research.” Liara said with
conviction, “But I know I’m right. And eventually, I will be able to prove it.
There were other civilizations before the Protheans. This cycle has repeated
itself many times over.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqB4ESuoOkLDoo1nUiX1yjHI8lH5d9_jkJ9ziUVMQnD_V73d8EEcv9tMWXO12g74XVDRy95QsOrnnAItHvddpIp1nEd3rc7KPDVlCUSl9-iBb0c9q8FRzbUpuXee_L-X04dGYsiYhmbKg/s1600/2014-04-18_00002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqB4ESuoOkLDoo1nUiX1yjHI8lH5d9_jkJ9ziUVMQnD_V73d8EEcv9tMWXO12g74XVDRy95QsOrnnAItHvddpIp1nEd3rc7KPDVlCUSl9-iBb0c9q8FRzbUpuXee_L-X04dGYsiYhmbKg/s1600/2014-04-18_00002.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“What cycle? What do you mean?” Shepard asked,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a
great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins
survive. The Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned
the entire galaxy.” Liara started to explain, clearly delighted to be able to
talk in detail about the subject, “Yet even they climbed to the top on the
remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements – the mass relays
and the Citadel – are based on the technology of those who came before them.
And then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic
history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out
why.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines. The
Reapers.” Shepard revealed,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“The…the Reapers? But I have never heard of…How do you know
this? What evidence do you have?” Liara said, with a mix of excitement and
bemusement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“There was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. It
burned a vision into my mind. I’m still trying to sort out what it all means.”
Shepard said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Visions? Yes, that makes sense. The beacons were designed
to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. Finding one that
still works is extremely rare. It’s no wonder that the geth attacked Eden
Prime. The chance to acquire a working beacon – even a badly damaged one – is
worth almost any risk.” Liara said, gathering momentum, “But the beacons were
only programmed to interact with Prothean physiology. Whatever information you
received would have been confused, unclear. I am amazed you were able to make
sense of it at all. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the
process. You must be remarkably strong willed, Commander.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“This isn’t helping us find Saren. Or the Conduit.” Ashley
said, clearly irked by the attention Liara was giving Shepard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Of course, you’re right. I am sorry. My scientific
curiosity got the better of me. Unfortunately, I do not have any information
that could help you find the Conduit. Or Saren.” Liara said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I don’t know why Saren wanted you out of the picture. But I
think we’ll be a lot better off if we bring you along with us.” Shepard said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Thank you, Commander.” Liara replied, standing to be next
to Shepard, “Saren might come after me again. I cannot think of anywhere safer
than here on your ship. And my knowledge of the Protheans may be of use to you
later on.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“And her biotics will come in handy when the fighting
starts.” Wrex added with a grin,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Well we’ve got every other non-human species on board, may
as well add an asari to the list.” Shepard said, half-joking,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Thank you, Commander. I am very gratef…whoa. I am afraid
I’m feeling a little light-headed.” Liara said, losing her footing slightly,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“When was the last time you ate? Or slept?” Kaidan asked
worried, “Dr Chakwas should take a look at you.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“It is probably just mental exhaustion, coupled with the
shock of finding out the Protheans’ true fate. I need some time to process all
this.” Liara said, “Still, it could not hurt to be examined by a medical
professional. It will give me the chance to think things over. Are we finished
here Commander?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Go see the Doctor. The rest of you – dismissed.” Shepard said
with his authoritative tone,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The team stood and left the briefing room, as they did, the
comm crackled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Mission reports are filed, Commander. You want me to patch
you through to the Council?” Joker asked through the comm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Patch them though, Joker.” Shepard said, as Joker did so.
Almost immediately, the Council appeared in the briefing room as holograms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY9sQRuoskd2cEe-3EkS9jX4_dSAzjNlliCpux4svRUMso7Ce9yvRKP1Q7peKaJP-2_xQWd44w36HN7KIa6wp6nqDCBpdFDOx4NyQOKapPX_q8h6I8bol_3_wOx8bl6u3LLfebCNfR6t0/s1600/2014-04-18_00005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY9sQRuoskd2cEe-3EkS9jX4_dSAzjNlliCpux4svRUMso7Ce9yvRKP1Q7peKaJP-2_xQWd44w36HN7KIa6wp6nqDCBpdFDOx4NyQOKapPX_q8h6I8bol_3_wOx8bl6u3LLfebCNfR6t0/s1600/2014-04-18_00005.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We’ve received your report, Commander. I understand Dr
T’Soni is on the Normandy.” The Asari Councillor, Tevos, said,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I assume you’re taking the necessary security precautions?”
The Turian Councillor, Sparatus, added,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Don’t tell me how to do my job.” Shepard said at Sparatus,
annoyed at his assertion that he hadn’t considered Liara to be a threat,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We are not trying to tell you how to carry out your job,
Commander. We are merely here to offer advice and guidance.” Tevos intervened.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“It is up to you if you’re smart enough to listen.” Sparatus
snapped at Shepard. At that, Shepard decided he’d heard enough from the turian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I don’t need this.” He said gruffly and more than a little
tired, as he disconnected the link.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Communications cut, Commander.” Joker chuckled over the
comm. Shepard, stood for a moment, gathering his thoughts. He decided to go and
see Liara in the Med Bay to check up on her, she had been through quite an
ordeal on Therum, and wanted to see that she was alright. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard went down to the Med Bay and saw that Dr Chakwas had
finished with Liara, and that Liara had set herself up in the Med Bay’s back
room, he approached her to talk. She was sat at a desk, and heard him enter.
She immediately stood to face him and looked at him with her big doe-like eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Commander, have you come to check on me?” she asked,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Yes, you seem to be doing well now. Is everything alright?”
Shepard replied,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Dr Chakwas assures me I’m going to be fine. I was impressed
with her knowledge of asari physiology.” Liara replied, gratefully.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“She knows what she’s doing, you’re in good hands.” Shepard
said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I never properly thanked you for saving me from the geth,
if you hadn’t showed up when you did…” Liara said before Shepard cut her off,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Don’t mention it. I’m just glad we got there in time.” He
said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Thank you. And thank you for taking a chance on me. I have
seen the way the crew look at me – they do not trust me. But I am not like
Benezia. I will do whatever I can to help you stop Saren. I promise.” Liara
said, determined to prove her worth and her loyalty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Don’t worry Liara, I know you will. I trust you.” Shepard
said, reassuringly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“It means a lot to hear you say that, thank you Commander.”
Liara said with a coy smile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Tell me about yourself Liara, I’d like to know more about
you.” Shepard said, genuinely wanting to know more about his team as he had
done with the others he’d picked up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I’m afraid I’m not very interesting, Commander. I spend
most of my time on remote digs, unearthing mundane objects from long-forgotten
prothean ruins.” She said, again coyly,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“You must enjoy something about what you do.” Shepard said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I enjoy finding things that haven’t been touched for
millennia, and anything to do with the protheans. To know that you were touched
by actual working prothean technology – it’s why I find you so fascinating.”
Liara said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Sounds like you want to dissect me in a lab.” Shepard
joked,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Oh my! That’s not what I meant!” Liara said, obviously
upset at the thought, “I never meant for you to think that. All I meant was
that you would be an interesting case-study for…No! Wait, I mean…” Liara
started to fumble over every word she said, she wasn’t used to human humour,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I was only joking Liara! It’s OK.” Shepard said, reassuring
her that she’d said nothing wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Joking? By the goddess, you must think I’m so dense.” Liara
said, holding her forehead, in embarrassment “Now you can see why I prefer to
spend my time on remote digs with computers and data discs. Please, just
pretend this conversation never happened,”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I should go, I’ll catch up with you soon Liara.” Shepard
said as he left the Med Bay to return to the CIC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Toolbox24</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-45275625560553224272014-04-15T22:30:00.002+01:002014-04-15T22:34:55.448+01:00Mass Effect Serialisation – Chapter 15<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mass Effect
Serialisation – Chapter 15<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Liara T’Soni, I
Presume?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard, Kaidan and Wrex entered the mine-come-dig-site, and
started down the long shaft to a large open cavern below. As they neared the
end of the sloping shaft, they spotted a geth. It was taken down swiftly by the
group, and they advanced onto a makeshift metal walkway around the rocky
cavern.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As they walked around it, they saw a large white wall with a
blue force-field blocking entry to the area behind it. It was old, almost
certainly of Prothean origin, and a testament to their engineering capabilities
that it was all still functioning 50,000 years after its construction. Nearby
there was an elevator, and since there was nowhere to go but down, that’s where
they went. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When they reached the lowest point of their elevator, they
found themselves on another metal walkway leading to another elevator in front
of another large white wall with a force-field embedded in it. They started to
walk towards it, and a small group of geth drones rose from below, firing
precisely towards the three of them. They were dispatched with quickly, and
Shepard brushed some fragments of armour from his shoulder that had been
damaged by the flying geth. After looking again for potential threats, they
entered the second elevator and again descended.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the elevator neared the bottom of the cavern, it started
to grind and fizz with sparks. It was heavily damaged and the metal walkway
below them was also damaged in places beyond repair. The elevator grind to a
halt about 5 feet from the walkway, so they forced the doors open and jumped
down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They walked along a small part of the walkway, and jumped
down to the section below through a hole that presumably had been blown apart
by the geth. That’s when they heard a youthful sounding, female voice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Hello? Is anybody out there?” it called out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They walked towards the voice and that’s when they first saw
her. Dr Liara T’Soni. She was trapped behind the Prothean force field, and also
in some kind of security bubble. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEims3cV7DlqyuZPNMfETlQ4xNVrqNj9PF1pno2uTfK5Un1ja-CjSV3teJlo-I7_RVuWVtVvRV03p5sfZqL3Mimh1G0LO9Zk52I46QgGgF3catTAb1lMkRN9yN60PRg_Zn4zeWfRS1XbB2Y/s1600/2014-03-28_00004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEims3cV7DlqyuZPNMfETlQ4xNVrqNj9PF1pno2uTfK5Un1ja-CjSV3teJlo-I7_RVuWVtVvRV03p5sfZqL3Mimh1G0LO9Zk52I46QgGgF3catTAb1lMkRN9yN60PRg_Zn4zeWfRS1XbB2Y/s1600/2014-03-28_00004.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She called out again, in a panicked and desperate tone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Can you hear me out there? I’m trapped, I need help!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Liara T’Soni, I Presume?” Shepard said wryly, his reference
to Dr Livingstone and Henry Stanley completely bypassing Wrex.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Listen. This thing I am in is a Prothean security device. I
cannot move, so I need you to get me out of it. All right?” Liara said, her
composure returning at the sight of people as opposed to geth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“How did you get trapped in there?” Shepard asked,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I was exploring these ruins when the geth showed up, so I
hid in here. Can you believe that? Geth! Beyond the Veil!” she said with
genuine surprise. “I activated the tower’s defences. I knew the barrier
curtains would keep them out. When I turned it on, I must’ve hit something I
wasn’t supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out. Please.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Your mother is working with Saren. Whose side are you on?”
