Completed Lets Play the latest Jagged Alliance 2 1.13

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i think they need quite a lot of time to actually move out of the mines. but in case of Alma, there's flat roofs west and southwest from the mine area so crepitus aren't much of a threat for your guys anyway.

Also crepitus have a way better night sight than humans and my best nvg is a NVG II

So I'm not so sure if they'd be tougher to kill the open.

=======================



The Chigger Queen

Alien 3 music montage


SUFFER NOT THE XENO

But first, Shank is sent to Estoni to set up a fuel deal.



There he finds an old man who lost everything thanks to the tyranny of Deirdranna. Another of many histories like this in the latest years of Arulco.



And finally, Jake himself.



Now Skyrider will be able to use this place as a base, provided it is free from enemy presence. But he is currently busy. After shipping the Kodex Kool Krew to Alma Mine, the Krew was resting a little before going in as some of them were way too tired and they should really be ready before getting inside to face those horrors. Ira, Dmitri and Gaskett were covering the mine entrance just in case.



Once the xenos threat and Orta are explored, then the most decisive moment of this conflict shall begin. To have resorted to such horrors is indeed a sign of desperation from the petty and cruel dictator of this country, for the freedom fighters are at the gates of Meduna already.





Shank also takes the opportunity to buy some stuff. A compound 18 and some glass jars. It is known some people would be interested in samples of blood and other liquids from those things, thus because the Kodex Kool Krew is still resting in preparation for the coming and likely terrifying battle, he is called to fly off to Alma Mine and drop off the jars there. And after that he will go to the recently conquered SAM site and observe kingcomrade as he trains militias so he may learn enough to become a militia trainer himself rather than worthless.

And shortly after, evertyone of the main team is fully rested and ready to get in, to face these abominations and wipe them out at any costs.



Right at start it becomes clear they were about to break out from underground and get to the surface, which could have been disastrous. Ulminati misses a tear gas grenade aimed at them, while Orgasm delivers a burst severely harming the first two. The corpses of those monsters kingcomrade and his team wiped out were still there, their stink being an additional obstacle to the absolute darkness.



Azira finishes off the abomination, while they position themselves under the cover of mine carts, tables and beams.



Black takes down another of these horrible creatures I saw yesterday, to be avoided whenever you can. But it's far from over, even in this first area, and this probably goes much deeper than they'd wish.



Nails wipe out another one. Is it over now? The stink must be as nauseating as that of the cockroach-ridden Prosper's microwave oven.



And Black puts an end to this... at least in this sector. But they must go deeper, until the very source of this infestation. Thus they move further south into the mine, at the place where the first team found the hole those things dug.



Right at the start they already face more of these Chinese niggers(as Bee likes to call them).



Azira takes down another one while they carefully advance to safer positions.



Moar liek Big Fucking Slinky.



At this level, it was the last one Black put an end to. Now they looked at the dark, fetid hole, knowing that things ought to become more and more dangerous the deeper they got in.



Speaking of it getting more dangerous, they end in a totally exposed and open cave and Nails gets hit right away. Luckily it was a glancing shot of that very corrosive acid. Otherwise he could be very badly hurt, or worse. Immediately they engage that thing, and obviously it isn't the only Landsquid here.



Those things not only have a deadly acid spittle and are equally deadly on melee, but also they can see way farther than a human wearing shitty NVGII because Bobby Ray's store still doesn't offer better stuff than that and I won't waste time in Balime just for the sake of buying stuff from that electronics store.

Fortunately the bold Orgasm corrects this disadvantage by charging recklessly before those things could react, scouting two of them and killing one.



Black finishes the job, but those were only some of these things here. With the awareness they can see farther in the dark than any member of the team except perhaps for Black, he takes the lead and scouts ahead, sneaking around and enduring the tension.



Fortunately the last one was just a slug incapable of defending itself that was promptly exterminated, and now they were to head further into these dark depths. So far no serious casualties, only minor wounds, but these enemies are more than capable of wiping them out if they make any mistake or just end in the bad luck of being forced to advance through a very open area.



