Long-time redpills know that there is more to Indigo than meets the eye. Naturally, this made it all the more interesting to meet him and do his missions! This senior Exile hangs out in the shadowed depths of Dante’s Inferno, in Guinness Lake (-781, 1, -1009). Looks grim with his dark beanie and dark outfit in the club’s basement. And maybe it’s just me, but it seemed that I always got stuck in lag in this part of MegaCity. Maybe it was his distortion field, or the effect of his code on the codestream around me, maybe it was the influence of all the water and all the power lines….
1. Interference
The classic first mish: go and step on my rival’s schemes. But in this case there is a wicked family twist. Indigo’s brother, Grisaille, is up to some couriering mischief in Indigo’s territory: blitz it and get a package from the courier! There’s some witty dialog from Grisaille’s troops, and some engaging fighting even after you drop it off with one of Indigo’s folks. And at the end, the great Indigo himself weighs in on your side: “Hm. It appears at least some of the stories about you are true.” Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, buddy!
Notice, by the way, how even the run-of-the-mill interference mission gets much more interesting when there is a family angle to it. Imagine if in the future, fighting broke out among the Indigo family to get some artifact or please some person, and various organizations needed to get involved. When there’re personalities involved, the adventure writes itself.
2. Spyware
Remember the package you just captured? Well, now you return it to one of Grisaille’s men who is really working for Indigo. Got all that?
Your contact says “Let’s see…medium height, weird clothes, kind of stupid-looking…yep, you must be the courier Indigo described”. “Come on, take the package. Geez, maybe you really are as dumb as you look.” Really, I could feel the love!
When I dropped off the package, Rocky, the recipient, paid me off by directing his men to shoot at me. Yes, it’s great when we’re all on the same page! This was kind of a disappointment, but Indigo was thrilled at how well his “brilliant plan” worked out, and crowed about showing it to his mother sometime. Like she has nothing else to think about!
3. Pulling the Trigger
Indigo has another man inside Grisaille’s organization, and this one seems to be holding out. Our mission is to pay a courtesy call, and make sure he understands where his interests lie.
At the site, my operator told me he thought this should be an easy mish. I looked up at the objectives (kill any hostile guards) and thought differently.
And, really, how could it be otherwise? The contact resists, the guards attack, and I slay. When the dust has settled, the contact swears tearfully to never hold back on Indigo, and the data has been delivered. I scowled at him as I left so he knew I would remember him.
4. Pegged
By the way, did you know that the Guinness Lakes Reservoir is a strategic asset? And that Indigo controls it? And “that bastard” Grisaille wants it? Read on!
So, once more into the breech. Go, fight, get data. But there’s more. The data must be taken to a reporter for Network Media as an anonymous informant without answering her questions. Oddly, two of Grisaille’s toughs show up in her kitchen (!) looking for trouble when you arrive. According to my notes, she was wearing a chef’s stovepipe hat; perhaps she was the food editor, looking to transfer to the local news beat…. More oddly, she ignores them to challenge you about where you got the scoop (!). At the end, Indigo is pleased that Grisaille’s latest daffy scheme will soon be tabloid fodder. Poor Grisaille! How will I face him when I go to the next Sirens party at the Succubus?
Lots and lots of hiking for this mish, never a good thing. But the ingenuity in Indigo’s plan was laudable. And the reporter could be a fine continuing character, and become a mission contact in her own right, though as a bluepill, not as a Neighborhood Exile contact such as the Newsie. They have a natural competition, and there is a natural motivation for more story development.
5. Gang Rumble
You might think that there is no such thing as bad publicity, but Grisaille differs. Now he is on an angry roll, and has contracted with Amber for some backup to take the fight to Indigo. Grisaille’s “Crow Bars” and Amber’s “ASPs” will be the muscle in this. In response, the dour Indigo wants you to lead his folks into battle. So far, so great!! However, when you rendezvous with them, you discover that Indigo has neglected his logistics, and they have arrived without ammunition! Major d’oh! And they are looking to you for help!
This was exceptionally tough on solo, since the enemies attack in force, and by the time I killed one and got the ammo, I was dead. And again. And again. Eventually I slipped past the sleezes and skanks and got the ammo to Indigo’s guys, who promptly mopped the floor with the Crow Bars and ASPs (mostly because I had already severely depleted their ranks).
Conclusion: Overall, this was very enjoyable. The missions have great variety, imagination, and backstory. And as you start to understand and navigate the complexities of the family ties, there just seems to be so much that you can do with this. Perhaps a missing Exile member of the family, named Fuschia, will surface, and she will have a plan to capture all the color-code exiles and re-merge them…..
This review may be found at manifoldmischief.blogspot.com, along with past mission reviews, and other writings relevant to MxO.