Shepard asked, cutting to the chase – and wanting to find out if he would be
recruiting or arresting her once she was freed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“What? I am not on anybody’s side!” she said, with disdain,
“I may be Benezia’s daughter, but I’m nothing like her! I have not spoken to
her in years. Please, just get me out of here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard believed her. He didn’t know what it was about Dr
T’Soni, but he just knew she was someone he could trust. There was an almost
child-like innocence about her, and her shock at seeing the geth outside of the
Perseus Veil was nothing short of genuine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We’ll get you out of there.” Shepard said confidently.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Be careful, there is a krogan with the geth. They have been
trying various ways of getting past the barrier curtain with no success. The
curtains can only be deactivated on this side, so you’ll have to find some way
past them.” She said, all the time willing them to find something.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard nodded his head and the trio turned around, they
knew there were multiple geth units and now knew there was a krogan of all
things here as well. They went along the intact walkway to find a large open
space with the remnants of the archaeologist’s camp swarming with geth – but no
sign of the krogan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They decided to take out as many of them as possible from
the walkway, as they had pretty decent cover and the high ground. Shepard took
out his sniper rifle, and told the other two to cover him while he took the
geth out. This tactic worked well and before long the geth in the camp were all
destroyed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After looking around the site, they found a large mining
laser, it had been deactivated and locked down with Alliance encryption. It was
more likely that the geth hadn’t tried to use it, as their hacking skills would
have easily bypassed the encryption on the laser. Shepard walked over to it,
and activated it after going through the Alliance locks. The mining laser
immediately turned on and blasted a large hole through the ground and into a
level below Liara. The crashing walls and rubble around it was immense, and
almost straight away after the laser finished burning through, the ground
beneath their feet started to shake. Shepard and the others ran through into
the prothean structure and activated a lift in its central shaft up to the
level Liara was on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUinuRkkc8Kt-clu1Sh5ul1qvb7o3Exb13qJMfeS_1dQNBYBwO0_zKlaVWWhq8xMSFOtA3C7NE_LrD1N3rmphyphenhyphenmasMdUih84KP44A2Tjt9d-ijLUgO_INfKS-i3fgV8lVbNknn3N485S8/s1600/2014-04-15_00002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUinuRkkc8Kt-clu1Sh5ul1qvb7o3Exb13qJMfeS_1dQNBYBwO0_zKlaVWWhq8xMSFOtA3C7NE_LrD1N3rmphyphenhyphenmasMdUih84KP44A2Tjt9d-ijLUgO_INfKS-i3fgV8lVbNknn3N485S8/s1600/2014-04-15_00002.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Liara was still suspended in the bubble, and must have been
oblivious to the commotion caused by the mining laser.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“How…how did you get through? I thought there was no way
past the barrier!” she exclaimed,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We blasted through with the mining laser.” Shepard replied
shortly,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Please, get me out of here before more geth arrive. That
console over there should shut down the containment field.” Liara said. Shepard
walked over to the console that Liara had nodded to, and shut down the field.
She landed with a bump, got to her feet and brushed herself off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“There is an elevator back in the centre of the tower. At
least, I think it’s an elevator. It should take us out of here, we’d better go!”
she said pleadingly, she was obviously a bit nervous, and was not strong enough
to take on any geth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The four of them walked over to the elevator-platform, and
were about to activate it, Liara spoke up again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I still cannot believe all of this. Why would the geth come
after me? Do you think Benezia is involved?” she asked, trying to put the
pieces together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Saren’s looking for the Conduit. You’re a prothean expert.
Obviously he wants you to help him find it.” Kaidan replied. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“The Conduit?” Liara replied, puzzled, “But I don’t know…”
she was cut off by a loud rumbling and everything shaking, it was as if they
were at the epicentre of an earthquake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“What the hell was that?” Wrex asked in his usual candid
manner. The four of them looked around the tower that they stood in, as if to
expect it to topple around them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“These ruins aren’t stable. That mining laser must have triggered
a seismic event.” She said, having been at the dig site for a while before the
geth showed up, it was safe to say that she knew about how far they could push
the mining laser before it could trigger something like this. “We have to
hurry. The whole place it caving in!” she said with urgency as she went to the
elevator’s console to send it up, all the while, the shaking and rumbling
continued. Shepard, activated his comm to the Normandy to get an evac.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Joker! Get the Normandy airborne and lock in on my signal.
On the double, mister!” he yelled down the comm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Aye, aye, Commander. Secure and aweigh, ETA 7 minutes.” He replied
as the comm cut off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“That’s not much margin for error,” Kaidan said, cautiously,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“If we die in here, I’ll kill him.” Wrex said in a much more
uncouth way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The elevator started to ascend, all the while the four
thinking it could stop, or fall at any point. Their luck was in for now, it
carried on going up and got to the top level where they could make their
escape.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the elevator stopped, they were greeted by a squad of geth
troops, headed by a krogan battlemaster. They marched towards them, blocking
the only exit. They didn’t fire, which suggested they wanted Liara alive.
Shepard motioned to the others to hold fire for the moment, to see what would
unfold. The krogan battlemaster spoke to them briefly,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wJ5a42DpBJdOJeFS5KFoH9yMt0-hZuBfWiue8AMGgnGtGKUAIlHv3NoeE0PFbyec-G66RP1UQvWDvSyntQQZ6H3pkYwp7fPhqioeTsoY1US_SLWVue5qUmufLs-nQ43cOWU4x1j_q8A/s1600/2014-04-15_00003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wJ5a42DpBJdOJeFS5KFoH9yMt0-hZuBfWiue8AMGgnGtGKUAIlHv3NoeE0PFbyec-G66RP1UQvWDvSyntQQZ6H3pkYwp7fPhqioeTsoY1US_SLWVue5qUmufLs-nQ43cOWU4x1j_q8A/s1600/2014-04-15_00003.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Surrender. Or don’t, that would be more fun.” He said, with
a slightly perverse smile on his face, he wanted the bloodshed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We don’t have time to deal with this idiot. Charge!”
Shepard shouted, as the others drew their weapons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Ha! I like your attitude.” The krogan said, as he too drew his
shotgun. Wrex took on the battlemaster himself, knowing that he would be more
than a match for the other krogan. Shepard told Kaidan to stick with Liara and
cover her, he didn’t want her hurt or killed before they could find out what
she knew. Shepard ran up the slope of the elevator-platform and took out the 2
geth guarding the exit in 2 quick blasts from his assault rifle to the head,
one of the other geth had followed the battlemaster and set up a shield, Kaidan
used his tech overload on it and it was gone as quickly as it had been set up,
Shepard then sprinted towards it and barged it down to the floor with the butt
of his rifle, before unloading a few rounds into its chest. The last geth had
gone around the other side of the elevator and was quickly taken out by Wrex
with one blast from his shotgun, and near point-blank range.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The battlemaster however was still standing after tussling
with Wrex for a moment, and Shepard went behind him while the battlemaster was still
concentrating on Wrex. Shepard fired his assault rifle into him until his gun
overheated, it proved to be more than enough as the battlemaster fell to the
floor in a heap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With that they all ran to the exit, however it was still
blocked off by the large barrier curtains. Everything around them was shaking
even more than before, it’s possible that the gunfight had only served to make
things worse. They frantically looked around the barrier for some way through
it, or for a console, but there was nothing to be found. Another large reverberation
shook everything around them, it was the largest shake yet, and the barrier
flickered before deactivating. The seismic activity had cut all the power from
the prothean tower, and they had just been granted their escape.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard made sure the other 3 ran out before him, pushing
them past him shouting at them to run. They all started running up round their
metal walkway that they had come in on, as rocks and boulders started falling
in the massive cavern around them. They would have to be fast but they would
have to rely on one last bit of luck. As they ran around the walkway to the
exit, they were constantly bombarded my small rocks and stones, the occasional
large rock flying past them to the bottom of the dig site. As they neared the
exit, an enormous boulder fell onto the walkway behind them, and it started to
be ripped from its supports. The four of them reached the dig site’s exit
shaft, so they would not have to rely on the walkway, they made their final
sprint up the shaft as it all started to collapse around them. As the dig site
was disintegrating behind them, it created a massive black cloud of hot debris,
it was starting to seem more likely that the dig site was not just inside a
rocky hill, but a formerly inactive volcano. The scalding hot cloud was
catching up fast with Shepard as the other three had made it out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8qlsmewDxWaeaNEXvWU6s_PAioH5U848J_l_KX-y7ztG8MY3BfarZnJc27vvj-YSh9NUEqnZKhxV2MzQ4HMGpBh7QWAHTIFgoaZG6v0YOANJ-a03C_YOmTxmTbW67PXbYr_VrC3TZks/s1600/2014-04-15_00005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8qlsmewDxWaeaNEXvWU6s_PAioH5U848J_l_KX-y7ztG8MY3BfarZnJc27vvj-YSh9NUEqnZKhxV2MzQ4HMGpBh7QWAHTIFgoaZG6v0YOANJ-a03C_YOmTxmTbW67PXbYr_VrC3TZks/s1600/2014-04-15_00005.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard was running on adrenaline and fear of being cooked
alive, as the black cloud caught up with, and enveloped him. The others were
catching their breath on the ramp outside the dig site’s entrance, looking up
to the door to see if Shepard had made it. A massive burst of debris and dust
shot out of the entrance, and in amongst it was Shepard. He ran out and bent
over double, coughing and spluttering. Just as he made it out, the Normandy
hovered overhead, just in time to pick them up before any lava started to spew
from the site.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-42713129509484129932014-03-24T21:58:00.003+00:002014-03-28T22:40:50.829+00:00Mass Effect Serialisation – Chapter 14<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mass Effect
Serialisation – Chapter 14<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finding the Dig Site<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They drove the Mako through the tunnel and entered a small
clearing near another lava flow. The two rocket troops that were guarding the
exit of the tunnel were no match for the wheels of the Mako, as Shepard drove
over and past them. There was a second tunnel that they entered, and another
two rocket troops weren’t any match for the Mako as they were crushed beneath
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Mako left the second tunnel, and a small blockade had
been set up, again with minimal resistance from the few geth troops that were
stood behind it. Shepard drove the Mako past the blockade and round a small
corner, when they came to an abrupt stop. The road was blocked with rocks and
debris, possibly by a controlled explosion by the geth. The Mako couldn’t get
past, but there was just enough space for Shepard, Wrex and Kaidan to go
through on foot. It would be a tough last leg of their journey to find Dr
T’Soni, but they were confident that they would be able to make it through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They passed the rocks and went up a small knoll, to find a
squad of geth troops, rocket troops and shock troops. Shepard took point and
found cover behind a boulder, while Kaidan and Wrex did the same slightly
behind. Shepard equipped his assault rifle and took out two troops in one
sweeping move, while Kaidan took out the rocket troop out with his biotic
throw, slamming it against the rocks behind. Wrex chuckled at Kaidan’s biotic
display and decided to show off his own biotic abilities. He threw a warp at
the last remaining geth, the shock troop and it started to affect it at a
molecular level, as it was slowed and stumbled back, he then used his biotic
throw to hit the geth against the same rocks as Kaidan had, only this time the
geth pretty much disintegrated into dust. Wrex looked over at Kaidan, with his
shotgun in one hand, holding it like a human would a pistol, nodded his head
and smiled. Kaidan, just looked in awe, he knew he was a strong biotic, but
Wrex’s hundreds of years of battlefield experience and use of biotics certainly