The next area is even more complicated, with little cover and lots of places the chiggers could come from. They position the best they can and get ready for the battle.



Black neutralizes the first, and then the enemies show they are more cunning than the Deirdranna redshirts. The rest of them simply refuse to advance, instead waiting to ambush the team when they least expect it. With the fear of those hiding in the dark, they advance slowly and carefully through the best cover they can get in these caves.



Another close one, but fortunately Orgasm took it down just in time.

They head near a hole going even deeper, and then take positions near the tunnels leading to it as they prepare to meet more of the horrors.



Black takes down a disgusting landsquid child. Of course doing so won't grant him the Childkiller trait. Xenos don't count. However, one would have to expose himself too much to cover his back... which was an open invitation for.



Black is lucky for sure, and he quickly takes down the crepitus going behind him, and now sticks to direction that position while Azira will cover the direction he was facing before. And before I forget, in one of these nasty encounters Nails got hurt bad, and is now staying behind in less riskier positions, as if they could exist in a place like this.

After these ones, again they don't advance, but instead wait for the team to come at them so their ambushes will succeed. Sticking close to the cavern walls, Blacks sneaks to get inside a crevice that would provide him relative safety while others follow him.



Before he gets in another one shows up.



And dies.



They managed to lure more of them, and now they just need to not fuck up.



Holy shit! Looks like most of them were just in waiting to ambush the Kodex Kool Krew after all. Bee, don't miss it, don't miss it! Your life depends on hitting a lot of bullets in that thing!



Unfortunately, after so many headshots, a legendary number of enemies defeated, Bee failed when she needed her skills the most, at near point blank range, the sheer desperation and panic conspired to ensure her burst would mostly miss and be unable to stop the chigger from melting most of her body into a pool of gore and acid.

Bee NEVAR FORGET



They must not panic. If they simply run away now those things will reproduce, grow more numberful and eventually spread out. They must finish this no matter the cost!



With the unfortunate death of Irene "Bee" Honeychurch a replacement is quickly looked for. Someone affordable but of high skills. Due to our delicate financial situation since the Alma Mine was shut down because of those things, and just to be sure the daily costs won't be missed, only a daily contract is made for now with Stephen Rothman, whose leadership skills will most certainly be quite useful, and he knows how to blow shit up, although we already have a better specialist on this field.

Guys, how do I add custom nicknames to AIM mercs?



And thus, after wiping out all of them, leaving behind another great hero and patriot, they descend to what is most likely going to be even more deadly and dangerous than what already costed the life of Bee. The desire of making her death not be vain drives them forward despite the bad smell and the fear.



Once again, they are met with immediate threats.



No bullshit this time. To hamper their ability of spotting the team first, Ulminati drops a tear gas grenade, and Nails launches an illumination grenade at roughly the same spot. Of course those horrible creatures don't cry, but that was not the reason for that grenade to have been launched. It works very well and another one is cleared.

However, once again they refuse to advance, waiting instead in ambushes against the team.



Fortunately this time the cave has a perfect chokepoint, a tight cave with only two ways in. The rear way is guarded by Nails while the rest advanced through it, and tried to lure in more and more of the crepitus.



It worked! They kept coming this time.



Black and Orgasm wiped many of them.



This one is for Bee.



Then they stopped again, but thanks to Black's excellent hearing, they knew more or less where another one lied. Thus Azira went to draw its attention.



Except it didn't work and the thing remained in its corner.

Immediately after Orgasm threw a frag grenade at the same spot. A loud scream was heard and it began to move in. Orgasm advanced near the cave wall, and then:



Did something that was borderline insane by attempting to slay it with a Katana.

Except it worked perfectly.

That is how

a sushi master

does her job





Later all they find is more sushi.

Then after covering all spots but one, They go in the EXTREME way: Might makes Light.



After tossing a grenade there, Nails finds the last of them. Crazily some advance to finish the job.

It was just another worm, what a waste of a HE grenade.



Time to get into what hopefully is the deepest part of this hell.

And hopefully nobody else will die.

Bishop's Countdown



Immediately on arrival they are bombarded by acidic blobs. They must react quickly!



