Outline for Crusader II

Shadowen

New member
Things that must happen:

The storyline must conclude.  This means that the WEC must surrender, be defeated, or crush the Resistance.

At least some of the mystery of the Captain must be revealed, which means delving into the origins of the Silencers.  I actually don't intend for the whole thing to be revealed; at one point he decides that what he is, now, is all that matters.  What he was probably doesn't exist in the slightest anymore.


Characters that should be included, and suggested arcs:

Silencer.  He should look inside and see whether he's still fighting for the same reason.  Is it vengeance, or has he truly adopted the cause?  Also, he should augment further, as little tweaks and tricks inside his body seeming to be coming awake...

Ely.  Promoted to general (major-general? with a really silly party?) and given command over Darkside Base.  Stays behind to manage the moon while others move onward.

Shepherd.  Promoted to full colonel and given command of the key strike team sent from the moon to Earth to join the task force Central is assembling to take out key WEC facilities, their goal eventually being Gauthier's headquarters.

Sekada.  Is instrumental in weaning the humanity off its Di-Cor addiction.  Learns to fight, but not well.

Brooks.  Kicks ass, takes names.  Joins the key strike team.  A brief fling with Shepherd?  Much tension (not romantic) with Silencer, whom she still has trouble seeing as more than a useful enemy.

A doctor.  Brilliant but mildly depressed, as many a surgeon working the losing side of a war would be.  Specialty: neurosurgery.  Aids Silencer in discovering just what his origins are and what was done to him.

A techhead.  Develops an energy sword that only Silencer can figure out how to use properly (the "blade" having no weight, it requires an intuitive grasp of weaponry), and gets excited in a very inappopriate way when she finds out she's going to be working on the Silencer's armor, even if it's just routine maintenance.

A Resistance propagandist, or as he prefers, a "gonzo journalist".  Has uncovered information-gathering and dissemination techniques and methodology long since forgotten.  "Imagine," he muses, "that when I tell people I'm investigating a matter, they think I'm scanning the press releases..."  Wants to kill Trisha Jenkins and Josh Starns.  Painfully.

Gauthier.  Shows his face, gets killed.

Leach.  Escapes.  Schemes.  Plots.  Fails.  Eaten by wild dogs?


More weapons!  Grenades, big guns, perhaps energy weapons with their own internal ammunition, guns that shoot through walls, and unarmed combat a la Oni.

That's all for now.  Might update or add posts later.
 
Sounds good!

I actually have a bunch of EA documents with their ideas for the Crusader games that were supposed to come out. I'll upload it sometime.
 
Please do.  I'll probably ignore or mock them relentlessly, as I do almost all of EA/Origin's actions since 1999.
 
The Main Subplot: The Silencers' Origin And Evolution

No, that's not poor grammar.  I mean to look at the origin and evolution of the Silencers, plural, not just the Silencer, our anti-hero.

Yes, anti-hero.  Because fighting though he is for the good guys, I'm quite willing to believe that most if not all players of the game killed civilians, at least when they were reaching for alarms.  The game's engine didn't allow for it, but a Silencer killing someone who is physically not a threat when a simple cold-cocking will do is overkill, and once the damage has been done it's vengeance.  In addition, the Silencer didn't join the Resistance because he believed the cause.  He joined because he wanted to kill WEC troopers.  Thus: anti-hero.  He does the right thing but not for the right reasons; and sometimes he does the wrong thing for the right reasons.

First, the discrepancy between what I had always thought was canon (a Crusader website, long since shut down, had said that those who scored within a very particular range on the tests all Citizen/Partners go through in adolescence are removed to a specialized training facility to become Silencers) and what appears in the game.  At least two generations of Silencers were created, not born, and at least one of those generations lived.  The Silencer was one of them.  At least, if Dr. Hoffman is to be trusted.  But that's a question for a Hoffman character study.

