Ask Steve about Group S, ask him about your importance in all this, and browse his wares.

AND ASK ABOUT THE MOLE.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 9 2011, 11:49 pm by lil-Inferno.

Ask Steve about the mole they had in Heart of Darkness. The e-mail printout probably refers to him.

Steve might be the agent sent to sort stuff out - he arrived as the same time as you and he is well-trained...

I think it's implied that he IS the agent.

Just a taste of things to come (maybe some of the weapons you'll be allowed to choose from):


FN Five-Seven


MP5-K


VSS Vintorez

There might be large battles ahead, for which I think the present system will be clunky. So, I'm thinking of a sort of fighting system.

Take the sniper with the 57 as sidearm.

You fold up the email conversation and slip it back into your pocket, thinking about what you've just read. Perhaps it raises more questions than it answers, but the emails at least told you something. Heart of Darkness are aware of Sean's activities and believe he has crossed a line in his eagerness to unlock the secrets of the temple. Either that or they take offence to his arrogance - one of the two. The idea that some sort of agent is probably in the country and trying to track Sean down worries you a little, but at least in the emails the Heart of Darkness guy seemed concerned for the welfare of the MOA volunteers. You don't feel under immediate threat.

You ask Steve about Group S, but he says he has no idea who or what Group S is. He guesses that it is probably some kind of combat group that Heart of Darkness has on standby in the region. Because the loyalty of their employees in Ebianova seems to have switched to Sean personally, Steve reckons that the organisation would feel safer with some kind of heavy backup.

"Why am I so important?" you ask.
"If Sean thought you were important enough to keep alive then you're important to the US Government."

You think about that for a moment. Maybe it's your knowledge of Mesoamerica. Probably.

"Who was the US mole, Steve?"
"His codename was Lizard. I don't know him personally - the government sent me out here when he failed to report in. If Sean has got his hands on him then I suspect the worst, I'll be honest with you. My other objective is to shut down whatever Heart of Darkness are doing here."
"Ok, so you don't know that much right now. What happens when we get to the rainforest?"

Steve grins. "We'll be kitting you out with some nice gear. The crates in the back, if I've done my research right, should contain a shipment of weapons. Probably a mixture of ex-Soviet bloc stuff and typical mercenary weapons - FN FALs, H&K G3s etc. However I've got a choice of three of my own weapons - I'm going to need to keep two of them because... well, I'm trained in using them so they'd be better off with me. I'm not going to let you walk into danger without a gun though."

"What weapons can you offer me then?"
"Right, well I've got an FN Five-Seven - an excellent sidearm. Accurate, reliable and powerful with a 20 round magazine. I also have an H&K MP5-K - easy to conceal. I shot the driver with that one. My personal favourite is my VSS Vintorez though. A silenced sniper rifle. Take your pick."

I think we should take the MP5... we haven't exactly shown ourselves to be masters of stealth so far.

MP5 since we can conceal it easily. Since the sniper's his favorite he's probably best off using it and can give us cover fire or silently take out targets. This also leaves him a sidearm.

I want update.

I was gonna say the same thing .

Okay, when we can't get 2 weapons, take the MP5. Since this weapon is modular covert it to MP5SD with a 30-shot magazine please.

This is now my third attempt at a story post. Hopefully I won't lose this one.
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You choose the MP5. Steve tells you that he'll unload it from his case along with 4x 30 round magazines once you're in the forest. You can see it getting larger and larger as you drive closer to its outskirts. Ahead on the road you can see a cluster of low buildings - this must be the checkpoint. Steve parks the truck in front of the barriers as several armed men dressed in olive drab tank-tops, tracksuits and red bandanas emerge from the buildings.

"I don't like this" says Steve. "They look like anti-government rebels. But - that doesn't mean that we're going to have trouble necessarily. Let me do the talking."

You sit in your seat trying to look relaxed as Steve leans casually out of the cab window, one hand on the FN pistol. The leader of the armed men comes forward and challenges Steve. Steve shrugs his shoulders and looks apologetic, then engages the man in conversation. You can make out a few of the words - "government", "weapons", "temple", "treasure", "mercenaries", "America" - and you notice the conversation becomes friendly.

Steve tells you to wait in the cab while he shows the rebels to the back of the truck. You hear the sound of boots tramping around in the cargo compartment, crates being opened and eager voices. Steve returns, grinning. He is supporting Jess on one arm and Sandra on the other.