Those things keep coming, no retreat, no failure acceptable. They must succeed now, they must be very close to the source considering the numbers of chiggers that are coming.



Good thing they are very competent or Orgasm would become the dinner of one of those things.

Then, eventually they stop coming. They have switched to the ambush tactics again... great.



The team moves to the southern caves as they offer some limited cover. More aliens found. To the east of this one there is a very large and open area, which is better to avoid unless utterly necessary. To the northeast there is a wide but still tight passage filled with human skeletons. They advance carefully through that one.



Several abominations are lightened by a break light tossed at the end of this tunnel by Black. Then silence again. Further east lies some kind of antechamber, from where the noises of something gigantic can be heard echoing from another tunnel leading west. It must be the source! But they must ensure none of these things will be left alive, and thus, they decide to wipe out the smaller ones first. Around the antechamber nothing is found, which means a bad thing: they will have to move to that very exposed and open cave to finish the job. And no matter how carefully they do it, there is always a risk.



Unfortunately, right at the beginning, a barrage of acid manages to put an end to the already wounded EXTREME Nails. Once again an avatar of the EXTREME SHEPARD RENEGADE perishes, even though he did take some popamole health regen to reduce the extent of his wounds before this.



The survivors do their best to wipe out and locate these landsquids. Mudcrabs don't spit acid therefore these are worse than horrible creatures.





Holy shit! Behind you Azira!



They are so exposed now. It's either to hit fast and accuratedly, or like Bee so terribly learned, die. Azira continues looking after there, and suddenly a legion appears. he fires the best he can.



But it proves insufficient. His situation is critical now, and the others aren't in a good situation either.



He did his best, but he was simply overwhelmed by crepitus abominations and never stood a chance. The man who saved the lives of the team countless times now also makes the ultimate sacrfice.

Azira, NEVAR FORGET.



With half of the team killed, now they still have gone too far to give up. Either their ULTIMATE DOOM will happen now or this will end in a victory, albeit a costly one.



Black, Ulminati and Orgasm do their best to hold up.



And shortly after Ulminati barely escapes from certain death.

Things are getting very nasty, yet Black is a lucky man. So far he didn't get even a scratch.



Eventually, it was clear. They checked all around besides the source of these horrible creatures. No signs of any more of them. However, the source would spawn more sooner or later. They knew what had to be done.



But first it's needed to find replacements for our unforgettable heroes.

A new doctor that is particularly bright, and thus will learn quickly given enough combat experience, is hired as the new main squad doctor.



And a new EXTREME explosive specialist from Hungary gets in too. Actually not as EXTREME as the Scot because his education was mostly theoretical, but once he puts theory in practice, then there will be lots of EXTREME. He also knows how to fix things, to an extent.



Positioning in crevices, the team wonders on how to approach the issue. It is more than known that these creatures have a superior eyesight in the dark compared to any of them. And considering what the acid spittle of the average landsquids did, if whoever gets in to the dangerous task don't shoot first, death is almost certain.

It was then that Ulminati was thankful of his decision of having saved the last tear gas grenade from his launcher.

He launched it on the entrance to the Queen's chamber, and then both Black and Orgasm crawled, covered by the smoke as they tried to hold on their nerves from hearing the shivering noises the massive creature was making.

Orgasm spotted it first and immediately fire her assault rifle. It was so big she didn't waste any time aiming accuratedly, she just pulled the trigger immediately after spotting it.



When something is very big. MORE DAKKA always will be a solution.





Also count how many rounds her rifle had before and after the burst. It was fired like a machinegun here!



Now the most important mine they have is back on track.But it seems that abomination left some green matter over the ground.



Perhaps it could be useful for something. This Queen, unlike the rest, was very tough to bullets and only the lots of DAKKA ensued victory here. Perhaps if this was applied to a body armor, would it toughen it?

Now, they will mourn for their fallen comrades and await for the new ones to arrive, knowing that they are getting very close to the final battle of Meduna. Once the secret base of Orta is finished, then all between the Liberty of Arulco and the Kodex Kool Krew is Meduna itself and Deidranna.

