Choose my Adventure: Taking sides

I'm personally very excited about what's in store for us in this week's Choose my Adventure: Fallen Earth. With the last two months building up to this point, we're finally looking a faction decision right in the eye, and ready to leave Sector 1 behind us.

Of course, before we do that, we have a tale to tell of the previous week's adventure in the Missile Silo and even the New Toro powerstation, just north of Trumbull. Sound like fun? Then follow along after the jump for the complete in-character journal, my impressions for the week and the long-awaited faction poll.

As we close in on the Northfields, my experiences with LifeNet get more and more confusing. When I began this expedition, I (and the other clones with me) believed that we would seek out the alpha clone, extract a little DNA and be done with it. Of course we never believed it would be easy, but we also never believed it would be this intricate and confusing.

I'm here today writing this because I did find a strain of the alpha clone's DNA, but it wasn't enough. I know, I know. I was excited to finally get my hands on that sample, only to find out that it's merely a piece of the alpha DNA puzzle. But before I explain that, I need to fill you in on the week's happenings.

We took a bit of a detour into a missile silo just northeast of Watchtower. The place was crawling with CoGs, and while we weren't exactly sure how it tied into our search for the alpha DNA, it was a nice distraction from that daunting main goal. The CoGs are just another of those groups of crazies who worship some sort of division of lost technology, so we figured they might at least give us some clues or more information on LifeNet's plans.

A few Enforcers near the silo had a vested interested in clearing out those CoGs, so we agreed to help. While I'm still not so sure I agree with everything that the Enforcers stand for, I can get behind the rewards they offer when they don't want to get their hands dirty.

We continued north after clearing the silo, discovering a quaint little town by the name of Trailer Park, made up of old semi tractor trailers from before the Fall — not single-wides and RVs. The residents of Trailer Park seemed particularly jittery when asked about a local LifeNet facility. They would mumble something about Hoffa Bunker and quickly walk away. So I upped the ante a bit and began to directly ask about Hoffa Bunker, which ruffled a few feathers.

We were finally pointed in the direction of this Hoffa Bunker by a man named Billy Bob Swayhill. He described the place as an underground facility that was originally created by GlobalTech to protect rich corporate executives in the event of the world's collapse. Apparently, that didn't work out so well for them.

We followed Swayhill's directions and entered a small door built into the side of a hill. The place was absolutely crawling with muties, but we made our way in to search for the LifeNet console he told us about. A familiar voice boomed over the intercom as we reach the console. It was Elena Winters, but she seemed very disoriented. We ran from console to console, salvaging parts to repair the main one. The whole time, Elena talked us through the procedure, guiding my inexperienced hands along the wires and circuit boards until it was repaired and she could communicate with us more clearly.

And then she said the darndest thing to me... She said that she actually believes she might be LifeNet. I really wished she'd elaborated more on that, but we were in a hurry, and those mutants were not going away any time soon.

Once we cleared a safe path and were able to stop to breathe a bit, I asked Elena what she meant before. Her theory is that she was the "first" of her kind, and the process became flawed somehow after that. She also believes there are other like her, without any flaws, which she calls "Shards". These Shards are essentially active, human versions of LifeNet. How scary is that?

She then pointed me northwest, to a town named Trumbull, where we could find even more information on the alpha clone. It seems that in our quest to head blindly north, we were just about to hit an especially nasty part of the wasteland known as Murder Hole. Elena advised us to steer clear of that place, and continue our journey at the LifeNet facility just north of Trumbull.

Once we arrived, there were even more of these Elena-possessed consoles talking to us. I don't really understand how she can be "in" these things, all over the Plateau, but she is. Is she right about actually being LifeNet? I'm not really sure at this point, but just wait, it gets even weirder.

In the lowest levels of the Trumbull LifeNet facility, I met another clone of Graham. Remember Graham, from Rest Stop? That happy-go-lucky clone whom we helped with his little broken clone generator problem? This one claimed to be number 846, which leads me to believe there are probably thousands of these guys out there. Why would GlobalTech make so many clones of one person? That's what I don't understand. And why would this one know his exact number? Anyway, Graham 846 advised us to head into the New Toro power station north of town to repair a few LifeNet consoles there. As aggravating as it is to be a glorified traveling repairman, I'm actually enjoying this. The experience is becoming valuable, and the satisfaction from getting things to actually work correctly is reward enough. I may have found my calling.

