BlueBattler

Understand. Antonio had to die.

Otherwise, the whole effort would have been wasted. Father would have found out from him what he had done—and quite possibly he would have volunteered the information once he found out that I had no intention of being his forever. He would have made my information worthless by giving Father time to change his records.

No, Antonio had to die. If I had not killed him, Father would have—and a good deal less gently than I had. It was all for the best.

He was my first kill …

I have killed many times since Antonio. And yes, there have been times when I thoroughly enjoyed it. You have no idea how satisfying it can be to remove a thorn from your side once and for all—or perhaps YOU do, all things considered …

But Antonio … ah, poor Antonio.

I did not enjoy his death, and I made it as painless as possible. He died never knowing what had happened to him. Believe me, there would come a time when I would envy him his gentle release from life …

Paolo helped me dispose of his body, but he was not happy about it. “His family will never know what happened to him.”

“They’ll know. They’re Family.”

“They should still have his body for burial.”

“It’s just a shell, Paolo.” I was grateful for the body bag that Paolo had brought with him. I did not want to have to see that face ever again …

“This is not right, Bella.”

“This is the Rogue Isles, my Paolo. There are always sacrifices.” I touched his face. “You will do this for me, won’t you?”

He looked away, but nodded his head once.

“Thank you, my Paolo.”

“And the records that cost this man his life?”

“I have them in a safe place. Father will never discover them. And now … now I go to tell him that I am taking my leave of him.” I reached over and touched the body bag that lay in Paolo’s mighty arms. “Thank you, Antonio. This was death for you, but it is life for me, and I will never forget you.”

And I never have.

Oh, I just grabbed all the glowies before we started killing everything.

What I wanted to know was if the ambushes would have kept on coming. They were pretty nasty. They chased us no matter how far we ran ... and you had to be careful not to rez in the room where the ambush was triggered or they immediately went after you, even if you were teleported away.

And I do think the glowies may shift around a little bit. They tend to be in the same three rooms, but sometimes you get two in one room, and sometimes two in another.

Within the last couple of months I broke out my rarely played SS/Invul Brute (level 15ish) and went into a Newspaper mission that was a "kidnap Citizen X from Bad Guy Group Y."

So I get into the first room and there's nothing to fight. "That's weird," I tell myself, and walk into another. Same thing.

I walk through an empty warehouse and found the citizen cowering by himself. Escort him back to the exit without being ambushed.

Weirdest thing I ever saw. 5 years in this game and I never encountered a map sans enemies before.

Did that mission with a friend, and I was wondering if was possible to clear the entire mission or would the ambushes keep respawning after you kill the patrol ad infinitum? (Had to break for dinner so we weren't able to test the theory.)

For a Cold/Ice Defender when circumstances are right, this is a blast:

Heat Loss/Sleet/Ice Storm/Blizzard ...

There's not much that can get up and walk away from that.

If you have enough targets, Heat Loss will even overcome the Nuke Drain ...

I haven't used Purples yet, but I have two different Soulbound Allegiances that I had received in drops.

Here's my question:

I have a Fire/Kin, Earth/Therm and Illusion/kin at 50 on the server I have the drops on.

I have the Damge and Damage/Recharge I think. Those two would give me a 16 percent increase in my regeneration.

Since I use the generic IOs in my pets right now, would I suffer a loss in damage if I slotted them in my pets?

Also, which Controller would you be prone to using them on?

I would create a separate fraction of the Lost to scale up to 50. Personally I find them visually more interesting than most of the other enemies we face (though the Redesigned Ritki are definitely an improvement over the old ones).

If I had my druthers, I'd create a branch of Rogue Lost who have no interest in joining the Rikti or returning to humanity ... they want to carve out their own path to power.

If there is ever a resolution to the Earth-Rikti War, I could see that happening. From what I've read, the Traditionalists look down upon converted Lost and will require them to undergo a series of steps that might last decades before they are considered "true" Rikti, so if the Traditionalists win the Lost may find themselves unwilling to go through the process to become full Rikti .. or to return to human form.

If he had been born anywhere but the Rogue Isles, Antonio would have had a great future. He was very intelligent—not so brilliant as to find himself conscripted into Arachnos—but far smarter than the average scion of a Family leader. He was too weak willed to lead, but too valuable to be allowed to leave.

Father found him, guided him, and protected him. He did not do this out of the goodness of his heart, you understand; he did it because he saw the potential value of Antonio’s skills.

Antonio was a genius with computers. In those days, even the finest machines that Arachnos had were not nearly as impressive as the machines that children play with today. The Family’s assets were even less so.

For the most part, they did not mind that. Then, as now, the Family was led by old men. They saw little reason to change how they kept track of their ill-gotten gains. They liked the ability to see their results on paper …

Father—as always—was different.

He hired Antonio to transfer his records into a digital format. To his superiors, he said this would allow a more accurate view of his assignments, give them immediate access to his results. They permitted this, laughing to themselves over how Father was denying himself the opportunity to skim his profits as he would leave the books open and clear to them …

What none of them realized was that Antonio created TWO data bases. The one Father showed them—and the one he kept for himself.