Sandra greets you groggily. "Hi Tom. I guess I'm not dead then."
"I know right? Steve - what did you do?"
Steve looks as though he just passed some very satisfying gas.
"I offered them the crates of weapons in the back and a share of the spoils from the mercenary camp at the temple. I told a bit of a white lie - said the guys there are in league with the government. I mean, I guess they are in a way so I'm sure the rebels won't mind. At least they're getting a load of loot. Anyway - they've decided to join us in the assault on the temple compound."
"How far away is that?"
"Another hour along the forest road. We'll stop a way away from there and go on by foot."
"Will you two be up to this?" you ask Sandra and Jess doubtfully. They don't too good.
"Of course we will!" says Sandra. "Steve said we should feel fine in another half hour."

You can't help but notice that the cab is going to be very cramped with four of you sharing three seats. Jess surprises you by asking if you don't mind if she sits in your lap.
"No, I'll sit in YOUR lap!" you blurt out, unable to help yourself.
"Oh for goodness sake, Tom!" Sandra shakes her head and Steve laughs.

The barrier raises, Steve guns the engine and the four of you plus five rebel soldiers drive off into the gloomy rainforest...
-----------------
To be continued.
-----------------
Meanwhile...
-----------------
A small helicopter lands in the square behind the burned-out wreck of a townhouse in San Fernando. Undeterred by the clouds of dust thrown up by the rotor downwash, a woman in dark combat fatigues steps out and examines the carnage with the detachment of a forensic investigator. Taking off her reflective aviators, she bends down to look at the tire tracks leading from the site of the explosion. One truck and one motorcycle, she concludes, and the motorcycle was abandoned for a while before taking off in the same direction as the truck.

She steps through the wreckage, stopping to look at items of interest. Finally she comes to the broken and charred remains of a bed, a blackened and rotten corpse still partially chained to the frame. Noting what seems to be the absence of a heart, she takes out a small radio and speaks into it before putting it away again.

There is a sudden movement among the rubble. With lightning speed she draws her suppressed pistol from its holster and points it at the man who emerges from behind jagged section of wall. His clothes are a little dirtied but otherwise he appears to be fine. It's the shaven-headed guy from the hotel reception.

"You're the agent HOD sent?" he asks.
The woman nods and inclines her head towards the helicopter. A symbol of an eagle surrounded by lightning, and the words "HOD Corporation", are emblazoned on the side.
"So, what are you going to do now?"
A look flashes across the woman's eyes. Maybe pity, or compassion.
"You're Jason, aren't you?" she asks. "The one who blew the whistle on Sean."
"Yes."
"I've seen enough. Using the powers invested in me by the Council I have decided to carry out the liquidation of our project in Ebianova."
She fires one shot from the pistol. It enters Jason's forehead and blows out through the back of his head. He bears a fixed look of resignation on his face as he collapses in a pool of blood.

The helicopter takes off and heads north, towards the rainforest.
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Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 21 2011, 7:57 am by CaptainWill.

http://www.staredit.net/284138/

Lol.

Let Jess sit on your lap and say you were just kidding.

Ask Sandra to sit on your lap.

Btw. I wanted to ask this for a while but always forgot: Does HOD have something to do with Far Cry 2?

It probably has something to do with the book and Apocalypse Now. We have a mystic, tough and insane rebel (Sian/Kurtz) and our hero who explores the darkness in his heart. Oooohhhh.... dramatic! xD

If only it was that deep I haven't read Joseph Conrad or seen the film, but you're right that there are parallels. I don't know if a text adventure is a grand enough stage for exploring the duality of human nature, although the players have been doing a good job with the main character, who seems to have a bit of a "heart of darkness" in himself because of his inconsistent actions.

As for my ideas about HOD... Nude correctly guessed that there's some influence from Far Cry 2, but only in the setting and the cosmetic details. One thing that FC2 did right was the scenery and environment. Of course it messed that up with its poor story, shoddy AI and lack of modding tools (using FC2's setting, modders could have done great things). But yeah, you should imagine the khaki-dressed HOD mercenaries to look like the white mercenaries in FC2.

I think that's where the comparison ends though. I imagine HOD as a multinational organisation with lots of legitimate business operations which it uses to fund its own private army and its mysterious goals. Sean, through his charisma or whatever, has subverted a section of their army for his own purposes which may or may not be at odds with HOD's own. However, they don't like the initiative being taken from them and they fear Sean will unlock the secrets of the temple on his own. They'd rather destroy the operation completely and restart it further down the line than risk losing everything now.

Can I get a tl,dr; version of whats going on right now? I'm sorry...I was sick for a few days and now I'm a bit lost.