showed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They continued past where the geth came from, around another
turning in the rocks, when they saw a large open area with a few rocks for
cover. Where they stood at the opening of the clearing, there was a small rock
that Shepard took cover behind, and told the others to stand back. He took out
his sniper rifle and trained his sights on the rocket trooper at the other end
of the opening, and blew its head off in one shot. He knew it would remove
their element of surprise, but getting shot of that rocket trooper would tip
the balance in his favour. He waited for his rifle to cool down for a second
shot in the field, he broke cover and shot the remaining geth troop in the
open. There was still a lot of gunfire and a couple of rockets coming from the
ridge around the opening and from a lookout post near the ridge. They wouldn’t
be able to take them out from their position, so they would have to get down on
the field behind what little cover there was. Up past the ridge, there was a
large mining structure, which would most likely be the entrance to a possible
excavation site, it was on top of the location on their map that had been
pointed out by Joker as having strange readings, so they knew they had almost
reached their destination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDR9CcS6lMS0_dMM2QiyXyDJXzMh7enpAbfpkkEYLw1QLSvmrIvnce1qajNARzA0tm3Bm1lK8P1PqQvHUydgNttztH0yODyqD46o5COyHOhDFkf2iWYmr6lPen9iD4N80JI8YQAqwN_Cs/s1600/2014-03-24_00001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDR9CcS6lMS0_dMM2QiyXyDJXzMh7enpAbfpkkEYLw1QLSvmrIvnce1qajNARzA0tm3Bm1lK8P1PqQvHUydgNttztH0yODyqD46o5COyHOhDFkf2iWYmr6lPen9iD4N80JI8YQAqwN_Cs/s1600/2014-03-24_00001.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard instructed Wrex and Kaidan to give him cover while
he would make a sprint to the nearest rock on the field. Kaidan and Wrex
provided that cover by throwing biotic warps towards the sources of gunfire
followed by heavy assault rifle fire. Shepard sprinted down to the rock, taking
a couple of hits to his shields in the process. After reaching his target, he
poked his head out to get a view of the geth, he saw the rocket trooper who had
been concealed before in the lookout, and a couple of other geth troops on the
ridge. He told Kaidan to try to use his biotics to remove the rocket troop
causing havoc from the lookout, and Wrex just started to run. He knew he’d be a
big diversion for the geth on the ridge, and Shepard saw this. While Wrex was
running, he started shooting his shotgun towards the ridge, getting lucky or
just being that good, by taking out one of the geth. While he did this, Shepard
took the last geth out with his sniper rifle. They paused while behind cover,
and saw that they could advance. They moved up towards the ridge, and started
moving towards the mine entrance they could see from before.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoMxywaA-fC0u-bMK3R4pUFJHRZeai34BAYoaalNBZaq3iyLOcA3d1JeHwoVuOuq6rCxjQU1HDBc7zJx4aEnxxxJHBR4fSDgh_C0DmTvY9QM2G0L60TLmJo5v9XjZRdtt6cZ4N7WF2ic/s1600/2014-03-24_00004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoMxywaA-fC0u-bMK3R4pUFJHRZeai34BAYoaalNBZaq3iyLOcA3d1JeHwoVuOuq6rCxjQU1HDBc7zJx4aEnxxxJHBR4fSDgh_C0DmTvY9QM2G0L60TLmJo5v9XjZRdtt6cZ4N7WF2ic/s1600/2014-03-24_00004.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As they neared it, everything seemed too quiet and
under-protected by the geth. They didn’t see another type of geth, crawling
along a platform above them. It was a geth stalker. It immediately took notice
of the trio, and jumped down in front of them, it took them by surprise enough
for them to fail to shoot at it. It made a strange mechanical grinding sound
and leapt away. Not long after, a geth dropship flew overhead. As it did, it
dropped out a small army of geth troops and a geth armature. Taking them out in
the Mako had almost turned into a game for them, but they knew they would be a
much harder challenge on foot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3HSy6m4tXB87jlp5_PtcXPRzovRo3s4DbfGe91efaHkmm865XluFPCEf6IzcNxRJkoyGoxQCUF7OKVg1EwQVILxMvp3ahV7dLhVBTtEt8qsXWIqOZWOxeWidpEX9j7c7M9hXVJb5lL4s/s1600/2014-03-24_00006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3HSy6m4tXB87jlp5_PtcXPRzovRo3s4DbfGe91efaHkmm865XluFPCEf6IzcNxRJkoyGoxQCUF7OKVg1EwQVILxMvp3ahV7dLhVBTtEt8qsXWIqOZWOxeWidpEX9j7c7M9hXVJb5lL4s/s1600/2014-03-24_00006.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They all took to the nearest cover they could as gunfire,
rockets and fire from the armatures pulse cannon hurtled toward them. Shepard
yelled at the others to leave the armature for last, from what he had already
seen of them, he knew they would be able to out manoeuvre it on foot. The geth
stalker was causing the group the most problems, jumping down between Shepard
and Kaidan and causing their weapons to overheat, rendering them momentarily
useless. Wrex saw they were in trouble and threw an especially strong warp at
the stalker, managing to take it out in one hit. The geth troops – having no
concept of pain or fear – advanced towards them, Shepard and Kaidan took out
different weapons and started firing at the nearest troops while their assault
rifles cooled down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wrex meanwhile still had his shotgun in hand, and fired
relentlessly at the rocket troops that were flanking the armature, taking them
out in swift fashion. The geth who were advancing on Shepard and Kaidan were
being cut to ribbons by them, and before they knew it, they only had the
lumbering armature to deal with. Unfortunately, it would take a lot of
firepower to take down, its shields were quick to recharge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard had a few grenades, and threw them all at the
armature. They all exploded underneath the beast’s body, but it continued to
advance slowly towards them. They had taken its shields out, and even damaged
part of its armour, they just had to whittle it down until it fell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wrex and Kaidan starting using their biotics on it, but only
Wrex’s warp had any effect. Kaidan switched tactics and used his tech skills on
it, trying to overload it and sabotage its weapons. This worked well and the
armature briefly stopped firing. Wrex barraged it with shotgun fire and Shepard
fired ruthlessly at its head with his assault rifle while Kaidan continued to
use his tech abilities to stifle the armatures attacking capabilities. Before
long, the armature fell and the last geth standing before the entrance to the
mine, and possibly Dr T’Soni, was destroyed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZ4Y8MXGw4GzODmldyz0vjkAjQersYYs4mApZf3LMt-qEjigZgqAAm3-v3vUE-mSEXKpsFsxUUhexIwulSXmVHo4xdohrvsdB_Z4CHDA1wvK1kEfJw7tItnnlCUkw3hS1LqtAgA5iJu0/s1600/2014-03-24_00007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZ4Y8MXGw4GzODmldyz0vjkAjQersYYs4mApZf3LMt-qEjigZgqAAm3-v3vUE-mSEXKpsFsxUUhexIwulSXmVHo4xdohrvsdB_Z4CHDA1wvK1kEfJw7tItnnlCUkw3hS1LqtAgA5iJu0/s1600/2014-03-24_00007.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Toolbox 24</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-30499287246780248952014-03-23T00:22:00.002+00:002014-03-23T00:22:40.829+00:00Mass Effect Serialisation – Chapter 13<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mass Effect
Serialisation – Chapter 13<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Therum<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard returned to the Galaxy Map in the CIC of the
Normandy, and decided to head to Knossos, it was the nearest system to Sparta
and as good a place as any to continue the search for Dr T’Soni.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It took a while but after arriving in Knossos, they started
scanning the planets immediately. It didn’t take long before the planet Therum
light up like a Christmas tree for Commander Shepard. The planet was already
settled by the Alliance and was a heavy industrial centre. It should have been
the first planet they went to thinking back; a few months back some ancient
ruins were discovered on the planet surface that as yet hadn’t been excavated
and explored, it was a perfect fit for Dr T’Soni – the archaeologist. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard went down to the planet with Wrex and Kaidan in the
Mako, and shortly after being dropped off by the Normandy, Shepard was contact
on the comm by Joker.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Commander, I’m getting some strange readings – really
strange, like off the damn charts. It looks like it’s coming from an
underground complex a few clicks away from the drop zone.” Joker said, sending
the co-ordinates through to the Mako’s navigation system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Therum was a mineral rich and rocky world, it was an easy
choice for the Alliance to exploit the natural resources available. There were
only a couple of small settlements on the planet, but the plans were for it to
become a major industrial centre like Bekenstein. After travelling in the Mako
for a short while, they realised that they were facing a race against time to
find Dr T’Soni, a geth dropship flew overhead and dropped two armatures in
their path. Geth Armatures are large anti-vehicle and anti-personnel units that
have heavy machine guns and a pulse cannon for taking out all manner of
enemies. However, they are also quadruped walkers, and are easily knocked down
by brute force. Fortunately for Shepard, the Mako is pure brute force.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQODvgJ58sUdFFVmg_33AyLZnzgfOWTeVqHclSFiCE1qzAq0vChs_pOEDuqqGbsIX7E01iFfzpnMGEohXWoLdwVuSgmPDlCq5EkVqDBLQliGHTsSGFAZdQkEAgXYCzvzRfVBgMfRlBcSQ/s1600/2014-03-21_00001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQODvgJ58sUdFFVmg_33AyLZnzgfOWTeVqHclSFiCE1qzAq0vChs_pOEDuqqGbsIX7E01iFfzpnMGEohXWoLdwVuSgmPDlCq5EkVqDBLQliGHTsSGFAZdQkEAgXYCzvzRfVBgMfRlBcSQ/s1600/2014-03-21_00001.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The two armatures landed on the ground in front of the Mako,
it would seem odd that only two were dropped, but it immediately indicated to
Shepard that the bulk of their forces must be further ahead, and these
armatures were sent just to slow them down. Shepard was determined not to let
that happen. He couldn’t just pass them and risk them catching up to them later
down the line, so he employed a similar tactic as he used previously against
the Thresher Maw on Edolus. He drove the Mako at full speed against the first
armature, using the vertical thrusters to “hop” over any incoming balls of
plasma-like energy that would have seriously crippled the Mako’s shields. As
they approached the first armature, Shepard increased their speed whilst
alternating between the Mako’s own machine gun and cannon to wear down the geth
walker. After dealing a large amount of damage upon it, they rammed it hard,
barely scratching the Mako’s shields or heavy armour, the armature flew through
the air and smashed into a nearby rock face, shutting down or dying or whatever
it is geth do when they’re destroyed. Shepard decided to employ the same tactic
against the second armature to devastating effect, but this time sending the
armature into a nearby lava flow. After dealing with them, they drove on
towards the strange readings signalled by Joker and the Normandy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They continued to drive on for a while, and the path
narrowed into a bottle-neck. They turned a small corner and suddenly came
across 3 heavy-geth turrets. Immediately, the turrets trained their sights on
the Mako and started to fire rockets. Wrex spotted an even narrower side
gulley, and spoke up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Only a fool punches a nathak in the mouth. We should sneak
around a pull its tail.” As Wrex spoke he pointed out the small side route that
could be taken, and Shepard drove. After entering the small gulley, they had to
drive slow to navigate it, and encountered a solitary turret in their path. It wasn’t
a challenge, and the slow rate of fire of the rockets didn’t pose a problem, as
Shepard could hop over them – again using the vertical thrusters. They
destroyed the turret and drove into the compound, where there were more geth
units within. The compound itself was an overrun refinery, no traces of
humanity were left, as the geth patrolled it. There were a few bigger geth that
were in the compound that would later be identified as a Geth Destroyer, Geth Shock
Trooper and a Geth Juggernaut. The Destroyers were slightly larger than normal
geth, and could utilise a plasma flame thrower to devastating effect. The Shock
Troopers were able to throw up a hexagonal shield at will to take cover behind,
and were able to quickly advance up the battlefield as a result. Geth
Juggernauts on the other hand, were not in need of a shield. As their name
suggests, they were enormous versions of standard geth units, but also fired
rockets, and could just as freely advance up the battlefield due to their incredible
robustness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_8Kwml-F1bohTeEbxgntmTYmP_eW6Bfk4PZYjVa2-yyL1wjIMuza58Maavuq3fTqcXn5iySlCTM-t1Klky0lpTBNdvtx8EdzMkiXDOfUUTWT3gCQnad_uUcNdMHOXJI8onjPDzcNfmY/s1600/2014-03-22_00001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_8Kwml-F1bohTeEbxgntmTYmP_eW6Bfk4PZYjVa2-yyL1wjIMuza58Maavuq3fTqcXn5iySlCTM-t1Klky0lpTBNdvtx8EdzMkiXDOfUUTWT3gCQnad_uUcNdMHOXJI8onjPDzcNfmY/s1600/2014-03-22_00001.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They used the Mako to clear out the compound, and then
stormed the gate house to get past the secure gates. The path led on towards
the dig site that Dr T’Soni could well be. The presence of the geth only served
to confirm their thoughts that they would find Dr T’Soni soon. The only
question they needed answered however, was whether or not she was working with
her mother and Saren.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They drove away from the small compound, and figured that
they would encounter more geth along the way and they did. They came across and
destroyed another 4 armatures, before coming to a large clearing by a tunnel.