And for Bee, Azira and Nails, another:

Knife a man - check
Knife a beast - check
Knife a monster - check
Knife a tank - todo

M:

Xtreme indeed.

Also as a bump for this thread and a question I am yet to find an answer for:

Is there any way to change the nickname of AIM mercs? I'll add others who signed up after the first six if there is one in compensation for the sad fact adding more than six IMPs if one or more of the first die tends to cause game-breaking bugs.

Save game editor?
Externalized in 1.13?
You could take something that does a full content search and go through the install location (also hope that the names are not compressed). Then open the files in question in a hex editor and change the hardcoded values. Cant make longer names though. Thats asking for bugs. Change the name, replace the characters that where previously there with dots.
Eg, "Walther Meyer" is gonna be "Running Fox..", same length. You could try "Running Fox " with 2 spaces at the end too.

I use XYplorer for my explorer needs and it has full content search.
WinHex, forensics edition, also lets you open harddrives raw and search for values.

within a running game, hacking the save game might be the only way. I figured you already tested changes to mercprofiles and the like?

i just tested hacking the save game, it seems to work, i didn't go into details.

I was about to start posting the next update when imgur went down.

Will do it later. Just posting this here because it also got quite long thus with this post a new page will be reached sooner.

Bump for new page

page for the page god!

#338

13 bumps to go...

.

Sorry bros but I don't want to risk another fuckup now that this LP is getting close to the end. Thus I decided against editing the save files.

Also, this update will have a very, very important poll for you to answer.

==============================



Road to Orta



On the way up, Ulminati gives his final honors to his fallen friend Bee, and gets her sniper rifle to ensure it will be put to good use.





Black finds out that all that jelly from those things have an use after all. Black and Orgasm, being naturally the ones who'll get into closer ranges in combat, will get it applied on both their armors and helmets while all others but Ulminati will get their armors applied with the jelly. Being a sniper Ulminati will always stay back and thus be technically less exposed, although he still applied the not so impressive but still good compound-18 to his vest.



The wounded are given medical care while the new mercenaries are still to arrive.



Damn! The disbanded militias will be seriously missed! The stop the damn chiggers caused in the Alma Mine surely harmed the finances for the the liberation of Arulco because with Drassen Mine running out, Alma Mine now represents over 70% of the total income from the liberated mines. Good thing it's operational once again.



On better news, the still operational mobile militia achieve another victory against Deirdranna forces. These victories although not ultimately important will always buy time between the offensives the tyrant queen launches against the three cities that were already liberated.



Looks like now Black won't be the only Night Ops specialist available. This is definitively good, while Stephen's leadership skills as a Deputy will give a slight boost to the capabilities of everyone around him during combat. He's quite expensive but more than worth his price for sure. Ulminati and Stephen call for Skyrider to get them as close to San Mon as possible without getting into the enemy SAM coverage. The money shortage must be fixed, and no better way than to sell surplus weapons that lie by the dozens, taken from the enemies they defeated.



They reach San Mona without incident, carrying lots of guns that won't be used, and hoping Tony can afford buying all of them, or that he has enough good stuff to exchange for. They buy an ACOG 4x scope, some extra trigger groups and sell most of their guns.



Tony ran out of cash to buy more but it was sufficient to solve the shortage of money after all the time the crepitus lurked over the mines before their extermination.



I suppose the insurance company is not really buying into the "gigantic monstrosities genetically modified by the Arulco brutal regime living in the underground killed Nails". Fuck them, but as much as it would be fitting to boycott them, now only human enemies will have to be faced so they won't have excuses to not pay insurance for the AIM mercenaries I got for hire, should more of them die, which hopefully won't happen.

I don't like the recon data surrounding the SAM site that was just liberated. With the disbanding of 40 militias it won't stand a chance, but if it is lost way too much time will be lost. This has taken long enough already. It is time to get everything settled for the final battle.

Thus I ordered kingconrad and Dynamo to defend the SAM site at all costs, and see if they can get those green militias to survive more than a few seconds. Because the SAM site has only one entrance, the two position themselves in a way of taking advantage of such chokepoint while using the tank traps around as cover.



