![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
LJ-Cut for those who don't care. And spoilers!
I considered tackling the Comic Series: Aftershock, but was quickly warned away from it by the playerbase for being exceedingly screwed up. So instead I'll tackle the newest of the Comic Series: Whiteout!
I begin by heading off to the great white north at the request of Justiciar, Canada's premier superhero. There's been an ongoing problem with communications static, and Fort Steelhead needs help dealing with it. Suspicion falls on the Argent Megacorporation, perhaps throwing up interference to cover some ongoing illegal activities. I head out to several locations where Argent is setting up massive radio towers. I beat down several Argent agents before they surrender, and demand to know why Fort Steelhead is jamming their communication systems. Apparently, these radio towers were meant to cut through the static. So much for Argent being the cause of the problem.
Justiciar and I begin discussing possible candidates for who's doing this. VIPER is a clear option, though something this overt is usually something they try to avoid. The Hunter-Patriots might try something like this, but they normally don't have access to this kind of large-scale tech. Given that this is affecting everyone its clearly someone who doesn't mind pissing off the entirety of GIANT FLAMING ALIEN SPACECRAFT FALLING FROM THE SKY!
...right then. New priority. Fort Steelhead is scrambling to deal with things and needs assistance. There was a recon team led by Sgt. Blair near the area where the ship fell, and Justicar wants me to go check on them. When I arrive, Sgt. Blair is alone and confused, saying that his team was attacked by aliens and taken away. He doesn't know why they left him behind. He does at least know the direction they left in (back towards the ship), so I head that way. I spot the recon team, trapped inside cages of alien design. I move to free them and aliens start erupting out of the snow and attack me in waves. I swat them all down and save the captured soldiers including ... Sgt. Blair?
While we're talking, the other Sgt. Blair arrives, and transforms into another alien and attacks me. Once its dead, I get a garbled hail from Justiciar warning me of a massive blizzard heading into the area. If we stay out in the open we're dead, and the only place of shelter near us is Ice Station Alpaca (Ice Station Zebra, anyone?), under the command of Douglas McKenzie.
As we approach Ice Station Alpaca, whiteout conditions set in as the blizzard bears down on us. Aliens are still popping up out of the snow and attack us. On arriving at building 4 of Ice Station Alpaca, McKenzie warns us that the base has been compromised by aliens and the facility is under security lockdown. He's running short of security staff, as they're being killed off one by one. He needs help getting the facility secured and identifying the alien intruders.
On entering the xeno-biology building, the whole place seems deserted. There's no one I can see, yet I already know something's off. There's survivors that sealed themselves behind a security door, but are now trapped inside it. There are aliens inside, but they're not visible or obvious. Instead, inanimate object transform into aliens once you get too close and you're attacked from all sides.
I finally pick up on the movie references being called on here when I start listening to the ambient music. Its ominous, quiet and rhythmic. Its then that the references crystalize in my head: an invaded facility, with flickering lights, dark shadows, and narrow corridors, reminiscent of John Carpenter's: The Thing. Once I figure this out, I give a little squee of happiness.
So begins a series of missions where I'm moving from building to building, rescuing survivors and listening to their stories, deciding who's to be trusted and who's to be put under guard as an alien impostor. Meanwhile, aliens are ambushing me left and right. At one point I have to set fire to one of the buildings to kill off the aliens inside, and then guard the door to keep them from escaping. I embrace the full-on with the Aliens references and transform my Munitions Robots into turret mode and they shoot at anything moving that isn't me.
Just when McKenzie thinks we have everyone accounted for, he realizes he forgot McReady out by the motor pool, and sends to fetch him. I find him next to some kind of modified lawn-mower that he claims can detect aliens. It spotted one that tried to jump him and he locked it in the shed. Said shed doesn't hold it for long and it attacks me.
With Ice Station Alpaca now secured, and the blizzard passing us by, we get another garbled emergency call from Justiciar, saying another spaceship is descending and moving towards the one that crashed. He identifies it as the flagship of the super-villain Cyberlord, saying that its vital that he does not gain control of the alien craft.
I head that way to support troops from Steelhead and fend off wave after wave after wave of robot attackers. Eventually, the Steelhead troops erect a massive shield around the ship. In response, Cyberlord trains his massive guns on the shield to hammer it down. Justiciar and I assault the ship and cause the guns to overload and self-destruct.
At this point, Cyberlord gets annoyed and comes out to kick us off his ship. Justiciar claims he'll lose since he's outnumbered two to one. Cyberlord laughs, stating he prepared for this and brought an ally of his own, revealing...
Oh hi, Brother Hammond. I bet you're still pissed about me sending you to jail and all.
Yeah, he's pissed.
So between Cyberlord's robots, Brother Hammond's demons, Justiciar and my own drone pets, a massive brawl erupts on Cyberlord's ship. It eventually gets to the point where I have no clue who I'm firing at anymore, I just know it’s a valid target and its not dead yet. Eventually its whittled down to Cyberlord, Justiciar and myself. Soon after, only Justiciar and I are still standing.
Honestly, this bit with the Cyberlord kind of comes out of nowhere, and it left me scratching my head in terms of why it exists as part of this story. I can't prove anything but this part feels like someone decided that Whiteout was too short and this section got shoved into the middle of the story.
A call comes in from Steelhead, calling for any and all reinforcements to hurry and get over there as aliens are over-running their defenses. Justiciar and I make a beeline for the base. We arrive and the whole place looks deserted, but I know full well it ain't. Sure enough, aliens start popping out of the woodworks and attack us. Justiciar doesn't know what the aliens want, but there's a lot of dangerous things under control inside Steelhead that he doesn't want getting loose. He and his surviving troops set up a perimeter to fend off more aliens, and sends me inside to deal with the rest.
I move from room to room, resetting the automated security systems, rescuing Steelhead technicians and putting down the various monsters that the aliens set loose from their confinement. Eventually, I reach the basement and find that the aliens have punched a hole in the wall to open a path to a series of caves going deeper beneath the base.
I follow and punch holes in any aliens in my way. Inside a massive chamber deep underground I see what the aliens are after: another alien ship! The ship starts to rumble to life as the aliens reactivate it, and it starts to rise. I fight my way on board to try and stop them. The ship blasts its way through hundreds of feet of rock and ice and heads off into space. The aliens overwhelm me and I'm quickly captured and glued to one of the walls.
The aliens are apparently a slave race to another alien empire I haven't heard of before, and an unidentified someone is helping them gain their freedom in exchange for following his instructions. I break out of my confinement and fight my way to the bridge. The alien commander taunts me, claiming that his race has been infiltrating Earth for years, and it’s only a matter of time before they turn it into a base of operations to launch an attack against their ancient enemies. He shows off by transforming into all kinds of enemies I've fought before. He attacks me by doing just that, taking on the shape of one powerful opponent until nearly defeated, then changing into something else and the fight starts again.
Eventually I beat him down, and he fuses with the ship's command console and the entire room turns into my opponent. Remembering my experiences from Resistance, this time I was ready for shenanigans like this. My item tray had one heal, one recovery from death, and three expendable pet powers. I pop all the pets and along with my own pets and we tear the room to pieces. The alien boss finally dies, and I pilot the ship back to Earth.
This. Was. Awesome! I had so much fun with this one! Between the dialogue, the atmosphere, the music and the events, this comic series was great from minute one. Even with the shoehorned-in section with the Cyberlord and the player's Nemesis showing up, I still liked it. I would so do this again without any hesitation. It even has a teaser for a possible continuation.
Stay tuned for Day 13!
pleased