There were several geth rocket troops dotted around who were easily disposed
of, they werern’t the problem. The problem lied with the Geth Colossus standing
in their way. The Colossus was about 4 times the size of the standard
armatures, and their pulse cannons were guided, no amount of hopping the Mako
or evasive manoeuvres would prevent them from striking their targets. Shepard
decided to practice their previous tactic in order to take this giant out –
ramming it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard drove as fast as the Mako could go, taking fire the
whole time with the shields holding out well – just before reaching the
Colossus, Shepard hit the vertical thrusters and the Mako flew into the body of
it, hurling it to the ground. He knew they wouldn’t be able to maintain that
kind of offense against the Colossus, so employed a playground bullies tactic –
while the Colossus was floored, Shepard spun the Mako around and drove over the
top of it, hitting the brakes so as to park their tank on top of the Colossus
in the hopes of preventing it from getting back up. And it worked. It would
take longer, but they needed to destroy the Colossus, so they go out and got in
close to it, inserting their weapons through the cracks and joins in its armour
and firing relentlessly until their weapons overheated. This worked as well,
and the light on the Colossus’ head went out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFklDl1fwq2juPWIi6WUYwYyPxw_8281E-nvPT0K3QsCSXKd1VJbyfZx4QKN7upfYhboboRnI6Su1eCRcALMBs7LdX5DnYKgN5o0UpbIXoaGixsI5FspaV7PqKQm-LKTBAUUX8yWCppXQ/s1600/2014-03-23_00001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFklDl1fwq2juPWIi6WUYwYyPxw_8281E-nvPT0K3QsCSXKd1VJbyfZx4QKN7upfYhboboRnI6Su1eCRcALMBs7LdX5DnYKgN5o0UpbIXoaGixsI5FspaV7PqKQm-LKTBAUUX8yWCppXQ/s1600/2014-03-23_00001.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard, Kaidan and Wrex got back into the Mako and drove
into the tunnel to continue their search for Dr Liara T’Soni.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Toolbox 24</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">----------------------------------------------------------------</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><i>I really hope you're still enjoying this. I'm not posting chapters up as much as I'd like, but this is going to keep on going right up to the end - so get used to it. :-)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><i>Oh and when I find the time, I'll remind you that I'm not a one-trick pony and write about some other games. T'ra.</i></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-43578505342349200082014-03-15T23:18:00.001+00:002014-03-15T23:18:16.569+00:00Mass Effect Serialisation – Chapter 12<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mass Effect
Serialisation – Chapter 12<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Admiral’s Team<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Normandy arrived in the Artemis Tau cluster which is
made up of 4 systems, Athens, Knossos, Macedon and Sparta. The only information
that Shepard had, was that Dr Liara T’Soni was at a dig site somewhere in the
cluster.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard stood in the Combat Information Center (CIC),
overlooking the galaxy map, his hand rubbing the stubble on his chin, thinking
of where to start first. Each location was as suitable as another so he decided
to start where they already were. The Mass Relay was located in the Sparta
system, so they scan the possible planets there for signs of Dr T’Soni. While
they were there, he thought they would look for signs of Admiral Kahoku’s
missing team, which was performing ops in the Sparta System.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz94s6Kxx1FgscY6qV1ODgTdrBnejDBChnqlKbLJIUtidy-ZpJj2OXJIC4VAAO6poFVZhA79dejAybBKJJCMIUOBXppkEG-QtBAux5-agK3pyqY_WB8jGSXi8y3Oqt7O2zmqcugJMCjP4/s1600/2014-03-13_00001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz94s6Kxx1FgscY6qV1ODgTdrBnejDBChnqlKbLJIUtidy-ZpJj2OXJIC4VAAO6poFVZhA79dejAybBKJJCMIUOBXppkEG-QtBAux5-agK3pyqY_WB8jGSXi8y3Oqt7O2zmqcugJMCjP4/s1600/2014-03-13_00001.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There were 5 planets and a small asteroid belt in the Sparta
System, but there was only one planet of them that could harbour life: Edolus.
The other planets were either too cold, had no atmosphere or was a gas giant.
The chances were slim that they could hit 2 birds with one stone by helping
Admiral Kahoku and finding Dr T’Soni. Edolus would likely be where Kahoku’s
team was, so they diverted from their search for Dr T’Soni to help the Admiral.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard instructed Joker to sweep the planet and scan for
the Admiral’s team. Shortly after starting the scanning, they may well have
struck gold. Joker got on the comm to Shepard,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Commander, err, I’m picking up a distress beacon from the
planet surface.” He said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Can we get the Normandy in for a closer look?” Shepard
replied,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Negative, Commander. The planet is constantly being
bombarded by meteors, it’s like a freaking magnet for those things. Best I can
do is find a landing zone near the beacon and drop you in the Mako. Picking you
back up is going to be dicey, but we can deal with that later.” Joker said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Do it Joker. I’ll get Garrus and Wrex ready to join me.”
Shepard told him, as he turned away from the Galaxy Map and headed down the
ship to the Mako.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Normandy flew fast into the atmosphere on the always
shuddering planet, its surface an infinite sea of yellow silicate sand with a
few rocky highlands. Joker’s expert flying was probably the only reason that
the ship wasn’t struck by incoming meteors flung at the planet by the nearby
gas giant: Ontamalca. Joker flew the Normandy in, and dropped the Mako out of
the cargo bay for it to make a controlled descent to the planet surface. It would
be seen from the outside as a high-risk manoeuvre, however with Joker flying
the Normandy and Shepard controlling the Mako, it was routine, even as mundane
as going to the head for a piss for them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZiBmM8iaXAlGbKRByXAOVcUPsOBR2jXEGxh0N14dzx0x1CiIa0tO3wkgSOxQQpCq9o6DdXzgrcpndNdshh_wRpJ_jKhYtxfJF5G5jm-xVCGVu-_LiVGd1Nb8b8TTYkZiEFEcP5gb9eig/s1600/2014-03-13_00005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZiBmM8iaXAlGbKRByXAOVcUPsOBR2jXEGxh0N14dzx0x1CiIa0tO3wkgSOxQQpCq9o6DdXzgrcpndNdshh_wRpJ_jKhYtxfJF5G5jm-xVCGVu-_LiVGd1Nb8b8TTYkZiEFEcP5gb9eig/s1600/2014-03-13_00005.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqJXRPb_VcEhMX0kDK-cdNBwLBB-pK_KuIkzc8FdPCBEAZ_o7nmIrhwEbdQFp3sY4b7w15__De16yIdNsy-MH5L9DgaCH5X5ClRUZbLUllvMt1OdR84dsAshMKjJmV0oqSfU0yzj4sm1A/s1600/2014-03-13_00006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqJXRPb_VcEhMX0kDK-cdNBwLBB-pK_KuIkzc8FdPCBEAZ_o7nmIrhwEbdQFp3sY4b7w15__De16yIdNsy-MH5L9DgaCH5X5ClRUZbLUllvMt1OdR84dsAshMKjJmV0oqSfU0yzj4sm1A/s1600/2014-03-13_00006.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Mako dropped out of the Normandy and immediately Shepard
applied the vertical thruster in order to control the landing, Shepard was well
versed in the workings of the Mako, and landed it perfectly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard sat in the Mako for a moment, the engine rumbling
under his seat and checked the operational map. He quickly found the distress
signal that Joker had mentioned in a large flat plain, he turned the Mako
around and headed towards it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After driving a few hundred meters, Shepard drove the Mako
to the top of a small hill on the edge of the open flat. They could already see
the tank that Kahoku’s team must have been using near the centre of the plain,
and nothing else. Things looked too easy, and they had to find out what
happened to the squad, so they proceeded with caution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZGJU1eXpPMbN3KXouZhRD4e3Ys6KNFKxc9cHFuHxDA1S_34sOl3camLUbUUoEQg7vw3MXx91PhSR4-85__G9UocFo5WbRHz41z2bYGn5Uj0sVb_9cmzfOxUe3_CQXZGeujuk4nP4NRA8/s1600/2014-03-15_00002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZGJU1eXpPMbN3KXouZhRD4e3Ys6KNFKxc9cHFuHxDA1S_34sOl3camLUbUUoEQg7vw3MXx91PhSR4-85__G9UocFo5WbRHz41z2bYGn5Uj0sVb_9cmzfOxUe3_CQXZGeujuk4nP4NRA8/s1600/2014-03-15_00002.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard slowly drove the Mako towards the tank, the M29 “Grizzly”,
and as they approached it was clear that there wasn’t a single survivor of
Kahoku’s team. The mauled bodies of the elite Alliance soldiers littered the
ground around the Grizzly, Wrex spoke up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Erm, Commander. This looks like a Thresher Maw nest.” He said
with an unease Shepard was surprised to hear from the big krogan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Come on Wrex, whatever it is, we can handle it.” Shepard
replied confidently. It was only moments later that Shepard knew his confidence
was wildly misplaced. His conception of what a Thresher Maw was, was massively
off the mark. He knew they were essentially giant worms, but he thought that
meant they were more like big snakes. Wrex on the other hand, coming from
Tuchanka, was more than aware of what Thesher Maws were, and why it would be
best not to drive into one of their nests – it’s widely thought that Thesher
Maw’s originated on the krogan homeworld.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard drove the Mako closer to the distress beacon and the
dead Alliance team, when the Thesher Maw showed its head. Literally. Thesher
Maw’s live and burrow underground, and break through the surface in order to
surprise and catch its prey. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAWzMPz-BODErf3SYue87fkFKGt1uVCISss_6lwF5Aufqmp15ZbUymt6A-ZpW-ZsPiifw-yjKP1TXbzDx4W2GxsPGtytRyMXfAm_6OwRMTctIHZg1640J5iveXhiyaIiifPeg7Oi9pUaI/s1600/2014-03-15_00009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAWzMPz-BODErf3SYue87fkFKGt1uVCISss_6lwF5Aufqmp15ZbUymt6A-ZpW-ZsPiifw-yjKP1TXbzDx4W2GxsPGtytRyMXfAm_6OwRMTctIHZg1640J5iveXhiyaIiifPeg7Oi9pUaI/s1600/2014-03-15_00009.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Thresher Maw’s head alone must have stood at around 50ft
above the surface, it immediately faced the Mako, as it ground to a halt in a
nervous stand-off that only lasted a second but felt as though it lasted
forever. It recoiled its head, and spat its venom, a highly corrosive acid that
would have cut through the Mako’s armour like a hot knife through butter.
