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Rubicon Volunteers - Sucking/Blasting Cherries
Posted By: Steve LevinsonDate: 8/11/02 11:12 a.m.

As with Wading in Vitriol and Drinking Vitriol, we will be discussing both the standard Salinger Plank level Sucking Cherries and the Pfhor Plank secret level Blasting Cherries at the same time. With only a couple of exceptions as will be noted below, the only difference between the two is in the number of monsters, making Blasting Cherries considerably more difficult, and the historical terminals that appear in Blasting Cherries, which will be discussed in a separate thread. These levels share a lot in common with other Salinger levels. We have seen that the Salinger is composed of a series of cylindrical modules as seen in the image at the left, and this level is also circular, with a couple of Chris’ famous spiral staircases to make us feel at home.

When we arrive, Durandal informs us that we’re not where we’re supposed to be. What a surprise:

This wasn't where I wanted you to end up. Not that I expected that teleport to go through flawlessly . . . The lack of a stable AI onboard doesn't make things any better.

Didn’t we have something to do with that?

Since you're here, you may as well have a look around. My sensors tell me that a lot of fighting is going on not too far away from your current location. Have fun.

Oh, I can assure you, we will. As you may recall from the Tar & Feather Club, just before we offed Lysander, he started up production of something, and Durandal quickly surmises what that was:

I have found out what sort of process Lysander started; the assembly of the new line of Autonomous Military Dangi Droids (AMDDs). I've already shut it down, but not before somewhere between 150 and 200 AMDDs were cranked out. You've already met some of them, I gather. . . Quit complaining. If the AMDDs had been beyond prototype and the mass assembly line had been completed, you'd be taking on a hundred times the number.

AMDD’s are the Dangi equivalent of simulacrums, but these are AR Bobs that are every bit as deadly as the Pfhor troopers. Speaking of which, there are troopers and hunters here as well. It seems that the Pfhor have nothing better to do than to attack the Salinger, but more on that later.

This is an extermination level – you cannot leave until you have cleared the level completely of all monsters. In fact, even if you are able to reach the final terminal and survive without clearing the level, you will be sent back to finish the job. And what a job it is – there are barriers to lower, AMDD’s, maser bobs, troopers and hunters to clear and obstacles to get around, all before you can reach a patter buffer – that is, unless you rocket jump up at the beginning. Durandal will give you some reassurance:

Hang in there - I believe the UESC is sending in some troopers to help you out. Mind whom you shoot though, they still aren't sure which side you're on.

As you’ll recall, in the final time line of Infinity – the one in which we save the universe – we were abducted by Tycho and served the Pfhor before turning on them in the end. It’s no wonder that UESC would be leery of us! There are some nice secrets here, but none more significant than the credits terminal, which can only be reached with a rocket jump. Unlike Wading in Vitriol, where the credits term appeared at the end, here it appears relatively early in the level, and reading it does not automatically lead to a secret level, but rather it opens an alternate exit at the end of the level. Once again, in the time-honored tradition of leaving it to the player to find and read them on their own, I’m not going to reprint the credits here. If, on the other hand, you read the same terminal in Blasting Cherries, you’ll read a little blurb on cold fusion, just as you did in Drinking Vitriol.

After clearing out the lower outer ring, you’ll ascend to the library, where you’ll be able to have some more fun with your friends and pick up some more ammo. You’ll then ascend another spiral staircase to reach the laboratory, taking out more friends along the way. You’ll eventually fight your way into a control room with a pattern buffer, a terminal and a 3X shield generator. Whenever you see a 3X regenerator, you know you’re in for trouble. Durandal does explain where the Pfhor have been coming from – not that his actions seem to make a difference in what you’ll soon face:

If you're curious about where the fresh Pfhor units are teleporting in from, I discovered a small scoutship that evaded my sensors earlier. It was concealed in the debris of the N'far'l. I'm taking care of the situation, right......now. I love being in charge.

Nearby is an elevator, but once you take it up, there’s no way to get back down short of finishing the level and being transported back to take care of unfinished business:

Don't relax quite yet. There are just a few more areas to clear out before I teleport you back to the Rozinante.

The only other way to get back down so that you can access that pattern buffer and shield regenerator is if you find another way to get up the elevator shaft without activating the elevator platform – but you didn’t hear that hint from me ;-) . What follows is similar to the onslaught faced in the final sequence in the Vitriol levels, but basically with no place to hide. To survive, you need to be fast and evasive, or to know how to get back down to that shield regenerator. Of course, you’ll ultimately persevere and be ready to read the final screen or, if you read the credits terminal, to enter a secret alcove and read an alternate, secret terminal that will take you to Drinking Vitriol. The normal exit, however, has exactly the same message that we faced at the end of Wading in Vitriol:

Leela would be proud of you. . . Then again, I can hardly blame her. . . I've tried to keep you busy, and Leela would've probably returned you to guard duty in some outerworld colony.

But then the messages diverge:

The Achilles virus was the pfhor empire's very last chance of winning the war. I've received word that the pfhor have surrendered in the hope of keeping at least their own system. This surrender must have taken place almost as soon as news of their failure here reached Pfhor Prime.

And then we return to the same ending seen in Wading:

No rest for the weary, however; you and I are needed far from this toppling empire. Ancient Sph't myth has long foretold the existence of a great tear connecting another reality to our own. I already know where our search will begin. See you in no time, old friend.

So, just as at then end of the Pfhor Plank, Durandal is going to put us in stasis and take us with him, and we’re going to explore a great tear into another reality. But the Jjaro haven’t finished with us just yet. As we drift into stasis, we’ll dream yet again in Hard Vacuum.



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