I think the discrepancy can be reconciled.  From what the game seems to indicate, the genetic construction of Silencers was a recent development.  Cloning these soldiers makes it easier; it would guarantee predictable respones to stimuli, as well as removing the need to wean them off those things that remind them of their family.  However, if it were so easy to do, there would likely be a lot more Silencers, and perhaps no need for any other type of trooper.

Yet the idea that people who meet the requirements to be the perfect killing machines, both physically and mentally, exist in large enough numbers to become an entire corps, is amusing at best, since it seems that space travel and the ability to survive in hostile environs (such as ANYWHERE NOT THE EARTH) is still limited, and Earth can only take so much.

So perhaps it's both.  Perhaps the first few generatiosn of Silencers were from a wider base of potential, and the deaths of those outside a particular range of potential expose the need to make more.  In order to maintain their numbers, or even make them grow, they continue to draw from the population in the same amount; this also relegates rumors of cloning to just that: rumors.  Meanwhile, using the genetics of the successful Silencers, they use gene therapy to augment those who would normally fall short.

From here come two ideas: First, why not use gene therapy on those who already meet the requirements?  Could the Silencers not constantly improve, rather than needing to reach a single benchmark?

The second: cloning.  Those who meet and surpass the requirements have proven themselves strong.  The genetic material of the absolute best of the Corps are taken and replicated.  But genetics are finicky things; in the first group, the "control group", mutations and other aberrations must be countered destroyed, even if they appear to be beneficial.  Wanking around with them is for the next group, the experiment...  Using the most advanced and expensive technologies available, this first batch is grown to adulthood and given false memories of "normal" life.  They are a resounding success.

Is the Silencer a member of the first group?

Does it matter?

The Silencer's response is a firm no.  Whatever he was as a Silencer, he's not that anymore.  By II/No Mercy, his conscience, though still stunted, is reasserting itself.  He has grown weary of vengeance, and for whatever reason, he feels that with Draygan's death he has avenged his companions' deaths, as well as the dead rebels of Echo Base.  (This sense of completion and the reason behind it is another subplot.)  And now he finds the idea of the Resistance in and of itself palatable, something to be fought for...but if the Resistance continues to use him as they have, is there any room for mercy?
 
Endings...

Apocalypse: The Resistance is desperate and is running out of options.  The WEC is spiteful and declares, "If we go down you're coming with us."  Maybe there's nukes flying every which-a-way.  In any case, civilization as people know it is shattered.  Offworld colonies, unless they have become completely self-sufficient, die off.  Massive swaths of the world are reduced to wastelands marked only by the skeletons of skyscrapers.  But humans strive on.  Where life is possible, it thrives.  Where it's not, it just takes a little longer.  Reduced to small, almost tribal societies, humanity ekes out a subsistence existence, relying on stores of food, medicine, and weapons that can no longer be replicated, struggling to re-learn forgotten ways of survival.

And maybe one of these little tribes is led by a preternaturally talented hunter and survivor, one who talks little and leads by example rather than coaxing or coercing.

Defeat: The Resistance is destroyed, in an ending sequence reminiscent of Blake's Seven or The Wild Bunch.  But nothing lasts forever, especially tyrannies, and even if every last active member of the Resistance was slaughtered, they left their mark (particularly the illicit recordings of a Silencer slaughtering hundreds of WEC troopers in defense of civilians and Rebels alike), and new revolutionaries are born daily...  If the WEC doesn't fall today, it will tomorrow.  Hope springs eternal.

Stalemate: The Resistance becomes phenomenally successful in certain territories.  Within a few years, it's more on less on equal footing with the WEC.  The Petra Incident was far more resource-intensive than many WEC leaders will admit, and pacifiying half the world would bankrupt the Consortium hundreds of times over.  But the Resistance finds itself in a new position.  It is not a mobile, cell-based fighting force anymore, but a legitimate government and military, with supply chains to watch over and civilian populations to protect.  A watchful, wary coexistence settles into place, trade being done both for survival and to see if the exchange of goods, money, and culture will tip the balance one way or another.