Mercenary and No Guts, No Glory



I bet this is what you claimed when Momma's Gang HQ was defacing Codexia.



(Couldn't resist)



Dynamo tries to get the militias to behave rationally between his rants on how he is going to take revenge against Deirdranna.



Of course getting those greens to not act suicidal is easier said than done. Following orders that will increase their chances of surviving isn't something they tend to do.



kingconrad keeps shifting his focus at both sides, and then he decides to cover Dynamo's back, from where he puts down some of them trying to sneak in from that direction the militias are not bothering to protect in their suicidal charge. Being vastly outnumbered when the cannon fodder is not counted surely is something to remember since the massive counter-attack that happened in Drassen.



Yet, their well positioned emplacement near the SAM site gates and cunning allowed them to greatly thin a number of enemy soldiers far larger than the initial 14 that came with the first wave. This was a very difficult battle, where two men still stood against many.



Bullets rain into several enemies at once, as kingconrad's skills once again neutralize a deadly situation by severely wounding or killing multiple foes.



But it wasn't enough, and kingconrad is wounded, but still alive and able to fight back.



While Dynamo keeps covering that spot, he turns around just in time to prevent a disaster. And did I mention one of Deirdranna's troops just ran around trying to reach the inside of the SAM control building, ignoring Dynamo and kingconrad completely until being shot down by a surviving militia?



Dynamo finishes the last of them in this tough but victorious battle. The casualties were high: only two militiamen survived, of which one immediately became a regular, and kingconrad was wounded. Skyrider will soon get Ira to this SAM site to both help kingconrad training militias and provide medical care for both him and Dynamo.



Some ammunition and gear is bought from Bobby Ray's store. Black's rifle is good but .30 ammunition is totally impossible to find in Arulco. Thus better to always buy more when it is available. Those helmet camo covers will also be very useful for the Kodex Kool Krew to be able to get closer without being detected.



Mobile militias achieve a costly victory against at numerical parity with an enemy force that included elite troops. Considering the situation although costly it was still a great achievement. With all the deaths and increased costs from paying the AIM mercs, however, training of further mobile militias will be discontinued.

Skyrider arrives with Ulminati and Stephen, and the Kodex Kool Krew is gathered, getting in the choppa towards a simple destination: the Hummer they left behind when heading for Tixa that was packed with good stuff. That Hummer is going to be useful for the coming final offensive in Meduna, thus it can't just be left there. Of course, according to the last recon on that sector where the hummer was left, it was crawling with troops. So better for them to be careful.



Damn bloodcats right at point blank range! Failure can lead to another situation like what happened when facing the crepitus!

The team rapidly reacts to the threats all around them.



Just a bunch of puddycats and redshirts. Typical.





Covering all possible directions they could come from, the Krew delivers a killing spree.



Stephen and MD got their first blood in Arulco here. In MD's case this is definitively the first time he killed someone. Hope it won't mindfuck him much. Probably not as much as getting inside those dark caves with those horrible creatures to salvage Azira's gear for himself did.



Once they stop coming, they get ready to sneak, Black and Orgasm ahead due to their camouflage.



And finaly, all clear. Time to get inside the Hummer and head for Estoni. Orta won't be much far from there, and considering how soon it will start, Estoni will be a staging area for the coming offensive against Meduna.

However, along the road they spot some enemy troops just in time to prevent an ambush. It was getting too easy, it seems. And probably there are more enemy forces nearby ready to come in as reinforcements too. Better to stay alert.



Ulminati decides to not shoot because they are yet to find a sniper suppressor either in the gear of a defeated enemy or in Bobby Ray's store. Better to let those with the suppressed guns loaded with cold-loaded ammo do the job and get the redshirts panicked for not knowing where those shots are coming from. Orgasm and Black, who advanced farther than the rest and took cover in trees and bushes, begin it.



Shortly after, reinforcements from the southern sector arrive. They must be taken down quickly!



MD and Stephen do their best to contain them, but Orgasm had to give some support too to ensure their safety as the number of such reinforcements was substantial.



They surely came in large numbers, but the Krew will put them down.



