Session 9 - 3/15/10 - 6:00PM to 8:00PM

The last of the snow is melting and we reach that magical time of the year where all the garbage and dirt collected by the plows is revealed under the melting black piles.

Command and Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight is supposed to be released tomorrow. I've played the C&C series since the original and I'll be honest: it's become repetitive to the point that I'm not sure if I'll get C&C 4. I like the updated graphics, vehicles, missions, etc, but it's still the same "build an army, destroy the enemy's" game. I'll check out gameplay videos and whatnot before I make a final decision though.

The screenshot archive can be found at:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pastorek/RFG/Session 9/

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I'm 4 guerrilla missions away from 50, which will likely lead to another unlocked weapon. I'll do those first.
The first mission was a raid on an EDF building that quickly devolved into guerrillas on the ground using conventional rifles to fire at gunships. I used my rocket launcher. As I was leaving, a random pedestrian said, "Your wanted poster doesn't do you justice."
The second mission was announced over the radio. A fuel depot is being absorbed by the EDF and we're supposed to fight them off. This is the same fuel depot I died at last time. I'll be sure to stay clear of the fueling pumps this time.
The third mission is demolition with a mech. The first time I tried it I ran out of time because I didn't destroy everything, but the only things left to "destroy" were overhangs that were too high for the mech to reach. The second time there were still some things standing when I apparently finished the mission. Very strange.
The fourth mission is with Jenkins. During the entire run he was talking really calmly and solemnly, except for when I was destroying stuff and his witty retorts would pop up. At the end, the last thing he said was something like "For Mars to be free, the Red Faction has to die."
Apparently one of the missions I completed didn't count as a guerrilla action. It was probably the demolition one. I'll find another mission to complete.

I'll rescue some hostages. As soon as I started opening fire, a horde of guerrilas joined in. Surprisingly, the guerrillas actually killed all the EDF soldiers while I went inside to rescue the hostages. My only opposition was a couple transports that showed up while I was escaping.
50 guerrilla actions completed, but no milestone. A brief search on google doesn't turn up anything about specific milestones, so I don't know what to say. At the very least morale is at 100 and there are only a few things non-story missions left in Eos. I'll go destroy the rest of the bridge I began to bring down during Jenkins' run.

I destroyed one of these monuments during the first raid mission. This is the second out of three I'll eventually destroy. The monument site lit up as soon as I fired the first rocket and I left it a body-strewn war zone behind me. So much fuss over a bit of concrete and steel...
Hmm. The bridge has been repaired. Also, the APC's cannon isn't doing any damage to the structural supports. Nano rifle time.
While I'm here I'll buy the heat-seeking rockets upgrade. I've had to fire rockets at gunships quite frequently and this'll help out a lot.
The nano rifle made quick work of destroying the bridge and the EDF's control of this sector is at 11. One more guerrilla mission and I'll start doing story missions.
The first mission is to kill a number of business leaders who happen to be gathering in a nearby building for a meeting. If it appears that the "insurgency" can't be contained, they'll pull back their support for the EDF, which will cause the EDF to lose even more of their grip on Mars. The briefing suggests this will be a massacre. When I arrived at the building I was surprised to find that it wasn't even a fully-built structure. You can clearly see the steel endoskeleton poking out of the top and there are no windows or exterior details. What kind of dumbass meeting is, or was, this? Now I'm curious; was this a setup?
Now I know what you're thinking. Did I fire six rockets or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. The heat-seeking capabilities definitely helped guide some of the rockets around the building's debris to their targets. I can't believe this is still drivable after being nearly point blank by one of the rockets.
The next story mission is to eliminate some EDF snipers who are keeping the nearby citizens under (lethal) lockdown.
My M.O. in the close quarters of the buildings was to use the sledgehammer to kill the soldiers as I passed by them, but I accidentally hit an ammo crate and the crate exploded, taking out about 40% of the building.
I took one of the sniper's rifles. I like using an enemy's weapons against themselves.
Who says I have to snipe with a sniper rifle?
Mission complete. Only one more and Eos is liberated. This final mission involves me leading a multi-sector assault into the Eos sector. The Commander said that either the EDF will accept peace on our terms or continue fighting a war they can't afford.
One thing I've noticed with vehicles in video games is that I've yet to play one that takes into account the wind resistance that keeps car doors shut. Seeing the door on this EDF transport stuck wide open hurts the realism of the game slightly.
All of the sudden the Commander aborted the mission on the grounds that we were under attack. I'm given 3 minutes to make it to a Red Faction camp.
I might be too late. "The Commander is dead. I repeat; the Commander is dead." One of the last bits of radio chatter I heard was a guerrilla warning the others about incoming EDF bombers.
Now that I've found Sam, we're in the center of an ambush. The nearby mountains provide us some protection and bottleneck the approaching soldiers, but it'll still be a tough fight. The nearby cover are the modular shacks scattered around the area, but they're quickly being leveled by gunship fire and singularity bombs. I didn't get a picture of it, but apparently a singularity bomb is a device that creates a miniature black hole. Assuming it's lethal, I didn't get close enough to take a picture of one in action.
All of the nearby guerrillas died except for Sam and I. A cinematic cutscene showed the Sam and Alec debating about what they should do now that the Commander is dead and the Red Faction is somewhat scattered. Alec mentioned the nano forge, and Sam suggests that it can be used to take down the Hydra, the EDF flagship heading towards Mars and bringing Hell with it. Sam said we need the help of the Marauders, and Alec immediately questioned her mental health. Sam revealed that she is, in fact, a Marauder and that they'll listen to her. This explains her sadness when I first found the nano forge. Apparently the Marauders have a mass driver that can be used to fire the nano forge's ammunition at the Hydra.

My mission now is to gather bits of scrap to be used as radiation shielding so that I can cross the Irradiated Zone. I have 1131 salvage saved up and it only costs 150, so I'll buy it right away. With the shielding in place, I'll head into the zone next week.