Unlike the run-of-the-mill exiles who lurk in seedy bars or tony nightclubs, Grace stands proud and tall in the open, in Archer Square, of Furihata (-541, 1, -255).  It's a photogenic spot: a fountain gurgles at her back, and a gracefully whiplashing access node snaps in the breeze behind her.  The square itself has lovely trees and red brick pavements.  Catch this at sunset for a real treat.  The recent red-tinged skies add a reflective, somber tone; let's hope Sati's sabbatical lasts a little longer.

Speaking of things red, redpill Grace is all in dark, with corncob hair like Stanislava and a bandana like Ebola.  She does not stand alone.  Around her mill a swarm of bristling Silver Dragons, argent from head to foot.  They were not friendly to me, but ignored her.  Reading their details, I was surprised to note that this gang was composed not only of Exiles, but Zion-rejecting redpills!  This is unique for gangs, so far as I know.  Not only that, Grace herself is an Exile!  Like some members of the Dragons, she fell out with Zion, and subsequently partnered with the Dragons, eventually splitting with them as well.  She claims to have helped their leader Long (different, by the way, from the leader Ginjiro listed in the gang's details) set up his current network, and she wants a piece of it.  Her preoccupation could be from love, or could be from hate; who can tell the difference? 
 

1.  Hell hath No Fury

Grace seeks to penetrate the Silver Dragons organization through you.  You will achieve this through successfully completing a mission for them.  This task is to kill an enemy of theirs, one Arabis.  This is easily done, and you are soon accepted into the Silver Dragons organization.  You have, in effect, been blooded.  At the end you discover that Arabis was a well-known software security engineer, who specialized in the detection of malicious software.  This was one nice touch- when resisting me he used hacker attacks.    The Silver Dragons, as we shall see, have a pronounced sense of humor; my Dragons contact initially gave me a folder with the identity of my target, and I saw my own name!  She got a good laugh out of this, and soon directed me to a nearby computer which held the information I needed.    This was an interesting feature- Exiles with a sense of humor.

2.  Inside the Action

This seems simple.  Pick up a disk, take it to an exile with information Grace desired.  The site for the pickup was a Zionist extraction point, a nice nod to Grace's background.  Several redpills there, allied with Grace, shared misgivings with each other about the wisdom of this project.  I felt reassured.  Then I went to drop off the information with one Zyskin, a blood-drinker-looking sort of guy with four or five burly bodyguards.  Prast, one of Grace's staff, was there to help.  After I dropped off the information and prepared to leave, she revealed she was a captive now, and appealed to me for help.  I did, and soon all lay waste around me.  With this part of the mish screwed, I was told to drop off Prast, and took her to a safehouse.  "Safe" house might not be the right word for it though, since the folks there started speculating on the terrible things Grace had in mind for those who screwed up missions...."Hah!  I heard that she's going to make her clean her hovercraft with a toothbrush", and "Hah!  She's in for a world of hurt, that's for sure!"   I bid Prast a fond farewell, put her out of my mind, pocketed my consultant's fee, and was on my way.
 

3.  Second Time Around

After intervening to rescue Prast last time, there seems to be some uncertainty in the Dragons about where my loyalties lie.  In this mission, I kill an enemy gang leader, making sure to leave a witness so the word gets around.  This proved easier than I thought; even my operator commented that maybe this guy just sucked.  Grace tells us that this gambit seems to have worked and my star with the Silver Dragons is on the rise.
 

4.  Dark Side

This mission is billed as an effort to "delve deeper into the Silver Dragons' network".  It involves having me "distribute and maintain network connections for the Silver Dragons secret network".  Sounds like a good deal, but it translates into helpdesk work!  This has two parts.  In the first one, all you have to do is mix around parts from each of three computers to re-establish their network connectivity.  There are two "perimeter monitor devices" and one "computer parts".  The Silver Dragons may know a lot about networking, but when it comes to networks, they're hopeless!  Perhaps they disdain such "mere hardware" issues and leave them as an exercise for others.

In the second part, I swing by another Silver Dragons site, and as I started to examine the ailing hardware, the elite guards and pale blood-drinker there all attacked me!  They're Black Moons, and held me responsible for killing their leader las time!  Eventually I put them down, and went back to my original mission, checking their computer.  Its message was a dull, blinking "connection missing".  You can say that again!

I was puzzled, to say the least.  So was Grace, who rambled disjointedly as she counted out my consulting fee.  She looked confused and said, "I didn't think any of the Black Moon gang  would find you.  We'll have to be more careful in the future.  But I don't know what the Silver Dragons will think of all this".  We will find out soon enough!
 

5.  Password:  Dragon

It seems that I have been promoted again, at least this is what Grace tells me.  On the strength of this, she sends me to obtain a password from Long, which will give her access to their system.  Simple enough, and builds on the goals she shared in the very first mission.