Shepard thought quickly and applied the accelerator whilst hitting the vertical
thruster for a moment, essentially hopping over the incoming acid storm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although the Thresher Maw had surprised Shepard, that
tactical element was now lost to it. Shepard trained the sights of the main
cannon and machine gun onto it and fired. Although the blast and spray of
machine gun fire hit the monster in its face, it barely seemed to make a
scratch, but it retreated back underground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Do you think we scared it off?” Garrus asked, he like
Shepard, was unaware of the hunting habits of the enormous beast they had just come
into contact with. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Ha! Turians. You’re all the same.” Wrex chuckled to
himself, “One battle won and you think you’ve won the war. We’d better have
eyes in the back of our heads while we’re sat here, it’s tunnelling around us.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Then we’d better not be sitting ducks.” Shepard said, driving
forward as fast as he could. As he did, Garrus and Wrex looked at each other,
Garrus speaking up first.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“What’s a duck?” he asked genuinely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was no time for an explanation, the Thresher Maw rose
out of the ground again behind the Mako pausing for the split second before
rearing back to spit again. Shepard fired at the Maw again, dodging the acid
that started to dissolve the ground where it struck, and again the Maw
retreated underground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Shepard, you’re doing the right thing if you want to take
this thing down. Move and shoot. But I think we know what happened here. I’m not
going to shy away from a fight, but this is pointless.” Wrex said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“No. We need to take this thing down and find out what that
beacon is. An Alliance team with the ear of a Rear Admiral wouldn’t just stumble
in here without good reason.” Shepard replied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Maw rose again and Shepard shot it down again, and
again. And again. The dance continued and it took a while, but the Mako’s guns
soon wore down the Thresher Maw’s armour-like skin and flesh and finally
toppled it. With the Thresher Maw dead, they could finally investigate what
happened to the Alliance team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4svlsXrsPqSVhcB9JMEcR2YneYil_tTIpml-PSs_fwNh9aCPAHOrelPxGKwCuGBaKe9L4xoICIOHPvgVJFqRd5HsKKxut3UFNn-kTOgnzuoeJ-k6MfsHMurtLeLvSFUFxMh3LJA3U8M/s1600/2014-03-15_00010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4svlsXrsPqSVhcB9JMEcR2YneYil_tTIpml-PSs_fwNh9aCPAHOrelPxGKwCuGBaKe9L4xoICIOHPvgVJFqRd5HsKKxut3UFNn-kTOgnzuoeJ-k6MfsHMurtLeLvSFUFxMh3LJA3U8M/s1600/2014-03-15_00010.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard, Garrus and Wrex left the Mako to check out the
Alliance corpses and the distress beacon. Although it was clearly the Thresher
Maw attack that had left the soldiers dead, it was the distress beacon that was
intriguing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“This is an Alliance beacon.” Shepard said, examining it
closely,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Alliance? So Kahoku’s team set it up, maybe when they were attacked?”
Garrus replied,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Impossible.” Wrex said with his worldly arrogance, “You saw
how quickly that Maw attacked us, if they were already out of that tank, they
wouldn’t have lasted 10 seconds out in the open. That beacon was already here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard looked at the beacon more closely, although it was
an Alliance beacon, it just didn’t seem right to him. The only thing he could
do was report back to Admiral Kahoku on the Citadel the next time they were
there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With that, Shepard contacted the Normandy for a pick up. As
they waited in the Mako, Shepard started thinking about where to look for Dr T’Soni
next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Toolbox24</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-77695953081444434292014-02-27T16:57:00.002+00:002014-02-27T16:57:33.835+00:00Mass Effect Serialisation – Chapter 11<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mass Effect
Serialisation – Chapter 11<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They Have Flashlight Head's<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard walked over to Ash, she was checking over the
weapons that had been used in Chora’s Den, ensuring they were ready for any
potential combat that they could encounter in the Artemis Tau Cluster when
looking for Dr Liara T’Soni. Ashley saw Shepard approach, stopped checking over
an assault rifle, stroked back her hair, and turned to face him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Commander.” Ash said with slight smile. Shepard looked back
at her and kept his steely demeanour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“How are you feeling about Eden Prime?” he asked, knowing
that she was the only survivor from her unit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“No offence Commander, I appreciate the rescue but…” Ash
said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We got there as fast as we could Ash. Even with the fastest
ship in the fleet.” Shepard replied, wanting her to know that she was lucky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“It’s not that Commander. I feel like it’s my fault. If I’d
have been more alert, we wouldn't have been cut down by an ambush.” Ash said
remorsefully.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“The geth are perfect ambusher’s Ash.” Shepard said, wanting
to help her, “They don’t move. They don’t make noise, they don’t even breathe.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“They have flashlight head’s Shepard.” Ash said,
matter-of-factly and her grin turning into a full smile. “It won’t happen
again.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard smiled back at her, and with a nod of his head,
dismissed her to return to her duties. Shepard then walked down towards the aft
of the ship, to the engine room where his last recruit, Tali was helping out
Chief Engineer Adams.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tali was at a console, examining the details of the drive
core for the Normandy, when she spotted Shepard in the peripheral vision of her
mask. She turned to face him, hopping slightly with a giddy charm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“This ship is amazing Shepard!” she beamed, “The drive core
is fantastic, I’m surprised you were able to fit it into a ship so small! I’m
starting to understand why the Alliance has been so successful, I had no idea
Alliance vessels were this advanced!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard wanted to be quick to dispel that myth, “This ship
is a prototype – cutting edge technology. Alliance vessels aren’t usually this
advanced.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Still…a month ago I was patching a make shift fuel line
into a converted tug ship in the flotilla. Now, I’m standing on the most
advanced ship in Citadel space. I have to thank you again for giving me this
opportunity. Travelling on a ship like this is a dream come true for me.” Tali
replied,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIc42n4BElPdm2aLsgDJTYV9pTo7kGxTbTCaUbDojkei09TAZDQPqlW985DkGcCmXfB8qyCI8VilJS5cijM2FphymXvF6SnS4no5n7feYIrG8utXXoq7a_WOMX3vcZXbM_y8LPByZs_i4/s1600/2014-02-21_00001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIc42n4BElPdm2aLsgDJTYV9pTo7kGxTbTCaUbDojkei09TAZDQPqlW985DkGcCmXfB8qyCI8VilJS5cijM2FphymXvF6SnS4no5n7feYIrG8utXXoq7a_WOMX3vcZXbM_y8LPByZs_i4/s1600/2014-02-21_00001.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I had no idea you were into ship technology like this.”
Shepard said, surprised that someone as young as Tali would be into something
seemingly dry like this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Are you kidding? Ships are our most vital resource. We
depend on the ships we have for survival, but we usually make do with cast
off’s and second hand vessels, we have nothing like this! Some of our ships
date all the way back to our original flight away from the geth.” Tali
explained,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I can’t believe you have ships that are 3 centuries old!”
Shepard remarked, shocked by this seemingly innocuous revelation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“They are constantly being repaired, modified and refitted. We
try to make ourselves as independent as possible on the flotilla, we grow our
own food, mine, and even process our own fuel. But there are some things that
we can’t do for ourselves. A patch to repair the hull integrity requires raw
materials that we just don’t have. That’s why our pilgrimages are so
important.” Tali explained further.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I’d like to know more about the geth.” Shepard said,
knowing that if Saren had an army of geth at his disposal, he’d need to know
more about them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I doubt I can tell you anything that you don’t already
know.” Tali said tentatively, “I only know what they were 3 centuries ago, when
we first built them, and how they turned on us.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Interesting.” Shepard replied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Well, the geth were first created in order to be an
automotive manual labour force, who had minimal intelligence, maybe along the
same line as a Virtual Intelligence, or VI. Over time, we made small
modifications to their programming in order for them to perform more varied and
complex tasks, bringing them closer and closer to true AI status.” Tali said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Didn’t the Council step in to stop you? How come you were
allowed to do this?” Shepard asked, knowing that the Council had explicitly
banned all AI research due to how dangerous the risks of them were.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We didn’t exactly do anything illegal. We may have skirted
the boundaries of the law, but the changes were so minute and seemingly insignificant
we were able to control them. At least that’s what we thought, we
underestimated the power of the neural network. A million geth thinking
simultaneously created an inherently unstable matrix.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“So the geth share intelligence?” Shepard said, slightly
confused.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“In a way yes. Many of the geth’s logic systems were
designed to work in concert with other nearby geth. Basically, the more of them
you have in a group, the smarter they are.” Tali said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“So why did the geth rebel?” Shepard asked,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“As the geth started to develop further and have more
abstract thoughts, they started to question their quarian masters as to the
nature of their existence. What is my purpose? Why are we here? And perhaps the
most poignant – Does this unit have a soul?” Tali said sadly, “As you could
expect, a near-panic among our people.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I don’t see what’s so bad about those questions.” Shepard
said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“The geth started to develop signs of self-awareness and
independent thought. The tasks they were made to do were fine for machines –
mundane, repetitive or dangerous manual labour. If they developed a self-aware
consciousness, then we would essentially be using them as slaves. It would be
inevitable that they would rise against us in response to the situation they
were in. So we acted first. A general order was put out to all quarian
controlled systems to permanently deactivate all geth. The geth responded to
this order violently.” Tali said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I can’t say I blame them. They were defending themselves in
order to survive.” Shepard said, unexpectedly even to himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“The geth were on the verge of revolution anyway. The hope
was that if we acted quickly enough, we could stop the war before it even
began. The hope was that most geth were still little more than machines. But
they had progressed, or even evolved I suppose, more than we had expected. The
war was long and bloody, millions of quarians died at the hands of the geth. It
got to the point that we had to evacuate our own home planet of Rannoch. As we
fled, we feared the geth would pursue us, but they never followed us past the
Veil. Now we drift through space, as exiles, searching for a way to reclaim
what was once ours.” Tali said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“It’s hard to feel sorry for you. You tried to wipe out
another species.” Shepard said, again surprising himself in the process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“It was a mistake to create the geth, but it was not a
mistake to go to war with them. If we hadn’t done what we had, they would have
wiped us out. They are a synthetic life form, they have no need for organics.
Why do you think they cut themselves off from the rest of the galaxy? Why do
you think they have killed every organic life form that have ventured into
their space?” Tali said, somewhat heatedly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“They didn’t kill Saren.” Shepard responded, wanting to
prove a point,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“And look how that’s worked out! The geth are not innocent
in all this, they chose to follow Saren. They’re the enemy. They want to
destroy us. Not just the quarians – all organic life. That’s why they’ve joined
up with Saren. And that’s why we have to stop him.” Tali told Shepard, holding
her ground against the more experienced Commander. Shepard may not have
completely agreed with her, but he respected her immensely for her strength of
character and resolve in this issue. He nodded his head, and told her he should
go, he knew it wouldn’t be long before they reached the Artemis Tau Cluster.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-5750672451098383922014-02-27T16:55:00.002+00:002014-02-27T16:55:16.701+00:00Mass Effect Serialisation – Chapter 10<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mass Effect
Serialisation – Chapter 10<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let’s Get This Bird
In The Air<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard got out of his armour and into his navy blue
uniform, and headed up to the bridge to see Joker. As he walked through the
Normandy, from what is now his Captain’s Cabin, everyone saluted, and nodded
approval towards him. They knew the score, they knew that Captain Anderson had
sacrificed his own ambition to be the CO of the Alliance’s most advanced
warship in order to give Shepard the best chance of finding and taking down
Saren.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As Shepard approached the cockpit where Joker was conducting
his final pre-flight checks, Joker spoke up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I heard what happened to Captain Anderson. Survives a
hundred battles and gets taken down by back-room politics.” Joker said, with
his usual candour, Shepard knew if anyone was going to tell it like it is, it
would be Joker, “Just be careful out there Commander, if this goes belly-up, it
could be you on the chopping block next.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Saren’s out there somewhere. And we’re going to find him.”
Shepard said, giving Joker the same level of frankness that he just gave him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Well everyone on this ship is behind you Commander. One
hundred percent.” Joker replied, as his board lit green ready for take-off.