Covering all directions, the team does not advance but instead awaits for more of them to show up. And after a while, they do. Eventually though they stop showing up. Black and Orgasm advance first to the cover of trees and bushes further ahead, and once they get in position, the rest of the team gradually and cautiously advance.



More of them show up soon enough. Properly camouflaged rangers packing suppressed weapons are truly powerful. Silent killers of the best kind after the Lithuanian ones.



The slow, methodical advance with the two rangers on the lead is the only way to continue the hunt without exposing themselves.



And not too much time after this advance, another one was spotted, and quickly eliminated by Orgasm.



Ulminati acts as a spotter, but his rifle, not being silenced, would draw unwanted attention. Others do the shooting part of the job, for now.



Once their numbers have dwindled enough, Ulminati starts to demonstrate that switching from a 10x to a 7x scope for his sniper rifle wasn't a bad idea. His accuracy on engagement becomes much superior with it. The only disadvantage is that a sniper with a 10x scope will be able to spot him first, and that disadvantage will be mitigated by proper camo gear. And then they are all wiped out. Further on the road to Estoni no further enemies are found.



Everything is setting up for the coming final battle. They are so close now from total victory, but the challenge ahead will be one hell of a challenge. Meduna must be heavily defended.



Barry realizes that although it may look clumsy, the AICW is actually a much, much better assault rifle than the POPAMOLE FN SCAR, once properly fitted, specially one with a rod and spring. The only advantage the Modern Warfare poster child has over it is that its grenade launcher has a somewhat better range. But a Metal Storm stacked grenade launcher that can launch a burst of 3 grenades at once plus a faster firing rifle just can't be passed like that in exchange of range. Plus it's black instead of that popamole colored plastic.





Stephen convinces Maddog to join the effort. Not only he is a great mechanic, but he is also skilled enough in combat to make a front-line combatant, depending on the decision to come regarding how Meduna should be handled once the time comes to decide that. Fuel cans and a compound-18 are bought from Jake as well.



I guess that was going to happen sooner or later regarding the only useful mercenary in MERC.



Everything is set. Skyrider is called to Estoni, and some risk will be needed. There is just one SAM covered sector adjacent to Orta and getting them so close while bypassing multiple enemy forces is just too tempting to dismiss. Hopefully the cock commander will manage to evade the missiles and get back to Estoni with his chopper in one piece.



Upon arrival they find no opposition, and begin to head straight for Orta. Meanwhile Skyrider managed to successfully evade the anti-air missiles and will shortly land on Estoni. Orta is a research facility for the tyrant queen where the most advanced weapons are being reverse-engineered, developed and tested... with human subjects, considering the nature of the brutal regime. Getting some of its gear to the cause of the liberation of Arulco just before the finall offensive in Meduna will be very useful.

Now that they are on the way, the chosen method to approach defeating Deirdranna for once and all will greatly change the strategic and logistical operations to be done in the coming final days of this war.

How should the final battle for Arulco be handled?

1. Go straight for the snake's head to cut it: Get the main squad, once they have cleared Orta, to replenish their gear and immediately sneak through the SAM site in Meduna, avoiding combat whenever possible. Once they have cleared that critical SAM site, then get Skyrider to lift them straight to the Meduna palace, and put an end to Deirdranna's reign of terror for once and all;
2. Infiltration is not EXTREME enough: Assemble a second squad with the best of the others, and maybe one or two extra hired mercs for only one day, and use both it and the main squad in joint offensives to completely liberate Meduna before getting to the end of this war at Deirdranna's Palace. The main squad will come by chopper while the other one will use the Humvee.

I'm putting this right now for voting because it will influence in what I'll have to do with Skyrider regarding transportation of equipment to Estoni.

#2, obviously. The slaughter pleases Ares

2 is the most EXTREME option.

2. Go EXTREME on their asses


BRUTALiTY WITH MOAR BOLT THROWER

1. Would be an option if we hadn't had such XTREME comrades as Femshep or that one girlgamer who likes Crepitus Souls

But as it is, 2 is the only option.

Finally

Also, 2 obviously