Sugar Shack 33: Exile Contact Missions: Raini: Enfant Terrible
Raini is a sedate, evil lass, standing off to the side in Jacob’s Ladder in Apollyon (637, 9, -1684), scene of dozens of swinging parties. No fool, she stands where she can see the customers coming in. She cultivates a Bohemian appearance, with the dark shades, the black skirt…and the fishnets! Everything about her shouts artiste! Before starting her mishes, I checked out the bar and had a couple of drinks, thinking about past good times, before everyone was a data-miner and everyone had been brewkoed. Here’s to Alfie and good friends gone MIA.
Raini’s mishes are shallow and violent. That being said, many people will find them entertaining, especially at lower levels when you are looking to score xps, loot, and a reputation, not a revelation. They are action-oriented, not story-oriented; not everyone will be disappointed by this.
First, though, something occurred to me while doing these. How come we can never call these Exiles up? How come they appear in our phone books, but we always have to traipse back to them to get the next mish? Did someone forget something with this?
1. Careful What You Wish For
“Recover high jacked data.” Is this an editing blemish? Or does this refer to a high-capacity jack-in mechanism? Does it foreshadow the role of drugs in these missions? Who can tell… In any case, the basic idea here is simple. Retrieve data from a lost courier, and complete the delivery. On Hard setting, there is a single site with three powerful foes and about as many computers to check. The file you need has “Thallia” in the name; I was not sure if this data had been stolen from Thallia, and her folks or a third party were interested in it, or, Thallia was behind the theft. Of course, knowing these guys, it could have played either way. But Raini’s only comment is she looks forward to enjoying the data. I guess. Your Operator seems detached from this mission as well, observing at one point, “I’ve always wanted to play Blood Tycoon 3. But that’s not what we came here for I guess.” You think?
2. Wetwork
To get some hot information from another Exile (a “nobody”), you need to kill two groups of Exiles. Those who relish 24x7 PvP will relish this mish. The Exiles make the mistake that so many do: they do not work as teams. They are scattered in their locations, and you can defeat them piecemeal. The second group took refuge in the home of two bluepills, killing one of them in the process. There seems to be no way to kill them without collateral-damaging the other bluepill, at least with AOEs. A howitzer build might have had better luck. Alas, doing good, or minimizing doing bad, is not incorporated in mission goals.
Some interesting points: one Exile shouts “Game over, man!” as he engages you; this brief homage to Aliens was a nice touch! Raini notes halfway through “Wow, you were brutal in there. Nice”, and gushes at the end, “Oh, man, that was awesome, thanks Sugaree”. I started to feel like I was talking to a child.
3. The Next Big Thing
Running her own businesses is not enough for Raini, it seems. She wants something more, something that is supposed to be “the ultimate extreme”. And she wants you to get it from a “cat” named Arkansas. Oh, hip, man! Like, this is starting to sound like an old 60s comedy routine, as when Arkansas peers at you and says, “Hey…hey, man. You’re looking for the stuff for Raini? I got it right here. Take it when you’re ready. If you think she can handle it…heh…” The delivery was mercifully brief: a 60-yard sprint to the building next door. I can see why Raini wanted a woman of my talents for this! There is a single wrinkle near the end of this surprisingly sedate mission. And then Raini dangles the offer of an invitation to one of her “private” parties if I keep up the good work. As if!
4. Always When You Are Not Watching
Later when I visited her for the next mish, she seemed considerably the worse for wear. Some goods had been stolen from her, and she was way fretful. “Dammit! Some gang of WORTHLESS Exiles thinks that they can steal from me! From ME!”. The dreary dirge of revenge and payback was about to start like a cheap jukebox….
You trip takes you first to the crime scene. Mostly ceremonial swords remain, with a few rifles, some weapons cages, a few bodies, and two survivors. One mourns; the other insists on coming with you (though he seems totally useless in a fight). Ironically, the thieves have chosen to hide their loot across the street from Jacob’s Ladder! What were they thinking? In the event, by the time you and your sidekick reach the thieves, the loot has been fenced across the city, and nothing remains but some hard-hearted revenge. A few polite yawns later and it was done.
5. Adrenaline Junkie
“I’m in a bind, and I _know_ you don’t want to see cute little me in a bind, do ya?” Yes, that’s how it starts. The powerful Exile, apparently an arms trafficker, now needs another fix, and wants you to score for her. Is this what they are coming to? Maybe Zion and the Machines hardly need to lift a finger against the Exiles; they just have to wait for the drugs to run out! Anyway, getting back, I was sent to visit one of Argon’s minions for a fix. He, however, is out of the business and won’t deal. This necessitates a visit to one of Beryl’s safehouses. Fortunately, you do not need to kill all of Beryl’s guards to get the drugs, which is a pleasant change. Just ignore them, take a few hits, make the grab and run. Raini talks big at the end, about how if you’re not living on the edge (by stealing your drugs, presumably), then you’re not living. That was good for a laugh. I had a couple of drinks, put them on her tab, and left Apollyon.
So, Raini is a pretentious, self-absorbed twit who thinks nothing of sacrificing others for her own perverse whims. But her bar is okay. She should go far in MegaCity, and I’ll bet that one day she gives the Merovingian a good run for his money. So, do her missions, and make sure you stay on her good side, which is not very spacious, especially if she thinks you might have drugs.
This review may be found at manifoldmischief.blogspot.com, along with other reviews and writings relevant to MxO.