“Intercom’s open. If you’ve got anything you want to say to the crew, now’s the
time.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard leaned over and activated the intercom, his steely
look made that much harder by the large scar running from his forehead across
his eye and down his right cheek.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Listen up Normandy. This is your Commander speaking. Our
orders are clear: find Saren before he finds the Conduit. And I refuse to let
anything get in the way of that mission.” He said firmly, “We all saw what
Saren did on Eden Prime. We saw the bodies, saw the destruction. And I intend
to make him pay. Wherever he searches for the Conduit, we’ll be there. We will
hunt him to the very end of the galaxy and bring him down. This is the most
important mission any of us have ever been on. The fate of the entire galaxy is
at stake. We will stop Saren, no matter what the cost.” Shepard turned off the
intercom and stood up straight again, Joker was smiling, not out of humour or
joy, but out of determination that they were part of something massive, and
that they would have to pull everything out of the bag to get it done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Well said Commander. Captain Anderson would be proud.”
Joker said to the Commander.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Fancy speeches won’t bring Saren down. Our actions will.
Now let’s get this bird in the air.” Shepard told Joker,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Yes, Sir!” Joker said with a grin as he leaned forward in
his chair and started to pull the Normandy away from the dock.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Joker, send us to the Artemis Tau Cluster. Once we get
there, maybe we’ll have a better idea as to where Dr T’Soni is.” Shepard gave
his orders and turned to walk away. He wanted to check back in with Joker later
on, but wanted to ensure his new recruits – Garrus, Wrex and Tali were settling
into the Normandy. He knew it was going to be quite a while before they reached
their destination, so he thought it would be the best time to interact with his
new squad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Aye, aye, Commander.” Joker said as he punched in the
co-ordinates and the Normandy advanced away from the Citadel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard walked through the ship again, to head down to the
garage where Garrus was tinkering with the Mako – the Normandy’s ground
exploration vehicle, essentially an all-terrain armoured truck with a mounted
turret and machine gun – Tali was introducing herself to Engineer Adams in the
engine room adjoining the garage and Wrex was stood by his equipment being
Wrex.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard entered the garage from the elevator, and approached
Garrus. Garrus saw him coming and turned to face him,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Thanks for bringing me on-board Shepard. I knew working
with a Spectre would be better than life in C-Sec.” Garrus said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Have you worked with a Spectre before?” Shepard asked,
wanting to know his new squad a fair bit better before going on any high-risk
missions with them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Well… no. But I know what Spectres are like. You make your
own rules. You’re free to go about your business however you see fit. In C-Sec,
you’re buried by rules. The damn bureaucrats are always on your back.” He
replied, obviously unimpressed by the red-tape of C-Sec.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“That <i>is</i> a perk to
being a Spectre. I’m going to be doing things my way to get to Saren.” Shepard
said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Exactly. It’s like, it shouldn’t matter how I take down a
suspect, as long as I take him down. But C-Sec want things done their way.
Policy and procedure come first. That’s why I left.” Garrus said, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“That was why you left?” Shepard asked, wondering if Garrus
had made the right decision for himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“There’s more to it than that. It didn’t start out that bad,
but as I rose through the ranks, I got saddled with more and more red tape.
C-Sec’s handling of Saren was typical. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I hate
leaving…” he replied, showing some remorse for leaving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Garrus, I hope you made the right decision. I’d hate for
you to regret it later on.” Shepard said, his officer training kicking in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Well that’s sort of why I teamed up with you Shepard. I
need to see how things are done outside of C-Sec. And maybe without them
breathing down my neck every 5 minutes, I’ll get a chance to do things my way
for a change.” Garrus replied, his remorseful tone replaced with a resolute
one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“As long as you do your job well, you’re free to go about
your business how you see fit.” Shepard said, giving Garrus a green light to
flourish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Thank you Commander.” Garrus said simply, as he returned to
his work on the Mako.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard knew that those he’d picked up on the Citadel and
Eden Prime would be with him for a while, their presence around him and on the
Normandy felt right, it felt as though fate had intertwined in events and
brought them all together. And he just knew that to find Saren and stop the
Reapers returning, he’d need them by his side. He looked over to the other side
of the Normandy’s garage and saw the big krogan, Wrex, just standing. Watching.
Shepard approached him, wanting to get to know him better, and earn his trust.
Perhaps his respect. Shepard knew that it would be hard, especially as he had
had very little contact with krogans, and that contact usually involved staring
down the barrel of a gun. As Shepard approached Wrex, what appeared as a smile
crept across the krogan’s face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Nice ship you got here Shepard. What can I do for you?” he
asked, plainly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“What’s your story Wrex?” Shepard asked, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“There’s no story. If you want a story, go talk to the
quarian.” Wrex answered, obviously not used to opening up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Come on Wrex, you krogan live for centuries. Don’t tell me
you haven’t had a few interesting adventures!” Shepard said, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Well…there was this one time when the turians almost wiped
out our entire race. That was fun.” He said with a heaped spoon of sarcasm,
referring to the genetic bioweapon developed by the salarians and deployed by
the turians to put down the krogan around 2,000 years ago to end the Krogan
Rebellions called the genophage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Yeah, I heard about that.” Shepard said, “You know, they tried
to do the same thing to us.” Shepard said, not fully grasping the severity of
the genophage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“It’s not the same.” Wrex said bluntly<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“So the turians infected you with a genetic mutation? One
that means only a few in a thousand babies survive birth? And I suppose it’s
destroying your entire species?” Wrex said aggressively.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I suppose it isn’t all the same.” Shepard said, rather
sheepishly – not a trait he was used to showing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I don’t expect you to understand, but don’t compare
humanity’s fate with that of the krogan.” Wrex said, making his point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I’m sorry Wrex. I didn’t mean to get you upset.” Shepard
said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Your ignorance doesn’t upset me Shepard.” Wrex said,
knowing that the human in-front of him wasn’t to blame, “As for the krogan… I
gave up on them long ago. The genophage infected us, but it’s not what’s
killing us.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Are your people really dying Wrex?” Shepard asked, wanting
to know more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We’re sure not getting any stronger.” Wrex said, with a
hint of dark humour, “We’re too spread out. There aren’t enough of my people
interested in staying in our own system.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“So? Lots of species have left their home systems and
prospered.” Shepard said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Yeah, but they leave to colonise new worlds, Shepard. We’re
not settlers. We’re warriors. We live to fight. So that’s what we do. So we
leave. We sell ourselves to the highest bidder. Most of us never return.” Wrex
said – seemingly ending that line of conversation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“What can you tell me about the genophage?” Shepard asked,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Ask the salarians if you want details. They made it. All I
know is that it makes breeding nearly impossible. Thousands die in still-birth,
more don’t make it that far. Every krogan is infected – every one. And nobody’s
rushing to find a cure.” Wrex lamented,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Why don’t the krogan try to find a cure?” Shepard probed,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“When was the last time you saw a krogan scientist?” Wrex
asked, “If you asked a krogan, would he rather find a cure for the genophage or
fight for credits? He’d choose fighting every time. It’s just who we are
Shepard. I can’t change that. Nobody can.” He said forlornly. Shepard knew he’d
touched a nerve, and decided to end it there before the big krogan got really
upset – he didn’t know how he’d react if pushed on the subject.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“So long Wrex.” Shepard said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Shepard.” Wrex simply replied, as he got back to watching
Garrus across the garage. Shepard wanted to chat with Ash and Tali before
reaching the Artemis Tau Cluster.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shepard walked towards Ash, who was stood by the crew’s
equipment, ensuring every piece was battle ready from the go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-50226985118882239132014-02-27T16:51:00.002+00:002014-02-27T16:51:30.742+00:00Mass Effect Serialisation – Chapter 9<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Mass
Effect Serialisation – Chapter 9<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I’ll
Stop Him</span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Shortly after walking down from the
Council platform from the successful damnation of Saren and his induction as a
Spectre, Commander Shepard, Tali and Wrex came across an Alliance Rear Admiral,
trying to get through to the right people about the disappearance of one of his
elite squads. He saw Shepard, and knowing the no-limits access of Spectres,
decided to approach him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Congratulations on becoming the first
human Spectre, Commander. I’m sure you’ll be up to the challenge.” The Rear
Admiral said, saluting his lesser ranking officer in a sign of respect. He
exuded authority, his grey beard just about covering his weathered face, but
his Hawaiian ethnicity shining through a youthful exuberance to get things
done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I appreciate that, sir.” Shepard
said, firmly shaking the Rear Admiral’s hand,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I’m Admiral Kahoku. It’s about time
we got one of our own in with the Spectres. We need people like you to deal
with our… problems.” Kahoku said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Having some difficulties Admiral?”
Shepard enquired.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Just being stonewalled by bureaucratic
assholes. So nothing new there.” Kahoku said, cleared pissed off by the
situation he found himself in. “One of my teams was out in the Traverse,
investigating some disturbances. They dropped out of contact yesterday and now
suddenly it’s a restricted area – I can’t get anything from anyone. But those
rules don’t apply to you, Shepard. You’re a Spectre, you can go where you want.
You could find out why my team dropped out of contact.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I’ll be out in the Traverse
Admiral, I’ll look into it.” Shepard said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I appreciate that Shepard, despite
my gut telling me otherwise, I’ll try and find out what I can through the
official channels.” He said with a slight chuckle, knowing it would be futile.
He nodded to Shepard, and returned to his console, trying to get information
that he knew only Shepard could retrieve.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Shepard, Tali and Wrex left the
Citadel Tower and returned to the Presidium below, as they walked through it to
reach the C-Sec Academy and the Alliance Docking Bay where Udina and Anderson
would be waiting, they passed a large krogan statue, Wrex stopped and sighed,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“This statue represents what the
krogan used to be – a proud, noble, warrior race. Responsible for saving the
galaxy from the rachni. Now look at us. Reduced to mercs and killers only
available to the highest bidder.” He said remorsefully, knowing it wasn’t quite
the time or the place, they moved on to the Alliance docking bay where Udina
and Anderson were talking beside the Normandy. Udina saw Shepard coming and
turned to face him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I’ve got big news for you Shepard.
Captain Anderson is stepping down as Commanding Officer of the Normandy. The
ship, is yours now.” He said, as Anderson crossed his arms and gave Shepard a
determined look, he was stepping down to give Shepard the best chance of
hunting down Saren.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“She’s quick and quiet, and you know
the crew. Perfect ship for a Spectre.” Anderson added.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“This isn’t right, the Normandy is
your ship. It belongs to you.” Shepard replied, knowing that Anderson had been
coerced into it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“You needed your own ship. You
answer directly to the Council now. And it’s time for me to step down.”
Anderson said, looking down with a slight glint of disappointment, the words he
said were clearly well rehearsed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Come clean with me Captain, you owe
me that much.” Shepard said, wanting the truth from Anderson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I was in your shoes 20 years ago
Shepard. The Council were considering me for the Spectres.” Anderson said
reluctantly. “Ask me later and I’ll tell you the whole story. All you need to
know for now is that the Council sent me on a mission with Saren, and he made
damn sure that I wouldn’t succeed. I had my shot. It came and went. Now you
have a chance to make up for my mistakes.” Shepard nodded thoughtfully, and
respected Anderson enough to leave well enough alone for the time being.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Saren won’t get away this time.” He
said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Saren’s gone. Don’t even try
looking for him.” Anderson said, pointedly, “But we know what he’s after: The
Conduit. And he has his geth scouring the Traverse looking for clues as to its
whereabouts.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“There have been reports of geth in
the Feros system, and sightings around Noveria.” Udina added,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Find out what Saren was after on
Feros and Noveria. Maybe you can figure out where the Conduit is before he
does.” Anderson said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I’m more concerned about the
Reapers. They’re the real threat.” Shepard said, reminding them of what was
said in the audio recording.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I’m with the Council on this one
Shepard.” Udina said, holding his chin, “I’m not sure the Reapers even exist.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“But if the Reapers do exist, the
Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Stop Saren from reaching the Conduit,
and it will stop the Reapers from returning.” Anderson added, clearly not on
the same wavelength as Udina and the Council, and much more thinking the same
as Shepard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvYm9Zv7ILsrW3Le07o0Vj90RLBSY4N_zRYhMMaCL7v89pPhqtQRYqdUQxqlKHBNIxL3f6C0V2rwoCpC8XIaYk5h0o-fPmF6FW1HmfUUvlGgGPADKlxpa1ttSE7zsQV8vXDx2XhKt6vX4/s1600/2014-02-08_00001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvYm9Zv7ILsrW3Le07o0Vj90RLBSY4N_zRYhMMaCL7v89pPhqtQRYqdUQxqlKHBNIxL3f6C0V2rwoCpC8XIaYk5h0o-fPmF6FW1HmfUUvlGgGPADKlxpa1ttSE7zsQV8vXDx2XhKt6vX4/s1600/2014-02-08_00001.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Shepard looked back at Anderson as
though he was staring down the sight on his rifle, and sternly but simply said,
“I’ll stop him.” Anderson nodded in agreement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Oh… there is one more lead.