Once inside, we plowed through waves of mutants to finally reach the LifeNet console and a back-up DNA database which contained the alpha clone DNA I mentioned earlier. We were so excited to finally find what we thought was the end of our mission, and the key to our longevity, until we brought the samples back to Graham. He carefully explained that there are several parts to this DNA, and what we so painstakingly extracted from a hive of angry mutated creatures was just the beginning. Our journey will take us through much more of the Grand Canyon area, and possibly beyond, if we truly hope to save ourselves.

What really stuck in my mind after the conversation with Graham was how he also kept referring to himself as LifeNet. He almost seemed to do it accidentally, and then cover that up quickly. What's going on here?

So now that we're learning more and more about GlobalTech, LifeNet and these secrets that everyone seems to know but me, I look forward to what the Northfields have to offer. Graham and Elena both warn that it's a whole different world north of the canyons and the only way we're going to make it up there is to join with one of the six factions that control most of the northern lands. We've been exposed to these groups already, for the most part, and I have faint opinions about them all. I'm going to put some serious thought into who to join, but it won't be easy. Ultimately, I'll side with whoever can offer the most help in my journey.

This was one of our most productive weeks, I'd say. Mostly fueled by the excitement to pick a faction this week, we plowed through the Missile Silo, a few Trumbull quests and the New Toro power station during our two nights of group play together. I also fought through the Hoffa Bunker on an off-night and was able to gain two levels this week, bringing me up to 18 (and about 75% to 19, as of the time I'm writing this). The rest of the group is right around the same level, so we should be on target for entering Sector 2 with our faces still in tact.

The time we spent in the power station was also some of the most intense fun I've had in this game. At the end of the night, we were on our third or fourth run through the station, heading to the opposite end to turn in a quest. We were low on bullets and time, eager to turn in the final quest and get our reward.

We decided to make a run for it, instead of killing each and every mutant in our way. It worked out well on the way there, but on the way back, it almost got a little hairy. Running to the elevator, the four of us hopped on, turned around and began firing into the crowd of oncoming mutants before pressing the button to take us up at the last possible second. As we all commented afterwards, it was like an intense action movie at that point.

See, Fallen Earth is rarely instanced, and where any other game would have made that elevator a cut scene or a loading screen, this game keeps it as a real, working platform that actually takes your characters from one level to another. If it was a cutscene or a loading screen, we just wouldn't have felt the same about what turned into a pretty exciting finale.

So for this week's poll, we're finally able to choose our faction. As a bit of a note to those not familiar with how Fallen Earth's faction system works, it's based on the concept of a wheel, where each faction has it's opposite, based on the group's ideals and beliefs. These factions all have their own specific towns throughout Sector 2 and 3, offering varied quests with rewards unique to that faction, and each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Here's a brief explanation of each, with links to more details included:

Enforcers: All about order and discipline, the Enforcers are mostly made up of ex-military and law enforcement. They have strong militaristic beliefs and their biggest enemies are the CHOTA.

Lightbearers: Often called the "ninjas" of the apocalypse, Light Bearers strongly believe in the power of their society. They focus on martial arts and the power of healing through spiritual means. Their enemies are the Travelers.

Vistas: Nicknamed the "hippies", Vistas are all about nature, animals and the protection of Mother Earth. They are environmentalists at the core, but not necessarily against all technology and progress. Their enemies are the Techs.

CHOTA: Children of the Apocalypse are what you'd most closely associate with the raiders and punks of the wasteland. They believe in complete freedom, even if it means complete chaos. Their enemies are the Enforcers.

Travelers: The wheelers and dealers of Fallen Earth, this faction is usually known as a mafia of sorts. Their focus is on bargaining and haggling, with a bit of cement shoes thrown in for good measure. Their enemies are the Lightbearers.

Techs: Science and technology is the name of the game for Techs, as they aim to preserve whatever they can from before the fall. Their natural enemies (pun!) are the Vistas.%Poll-41764%

As we get our feet wet in Sector 2, we'll rendezvous at Sunshine Corners before heading into the chosen faction town. We'll meet up on Friday, February 19th at 9pm EST at waypoint X: 4543974 Y: 4991141, which is in the town's post office. Hope to see you all there!