When I went to meet the Dragons, I talked to the ones there.  One said, "You're here for the password?  Ah, good!" and started laughing and laughing.  And did not stop.  This gave me cause for concern...  Sure enough, Long springs his trap as soon as I talk to him, and a long fight ensues.  At its conclusion, they are all dead, and Grace is furious:  "Grr!  Tricked me again!  I'll show him!  Someday, somehow, I will get my revenge!"  Classic!  At the end she gave me some level-50 clothes as a consolation prize, so it could have been worse.  However, it could also have been better.  Frankly, considering the loss of resources across these five missions, one might think that Long came off much the worse for wear.  But Grace has a new reason for the anger and jealousy which propel her.  As if she needs one!
 

Conclusion:  I like a suite of mishes with character, and we certainly have that here, with an ex-Zionist handing them out.  Mysteries abound.  Who supports her logistically?  What draws people to her side?   How does she always seem to know what the Dragons are thinking and what there are concerned about with me?  Does she have other sources in place already, perhaps?  Despite this. She does not seem to be a good judge of character; misjudging the intentions in missions repeatedly, with the result that I walked into traps more than I expected.  And as we see the Silver Dragons play her for a fool all along.  How could she ever have reached her present station in life?  All mysteries worth exploration.  Why did the Dragons need her help, when no other gangs seems to have?  Who leads them: Long or Ginjiro?  All questions remaining for future elucidation.      

I like the character of the Dragons, with their Chinese-style triad cloisteredness, and their odd sense of humor.  They all make these missions memorable.  And then loose ends offer promise for future missions and background exploration.  What's not to like?
 

Special thanks to Blazinwolf and Idalia who helped me with these.  I never would have been able to them so well or so pleasantly without them.

This review, and dozens of others, along with other writings relevant to MxO, may be found at manifoldmischief.blogspot.com.

I'll have to check these out: I just finished up the Seamstress's missions (for a project Austrian is running), which were a lot of fun and very well-thought out. Just make sure you've got help or a lot of health pills on the last one: the swarm of Exiles you'll have to cut through is enough to make a Reaper-class daemon program cry.

Who leads them: Long or Ginjiro? 

sugaree wrote:

Who leads them: Long or Ginjiro? 

    It's the same guy.  The leader of the Silver Dragons has gone through several name changes.  Originally he was named Long.  This name was mentioned in Tyndall's City Guide under the Furihata section (at the time, the neighborhood was called "Bishan";). 

   At one point he was renamed to "George", which is most likely a reference to George Burns and Gracie Allen.  I recall a time when the leader's name in the details of the Silver Dragons alternated between Long and George depending on which rank you checked.

   The leader's name was changed from George to Ginjiro quite some time ago, and I believe all references to Long/George were changed to Ginjiro in the gang's details throughout the ranks.  Sounds like they didn't change the name in Grace's missions, though.  Better report that.

Othinn1, thanks for the awesome clarification!  I'm very impressed!  It makes sense the way you describe it.

Sometimes I get the feeling that few people have worked their through all these mish suites, the way you obviously have.  It's a pity, since there's so much "content", depth, with, and imagination in these.

In Grace, for example, we have a former Zionist who has gone off on her own and successfully partnered with Exiles.  That takes resourcefulness.  And there must be a great story behind this as well.  I'd love to learn more, and see even more depth added.

Thanks to all for their comments!

Othinn1 wrote:

sugaree wrote:

Who leads them: Long or Ginjiro? 

    It's the same guy.  The leader of the Silver Dragons has gone through several name changes.  Originally he was named Long.  This name was mentioned in Tyndall's City Guide under the Furihata section (at the time, the neighborhood was called "Bishan". 

   At one point he was renamed to "George", which is most likely a reference to George Burns and Gracie Allen.  I recall a time when the leader's name in the details of the Silver Dragons alternated between Long and George depending on which rank you checked.

   The leader's name was changed from George to Ginjiro quite some time ago, and I believe all references to Long/George were changed to Ginjiro in the gang's details throughout the ranks.  Sounds like they didn't change the name in Grace's missions, though.  Better report that.

Hmmm, I thought they'd called him George after St. George, the legendary dragon slayer, but that seemed a little counter-intuitive. I like the George and Gracie angle, since I grew up watching reruns of the Burns and Allen TV show.

Othinn1, thanks for the awesome clarification!  I'm very impressed!  It makes sense the way you describe it.

Sometimes I get the feeling that few people have worked their through all these mish suites, the way you obviously have.  It's a pity, since there's so much "content", depth, with, and imagination in these.

In Grace, for example, we have a former Zionist who has gone off on her own and successfully partnered with Exiles.  That takes resourcefulness.  And there must be a great story behind this as well.  I'd love to learn more, and see even more depth added.

Thanks to all for their comments!

 

Othinn1, this gives me a great idea for another series after I run out of neighborhood contacts!  Something like "What's Going On With..." where I could take some under-appreciated feature of the game, like the Spectrum and the Elements, and explore it.  Could be really fun!

Othinn1, this gives me a great idea for another series after I run out of neighborhood contacts!  Something like "What's Going On With..." where I could take some under-appreciated feature of the game, like the Spectrum and the Elements, and explore it.  Could be really fun!