Matriarch Benezia; the other voice on the recording. She has a daughter, a
scientist who specialises in the protheans. We don’t know what her role is in
all this yet, and she may not even be involved. Her name is Liara, Dr Liara
T’Soni. We have reports that she was exploring one of the archaeological digs
on one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemis Tau Cluster.” Udina said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I think I’ll start there then.”
Shepard thought aloud.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“It’s your call Shepard, you don’t
answer to us anymore.” Anderson reminded Shepard,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“But your actions reflect on
humanity as a whole,” Udina aggressively pointed out, “You make a mess out
there, and I’m stuck cleaning it up.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I’ll worry about Saren. You worry
about any political fallout.” Shepard said, clearly not giving a crap about
Udina’s worries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Not exactly the answer I was
looking for. Remember, you were a human long before you were a Spectre,
Shepard. I have a meeting to get to, Captain Anderson will answer any questions
you might have.” Udina spat as he walked away. Shepard looked over his shoulder
to see Udina descend in the elevator, then he turned to face Anderson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Yes, Shepard?” Anderson asked,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“How are you holding up?” Shepard
asked, knowing that it had been a big day for himself, but also had been a big
day in a different way for Anderson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Honestly?” Anderson asked, “This
isn’t how I imagined my career coming to an end. Pushing papers really isn’t my
thing. But you’re the one who can stop Saren. I believe in you, Shepard. If
that means I have to step aside, the so be it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Tell me what happened between you
and Saren.” Shepard said, wanting to know the full picture from Anderson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“It’s getting on for 20 years now. I
was sent on a mission by the Council, and they sent Saren along with me to
evaluate my performance. Much in the same way that they sent Nihlus along to
check you out.” Anderson said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I want the full story Anderson,
tell me what happened.” Shepard insisted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“We had intel on a rogue scientist
being funded by batarian interests. He was trying to set up a facility to
develop illegal AI technology out in the Verge.” Anderson started to explain,
“Alliance intel had done all the work, but the Council wanted a Spectre involved.
We compromised: I was assigned to help Saren in his investigation. We tracked
the scientist to a refining facility on Camala. He was hidden away somewhere
inside, protected by an army of batarian mercenaries. The plan was simple. We
sneak into the plant, capture the scientist and sneak back out. Quick, quiet
and a minimum of bloodshed.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I assume things didn’t go as
planned?” Shepard asked,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Saren and I split up to cover more
ground. Then, about halfway through the mission, there was a massive explosion
in the refinery core.” Anderson started, “Officially, it was ruled an accident.
But I think Saren detonated it on purpose to draw off the enemy guards.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“That’s smart. Create a diversion to
distract the guards.” Shepard said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“This went much further than a
simple diversion Shepard. The explosion tore the refinery apart, killing
everyone inside. Black chemical smoke poured out of it. There was a small
settlement, not far from the refinery. Between the explosion and the chemicals
spilling out into the atmosphere, the death-toll was well over 500 – mostly
civilians.” Anderson started to explain, “But Saren didn’t care. The target was
eliminated. Job done. And I got the blame.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“But the explosion was Saren’s
fault!” Shepard exclaimed,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“In his report. He blamed me for
blowing his cover, said it was my fault the guards were ready for us. He
claimed that’s why it turned into a massacre. Saren’s report was all the proof
the Council needed to kill my chances of becoming a Spectre.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Why’d you let him get away with
it?” Shepard asked,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Who do you think the Council was
going to listen to? Me? Or their best agent? I had a bad feeling about him
right from the start. I should’ve been more careful. Maybe I could have stopped
things before they go out of hand.” Anderson told Shepard,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Don’t blame yourself Captain.”
Shepard replied, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I don’t. I blame Saren. I think he
wanted things to go bad. He was looking for an excuse to blow that refinery.
Maybe he just likes the violence. Maybe he was just trying to make me look bad
to keep human’s out of the Spectres. If so, he pulled it off.” Anderson
concluded. Shepard nodded his head one in acknowledgement,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Well, the only thing I care about
now is stopping Saren.” He said, “I should go.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Shepard saluted Anderson and he
reciprocated, as Shepard, Tali and Wrex boarded the Normandy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-21682236014309489942014-02-27T16:49:00.000+00:002014-02-27T16:49:01.529+00:00Mass Effect Serialisation – Chapter 8<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Mass
Effect Serialisation – Chapter 8<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's been a bit of a break, but I have been writing, so make way for 4 chapters at once! :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I’ve
Earned This<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Shepard, Tali and Wrex
arrived at the Citadel Tower where Ambassador Udina was presenting the new
evidence against Saren. Anderson was waiting in the wings for Shepard and the
others to arrive. The atmosphere was palpable in the Tower as Udina
passionately gave the evidence proving Saren’s guilt. He may have been a
bastard, but you couldn’t deny his passion for humanity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">As Shepard and the
others reached the platform that Udina was on and Anderson was waiting at the
base of, Anderson beckoned them over and they walked up onto the platform
behind Udina.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Udina was stood before
the Council already half way through his presentation, the audio of Saren was
being played out for all to hear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“You wanted proof.
There it is.” Udina said, pointing towards the Council, making his point and
enjoying every second of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0WjI7v8U6NrQXp2uFiRJoUxZYx1Q85VGk0MKyiQdvBPz4glW2BfNpXemwGsrU_XLBqPREOxP2FZ4sLZGS-JBssJBZ5biOBIM7xPtqnWOfAoIhT4yFNJxGCeXUHf248_1NByp_Uvg3RyE/s1600/2014-02-04_00001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0WjI7v8U6NrQXp2uFiRJoUxZYx1Q85VGk0MKyiQdvBPz4glW2BfNpXemwGsrU_XLBqPREOxP2FZ4sLZGS-JBssJBZ5biOBIM7xPtqnWOfAoIhT4yFNJxGCeXUHf248_1NByp_Uvg3RyE/s1600/2014-02-04_00001.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“This evidence is
irrefutable ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status, and all
efforts made to bring him in to answer for his crimes.” The turian Councillor,
Sparatus said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“The other voice on
the recording, speaking with Saren, I recognise it. Matriarch Benezia.” The
asari Councillor, Tevos said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Who’s she?” Shepard
asked,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Matriarchs are wise
and powerful asari who have entered the final stage of their lives. They are
revered for their wisdom and experience. Benezia is a powerful biotic, who has
many followers. She will be a formidable ally for Saren.” Tevos replied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I’m more interested
in these Reapers. What do we know about them?” Valern, the salarian Councillor
enquired,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Only what was
extracted from the geth’s memory core. They were an advanced race of machines
that wiped the protheans out. Then they vanished.” Anderson replied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“The geth believe the
Reapers are gods, and Saren is the prophet for their return.” Shepard added,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“We think the Conduit
is the key to bringing them back. Saren’s searching for it. That’s why he
attacked Eden Prime.” Anderson said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Do we even know what
the Conduit is?” Valern asked, his salarian want to know as much as possible
about any conceivable threat shining through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Only that it could bring
back the Reapers. That’s bad enough.” Shepard said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Listen to what you’re
saying!” Sparatus snapped, “Saren wants to bring back machines that wiped out
all life in the galaxy 50,000 years ago. Impossible, it has to be. Where did
they go? Why have we found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we’d
have found something.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I tried to warn you
about Saren and you refused to face the truth. Don’t make the same mistake
again.” Shepard stated,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“This is different,”
Tevos said, “You proved Saren is a traitor, and we all agree he is using the
geth to search for the Conduit, but we really don’t know the reasons why.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“The Reapers are
obviously a myth, Commander. A convenient lie to cover Saren’s true purpose. A
legend he is using the bend the geth to his will.” Valern said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“50,000 years ago the
Reapers wiped out all galactic civilisation. If Saren gets to the Conduit, it <b><i>will</i></b>
happen again.” Shepard said with conviction,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Saren is a rogue
agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the privileges or resources of
a Spectre agent, the Council has stripped him of his position.” Sparatus said
with authority, Udina obviously getting pent up at the situation exploded,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“That is not good
enough!” he shouted, “You know he’s hiding somewhere in the Traverse – send your
fleets in!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“A fleet cannot track
down one man.” Valern said knowing he was right,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Maybe not, but a
Citadel fleet in the Traverse could secure the entire region – stop Saren from
attacking any more of our colonies!” Udina immediately replied,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Or it could trigger a
war with the Terminus systems.” Sparatus said, obviously losing patience with
the human’s in front of him, “We won’t be dragged into a galaxy wide conflict
over the loss of a few dozen human colonies.” He said with added disdain on the
word “human”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Every time humanity
asks for help the Council ignores us!” Shepard said, rising along with pretty
much everyone else to the heated tensions,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Shepard’s right!”
Udina said, “I’m sick of this Council and all of its anti-human bull—“ he was
cut off by Tevos,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Ambassador!” she
blurted out, “There is a way that we could resolve this that wouldn’t require
fleets or armies.” As she spoke, she looked over at Councillor Sparatus,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“No! It’s too soon.
Humanity isn’t ready for the responsibilities of joining the Spectres.”
Sparatus spat back,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“It was a turian
Spectre who betrayed this Council, and it was a human who exposed him. I’ve
earned this!” Shepard fought back,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLcGPTAOys86bBXBECjxHll_-QntVcVSHL9wpQ7GQT7hXN7Xha5hkIiTLmuHtkShAf6cGBIS5gOWZLsYFqcghLNptQbGd40FJYyvbmw6hbE31nS171NZEIR2K7FJ0_vijegJGWxiQDmqs/s1600/2014-02-04_00005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLcGPTAOys86bBXBECjxHll_-QntVcVSHL9wpQ7GQT7hXN7Xha5hkIiTLmuHtkShAf6cGBIS5gOWZLsYFqcghLNptQbGd40FJYyvbmw6hbE31nS171NZEIR2K7FJ0_vijegJGWxiQDmqs/s1600/2014-02-04_00005.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The 3 Councillors spoke
quietly among themselves, Tevos and Valern nodded in agreement, while Sparatus
nodded with reluctance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Commander Shepard –
step forward.” Tevos said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Shepard looked over at
Anderson, his mentor, and he smiled back at him and ushered him forward.
Shepard took the centre stage from Udina, who stepped to the side. Crowds
started to gather in the viewing platforms around them, people began whispering
between themselves, and dozens of omni-tools could be seen as people began to
record this famous moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“It is the decision of
the Council that you be granted all of the powers and privileges of the Special
Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel.” Tevos said in this history
making moment,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Spectres are not
trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle;
those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file.” Valern said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Spectres are an
ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination and self-reliance.