Knowing Father as I did, I immediately suspected this was the case

Father went out of his way to be kind to Antonio. He protected him from bullying and harassment. He offered him respect and comfort. He made sure that Antonio had no reason to ever turn against him …

He made just one mistake.

Antonio was a man.

In spite of the suspicions about me that my confrontation with Nocturne had fostered, Father did not—could not—think of me as someone capable of moving against him. He did not imagine I had the intelligence to be anything other than a tool. Perhaps if I had been a son he would have respected me more and trusted me less, but …

Antonio was a young man who had known little female interest in his life. To be sure, he was not as naïve as you might have expected—one does not grow up in the Family without learning to suspect the motives of those around you—but he was not experienced in the ways of women.

I was young and beautiful, and I had a great need for the freedom that Antonio’s help would give me.

He could not resist me.

I played him as expertly as Nocturne had ever played a piano. I came to him in tears, one day—with ugly bruises on my wrist and a tale of woe that he forced from my reluctant lips. When he swore that he would protect me, I begged him not to put himself at risk, and thanked him for his bravery with a kiss.

One kiss led to another …

Jezebel would have been proud of me. I had finally learned the art of projecting a love that I did not feel.

I had to be patient—one false move and my whole game would have been discovered—but I knew that I could not afford to fail.

Within a week’s time, he was mine.

Within two weeks, he had given me copies of all the information that my Father would not want anyone else to see. A certain amount of graft was tolerated, but no one who stole that much from the Family would be allowed to lead—or live—for long.

With that information, I told Antonio, we could do anything. Go anywhere. Father would pay us anything. He would let us go to start a new life …

He was so happy when he handed the records to me. His eyes were so full of love and hope. He took me in his arms and asked me if he had made me happy …

I smiled and told him yes.

And then I killed him with a kiss.

Time was both my enemy and my ally now.

At 18, I would no longer be considered my father’s chattel. I could walk into the Arachnos Recruiting Center and nothing my father said or did would be able to prevent that. Until then …

Until then, my father had absolute legal control of my welfare. He could imprison me, beat me, or even have me maimed—and there would be no legal recourse that I could take.

The strong thrive, the weak perish …

I thought about running away—if I managed to stay free of Father until I turned 18 then I would be free forever—but the danger in that was that not just my father would be after me then. The Family would not countenance such a rebellion from a daughter—if I had been a male they would have applauded my independence, but that a girl should resist her father’s decrees—THAT could not be tolerated.

Not even my father’s death would help me now. If he died, I would become just another part of his estate to be used as the Family deemed fit. As you may imagine, such a fate would not fit into my plans …

No, I needed Father alive. I needed him alive, and I needed his blessing to do what I wished—or at least I needed his forbearance.

It would not be easy.

He was not a stupid man—I considered myself intelligent, but I knew that he was no fool and that outwitting him in the time that I had would be all but impossible. I could hardly expect to appeal to his fatherly love …

I could not kill him. I could not outthink him. I could not charm him.

That left blackmail.

Father had never taken me into his confidence, but I knew that he had secrets that he would prefer be kept. Secrets that would raise the ire of the Family against him—secrets that could, if revealed, lead to his undoing.

My freedom—perhaps my very life—lay in the acquisition of those secrets.

And I would have them.

There was no other way. If I were to be free—if my life was ever to belong to me—then I would have to learn those things that Father did not want to be known.

Fortunately for me, Father had thoughtfully trained me in all the arts that I would need to do this thing.

All I needed was an opening …

And his name was Antonio …

... though guys can chime in too. ;-)

I have this ... friend. Let's call him "CK."

Now "CK" likes this girl he knows, but he can't seem to make the leap from LJBFs to potential romantic interest. She just doesn't seem him as a guy she would date ...


Well, okay. She just sees him as a couple of eyes and a brain floating in lime jello on top of a big rusty metal chassis, but ...

He's tried all the usual things to impress a girl ... shower her with gifts-- how many other girls do you know in Paragon who have wind up guardians?!-- try to help out her Dad by lending aid to some heroes-- prove his devotion by leading an army of his faithful minions to rescue her from the Rikti ...

But she just don't seem interested...

So what do you think, ladies? Is "CK" stuck forever in the friends' zone or is there any way he can change her mind about him ... short of mental coercion or altering time with a Psychronometron?

Valentine's Day is fast approaching! "CK" could use some new ideas!

Hi, Melissa! Congratulations on the job title ... and condolences on all the headaches that are probably going to come up with it.



1. Is there any chance that we might see some retooling done on the earlier contacts in the game? Since the Hollows Revamp, I tend to do Hollows (after getting jetpack), Faultline, Strigia, Croatia, RWZ for my blueside toons.