They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will.” Tevos said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Spectres bare a great
burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of
defence. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold.” Sparatus added,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“You are the first
human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your
entire species.” Tevos said, wrapping things up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I’ve been ready for
this since Eden Prime.” Shepard said, indignantly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“We’re sending you
into the Traverse after Saren. He’s a fugitive from justice, so you are
authorised to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate them.” Valern
said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“I’ll find him.”
Shepard said with a nod,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Then this meeting of
the Council is adjourned.” Tevos said as the 3 Councillors retired to the
Council Chambers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Shepard exhaled
deeply, knowing that he had been granted a massive honour. Anderson was the
first to walk up to him, shaking his hand strongly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Congratulations,
Shepard.” He said with a broad smile, he was so proud. Anderson didn’t have any
children of his own, and he had come to see Shepard as his own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“We’ve got a lot of
work to do Shepard. You’re going to need a ship, a crew, supplies…” Udina said,
holding his chin while he spoke. “Anderson, come with me. I’ll need your help
to set all this up.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Anderson nodded, then
smiled at Shepard again as the two walked away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“Hmph,” Wrex muttered,
“Bastard didn’t even thank you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“What do you expect
from a politician? Come on, let’s go.” Shepard said as he along with Wrex and
Tali walked away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Toolbox24</span></b></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08130538108715472878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4586347683644462771.post-57340450809730076802014-01-24T18:29:00.001+00:002014-01-24T18:29:03.477+00:00Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Review<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bioware - LucasArts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">PC / XBOX (Original) / iPad - RPG</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Hello there boys and girls! Hope you're all doing well!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right let me introduce this game in pretty much the only way I can. KotOR came out 10 years ago on the XBOX and I have played this game at least once or twice a year since then. It is pretty much one of the all time best games ever made. Ever.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm not going to sugar-coat it, or make out that it's more than it isn't - I'm going to tell you exactly how great this game is and why. Before I do, I'm going to tell you that you can buy KotOR any time of day, any day of the week for just £6.99 on Steam to download directly into your Steam Library, or if you want to play it on the bus or train, download it for your iPad for the same price. It WILL be the best £6.99 you'll spend on yourself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right I digress. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">KotOR has everything going for it, it's story is pure Star Wars, and when this was originally released when a lot of people had a lot of resentment for Star Wars - the prequel trilogy not living up to expectations for many. To be honest LucasArts needed something to remind them that they still cared about the fans, and that they still cared about the Star Wars Universe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">KotOR is set a little bit before the films, even the prequel films. The Star Wars Universe (SWU) has a timeline, it's all based around the Battle of Yavin from Episode IV, where the first Death Star was destroyed. So you have years in BBY and ABY - Before and After the Battle of Yavin.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So where Return of the Jedi is set in 4 ABY, The Phantom Menace is set in 32 BBY. Yoda was born in 896 BBY. KotOR is set in 3956 BBY.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No Luke and Leia. No Darth Vader. No Han and Chewie. None of it. It's a reminder that the SWU is enormous. It's absolutely gigantic, it's far more than the 6 movies and Clone Wars cartoons. KotOR is set almost 4000 years prior to the Star Wars you're bound to know and might well love.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I first heard this, I was sceptical. But when you dive in, it's all purest Star Wars from start to finish. There's action, romance, drama, plot twists, the Jedi, the Sith, the Republic, droids, lightsabers and force powers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Awww yeah.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right, enough of an introduction, I've barely touched upon the game itself apart from to say that it's set 4000 years before the movies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The gameplay is really good, it's a turn-based RPG, but doesn't play like you'd expect. There are parts where it's like, you shoot or swing your lightsaber...they shoot or swing their lightsaber...you shoot or swing your lightsaber...you get the idea, but it doesn't take away anything from the game, you can pause in combat in order to organise moves that you are going to use or to use items like stamina or strength boosts, or medpacs or to turn on your shields.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But in honesty, the combat is not where the game is great, although to be honest the chance to swing a lightsaber (or 2) or a double-bladed lightsaber, and choke your enemies before flinging them across the room and blasting them with a storm of force lightening is fucking-A. It's the quests that help make the game what it is, the mini-quests, the random little conversations, the back-story and the overall storyline that suck you in and keep you playing. From helping an alien who is being bullied by kids to finding out a dark secret about a wookiee to searching the galaxy for an ancient secret that is fuelling the Sith War Machine. There's even a side mission where it's not so subtly implied that a woman is sexually abusing her C-3PO-esque droid it "fill the gap" left by her dead husband. Creepy. But it's all so good, it make you wanna slap yo mamma.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/aFsEZ3PDSwo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">YEAH BOY!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, graphically it's good - for 2003 it was REALLY good, and playing on a PC, it stands up nicely even 10 years on. Some parts of the game are really nice, you can tell it's a Bioware game and you can tell it's quintessentially Star Wars.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcJQd185yotW-SZ1jkHeWLXZ6NXpsqOw19O0FaP9OXUKsMd-oOFOYwp-14RP2B4ZHRMvLiT_07SuV5hlxThwk-U3WEPM3uztzu43L2KUt1gK4vSQ5qIX4VaskHWdmYBUCab6-qX3CgdBU/s1600/2013-11-15_00001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcJQd185yotW-SZ1jkHeWLXZ6NXpsqOw19O0FaP9OXUKsMd-oOFOYwp-14RP2B4ZHRMvLiT_07SuV5hlxThwk-U3WEPM3uztzu43L2KUt1gK4vSQ5qIX4VaskHWdmYBUCab6-qX3CgdBU/s1600/2013-11-15_00001.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can tell that some of the background scenery could have been a slight inspiration for the multitudes of random planets you can explore in Mass Effect - another BioWare masterpiece.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are several planets to visit during the game, including Tatooine - the desert planet that Luke grew up on and home to the Sand People; Manaan - a water world holding the galaxies only natural source of the healing agent: kolto; Kashyyk - the wookiee homeworld; Taris - a sprawling city planet in the outer-rim; Korriban - the Sith homeworld; Dantooine - a farm world that housed a Jedi enclave as well as a couple more locations, including a DLC that housed a small merchant orbiting Yavin (the planet that was the scene for the ending of Episode IV: A New Hope). There are also some truly memorable and dare I say, iconic characters in this game.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll start with the main antagonist - Darth Malak. He's an evil basard with hopes of using his vast Sith forces to overthrow the Republic and to install himself as the ruler of the Galaxy, and to destroy the Jedi Order in the process. His methods were more traditional than the way in which Emporer Palpatine succeeded in infiltrating his way to power. Yep, Malak went out of his way to just decimate everyone and everything in his path on a war that would kill millions. There is a slight nod towards Darth Vader in this guy though, in the back-story, his jaw was lopped off by his former Master - Darth Revan, and as such has a cybernetic jaw instead, along with a gravelly slightly robotic voice.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0CXhKvl5T6mxbciE7pvr8z9taKwStFefriS1eZyhwcIwA7UayNKdnHZGOwdumUgc7rqs5iXRwEkA-ZlmKMzFrDCFW1uFcuas4oAZB5ThWtYQc0oti5UiYf_Txta4mk62DoC0BylWCgBk/s1600/malak+mask+maskless.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0CXhKvl5T6mxbciE7pvr8z9taKwStFefriS1eZyhwcIwA7UayNKdnHZGOwdumUgc7rqs5iXRwEkA-ZlmKMzFrDCFW1uFcuas4oAZB5ThWtYQc0oti5UiYf_Txta4mk62DoC0BylWCgBk/s1600/malak+mask+maskless.jpg" height="187" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But now, as a lead character, and obviously as a total dude, you can't go it alone. You need a team of characters able to fight the Sith and complete the story, included in your team is Carth Onasi - a battle hardened Republic pilot, who's seen more battle than your average soldier and has his own motives for defeating the evil Sith; Bastila - a young head-strong Jedi who has the rare Force power of Battle Meditation, with the ability to turn the tide of any battle just through her will; Mission Vao - a street wise Twi'Lek (like Jabba's advisor in Return of the Jedi, with the wormy things coming out of their head); Zaalbaar - a wookiee with a dark secret; Juhani - a once fallen Jedi who might accompany you depending on how you handle your first encounter with her; Canderous Ordo - a Mandalorian (like Boba Fett) warrior turned bounty hunter; Jolee Bindo - an ex-Jedi recluse voiced by the immense Kevin Michael Richardson, who you might know as Principal Lewis from American Dad); T3-M4 - a utility droid much like R2-D2 who communicates in beeps and whistles and HK-47 - basically, C-3PO...if C-3PO was a wise cracking assassin droid who reveals in describing all organics as "Meatbags" and thinks any and every problem can be solved by him either beating it mercilessly or blasting it into dust.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The 2 best characters for their actual character are Jolee Bindo and HK-47, their little insights during the game are brilliant, and finding out more about them is brilliant and not pure Star Wars - but pure BioWare.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, the basic story of the game is thus (without trying to give too much away): You are a soldier/smuggler/scout who was on the Republic starship the Endar Spire when it came under attack from the Sith, you manage to barely escape with Carth Onasi and try to find Bastila, (the Jedi mentioned previously) who also escaped the Endar Spire, on the planet below - Taris. After which you have leave for the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine with some new chums in Mission Vao, Zaalbaar, Canderous Ordo and T3-M4. There you discover an ancient secret that points you to the planets Kashyyk, Manaan, Tatooine and Korriban. During your travels you meet Jolee Bindo, possibly purchase HK-47 and potentially recruit Juhani. During your travels as well you discover a deep secret about yourself, that you yourself didn't even know - and do battle with Darth Malak before discovering the reason for his seemingly never-ending resources.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I don't want to ruin any of it, because although it's been out for 10 years, there are still those out there who wont have played it or know the story of it. Ah well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Moving onto the music and sound of the game, again, BioWare comes up trumps. The music is an original score, apart from the initial title scrawl, you know...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That one. Even though it's an original score, it sounds perfectly in place for a Star Wars game, being original, and not using music from the movies, really sets it apart as well. It's all big orchestral music, and there's even some cheesy sounding bar music cut from the same cloth as the music you hear in Episode IV, when Luke and Obi-Wan meet Han and Chewie... this one:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now that that tune is gleefully in your brain, I'll carry on. The music sets the right tone in every scene, and every playable area. It's beautifully composed, and it's perfectly set. I cannot sing it's praises enough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The sound effects for the game are also brilliant, from swinging a lightsaber to hearing the crackling of the Force Lightening power, to shooting a blaster and listening to the background noises on Kashyyk or Tatooine, everything again, sets the tone and pace of the game perfectly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lastly the voice acting, some amazing performances from veterans in the business, like Raphael Sbarge - who also performs as Carth Onasi, who also appears in the Mass Effect trilogy as Kaidan Alenko, and Jennifer Hale - who plays Bastila, again you'll recognise her as the voice of FemShep in Mass Effect as well as also appearing in other games and TV shows including many Star Wars and Star Trek incarnations, X-Men, Spider-Man and even kids shows and films from Johnny Bravo and the Powerpuff Girls to Disney's Sophia the First, new Cinderella movies and Wreck it Ralf. Anyway enough about them, the voice acting is superior to most other games you'll end up playing - unless those other games are BioWare - they have a brilliant writing staff, and during these blinding days included the brilliant writer and author Drew Karpyshyn among them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The voice acting is top-notch, and the wording of everything could have come from George Lucas's original screenplays. It's amazing, and stays true to classic Star Wars form.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do you know what? I'm going to end it there. 2003's undoubted GOTY, doesn't need me selling it anymore. Just go on Steam or the iStore and get it. Do it now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I cannot recommend this game enough. This is a pure diamond of a game, and for as long as I can, I'm sure I'll be making my annual trips back to the Endar Spire where it all begins.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No question. 10/10.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Toolbox24</b></span></div>
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