The earlier content, is, on the whole, not so good. You've got Contacts with differeing backgrounds giving out the same Arcs-- some of which have nothing to do with their background. (I'm thinking in particular of the Reporter with a huge lab complex who gives out one of the Clockwork Arcs in Skyway and a mysterious immortal amoral lady in IP giving out a Sky Raider arc.)

COX has a hugely loyal fanbase-- which is apparently atypical of MMOs-- but if we're hoping to get new players from the the Going Rogue Expansion, shouldn't the earlier content get a revamp as well as the Praetorian Zone?

Personally, I'd like to see some of the NPCs-- especially the earlier ones-- get a revamped look. Have a statue or poster of Rick Davies as Horatio in his office and give him some obvious cybernetics to indicate why he had to retire from heroing. Give the Magi Contact in Galaxy a trenchcoat and Constantine him up a little ...

Someone hit Angus McQueen with the Lost cure, already!


2. I really like how we see Jim Tremblor assume the mantle of Faultline in RWZ and we meet Fusionette there again as well. (Oh, and the mistelled dialogue between them in one arc is GOLD!) Is there any chance we might see a followup on other characters as well? Flower Knight appears chatting to a Mender so she obviously hits 25 at some point! ... any chance we might see her again in another arc or maybe get a followup to the Clockwork King/Penelope Yin storyline?

I was originally going to make a Mind/Psi myself, but then I switched to Mind/Elec because with all the Psi resistance Redside in the Arachnos troops I didn't want to limit myself to one type of damage.

(And also when I rolled my Mind Dom power customization hadn't hit yet and the combination of mind control/red lightning reminded me of a Sith from Star Wars. )

Ideally, someday, I'd like to take her along and run on the ITF and Lord Recluse SF.

She's done well so far, though I may need to change my settings somewhat as she's been dying a fair amount lately. She's level 27.

Debating on Build Up or Levitate for Level 28 power.

Nocturne would never perform again. Her larynx had been permanently damaged by my blow to her throat. Her fingers would never again possess the dexterity to play the piano.

Perhaps if events in the larger world had turned out differently I would have paid a terrible price for the maiming of the Red Widow’s favorite pupil. But she barely had time to learn of Nocturne’s misfortunes before she became another casualty in the eternal battle between Statesman and Lord Recluse. The warring Incarnates had literally brought a mountain down on themselves—and Red Widow.

Lord Recluse’s rage was terrible. He came very close to marshalling all the forces of the Rogue Isles for an all out attack on Paragon City. It is said that only when every Arbiter pleaded with him to desist did he forbear. To attack Paragon City at the height of its power would have been an act of suicide for Arachnos …

Instead of vengeance, he held a public funeral for her and declared a national day of mourning. The wealthiest and powerful citizens were expected to come and pay their respects to the woman who was responsible for Recluse’s rise to power. At this time, my father stood high enough in the Family to be designated as their representative at the gathering.

As you may know, religion is frowned upon in Lord Recluse’s domain. Those who spoke at Red Widow’s funeral did not speak of the afterlife they believed awaited her. They spoke of her service to Arachnos. They praised her skill, her strength, her loyalty to Lord Recluse and the organization he led.

Lord Recluse was the last to speak. I have to admit that I could not take my eyes off him. I wondered what this man would say about the woman who had paved the way for his ascent. I wondered if he would profess love for her …

“The strong thrive,” he said softly. “The weak perish. That is as it should be. Red Widow—“ he paused for a moment, and glanced at the girl who sat beside him, all clad in black except for the red spider pendant she wore … Nocturne. “Red Widow was strong, but she was not strong enough. The enemies of Arachnos will ever seek to destroy us. To destroy our destiny.

“Be strong. Thrive. Or perish. Arachnos has no use for weaklings.”

Nocturne reached out a hand for Recluse, but he turned aside from her. “Thrive or perish, Nocturne. Prove yourself your mother’s daughter. Now go.”

She got up slowly, and walked away from him. She passed close enough by me for me to see the new prosthetic that had replaced the eye that I had taken. She stopped when she came to me.

I nodded solemnly at her.

“You,” she whispered.

I said nothing.

She clenched her maimed fingers into fists. “There will be another time.”

“I expect there will be.”

“The weak perish, girl. Remember that.”

I nodded, and watched her leave behind the life of wealth and comfort that Red Widow had given her. From this day forward, she was nothing more to Recluse than another cog in the great Arachnos machine.

“Belladonna,” my father said softly. “After this is over, we will talk.”

You know, when you read the background, he's starting to get a bit more shades of grey in his persona...

Since the first bits of information we've received on GR, I've had the thought come to my mind more than once:

What if Tyrant is right?

"Free will" always sound like a thing worth fighting for to those of us who live in afluent societies, but ask a starving mother in some a wartorn country where she can't provide food or safe water for her children to drink what she'd be willing to give up to make their lives a better place and I suspect the answer might be quite different ...

Kind of makes me wonder who will be the real heroes in GR ...

My hunch is that it's not that major a source of income or they wouldn't have been able to make it free for as long as they had. They may like us, but they're not crazy ...