Victory: The WEC is damaged enough that changing it from the inside is possible.  The WEC dissolves into continental states as it finds itself collapsing under the weight of its own bureaucracy, resulting in semi-independent continental nation-states, doing trade and making war with one another.  The Resistance sparks a worldwide revolution, and the WEC capitulates, unable to kill everybody, outright surrendering to the Rebels. 

Silencer Uber Alles: The Silencer was a deep-plant agent all along, and the Corps' plans to destroy the current WEC leadership and have a government run by the most perfect humans in history comes to fruition.  The Silencer leadership, seeing a success in their great experiment fighting for the resistance, defect with the entire Corps coming with them, and the WEC cannot stand against almost every major Resistance cell on the planet having its own Silencer--or two.  After Maxis is killed, the Silencer quickly proves himself the most worthy candidate to replace the general...and after the Resistance victory, installs himself as a benevolent dictator. 
 
Important Locations: North America
New York: One of the world's largest cities, New York is currently under tight WEC control.  To reflect the change in world attitudes, the Statue of Liberty has been altered (or "desecrated", as the Resistance usually describes it).  In place of a lamp, the statue holds a sword; instead of a tablet, a shield; and the welcoming poem has long since been removed.  The WEC alternately claims the statue was changed before they came to power or has always been in this form.
Houston: Houston is the WEC capital.  Though President Gauthier maintains a number of homes, he works in Houston.  For that reason, security is incredibly stringent.  Curfew is sundown or 8 pm, whichever comes first.  Anyone outside who is not a WEC trooper or not escorted by one is shot on sight after that time.  Vehicles are allowed to run, of course, but there are checkpoints on almost every block; most people don't consider it worth the bother, so the streets are generally quite empty except for soldiers at night.
Area 51: The "worst-kept military secret" in the world.  It's very nearly common knowledge that Area 51 is a center for some of the WEC's military research.  Yet the WEC rarely allows any information to spread, and has little hesitance to use far greater force than other governments have to keep secret information secret; there may be greater mysteries at work in Area 51 if they are so willing to let the evidence and rumor already out there propagate.
Arizona Bay: Once, there was a wealthy and powerful landmass called "California", an important cultural and economic center.  The Richter 12 earthquake of 2137 CE shattered the majority of the state and tossed it into the Pacific.  At first called California Bay, the name was changed to Arizona Bay by the WEC shortly after it came to power to avoid painful memories.
SDB: "SDB" is the supposed code name of a secret undersea base maintained by the WEC at the bottom of Arizona Bay.  Most of those few who believe in its existence believe it is the Silencer training facility.
New Orleans: New Orleans is nicknamed "Resistance Central" by certain irreverent WEC officers--not because Central actually makes its home there; Central is a body constantly on the move.  It is called such because the city's rebellious nature remains.  Mardis Gras is technically illegal, but every two or three years the city manages to hold it anyway.  The city actually is a hotbed of low-level Resistance activity, but there's little need for any surgical strikes in the city; it's often a place Resistance officers go during their rarely-granted leaves.  WEC officers are lulled into indolence by the city's playful mood, and many a WEC traitor was stationed in the Big Easy during his defection.

Important Locations: Asia
Moscow: The WEC almost fears Moscow these days.  If they dedicated themselves to it, they could probably have the city truly under their control in months...but the criminal underworld that rules the former capital of what was once Russia would exact a horrendous toll or could even convince the populace to rise up en masse and throw off their supposed Consortium masters.  Moscow is too important to be subjected to the lesson of Petra.  Rule under the Russian mafia is no better than being under the WEC heel, but there is a feeling of independence and self-sufficiency that accompanies it; and given the choice, most Moscoii would dance with the devil who brung 'em (not to mix metaphors). 
Shanghai: In the early 21st century China's capital was a shining monument to proto-capitalism and the power of industry.  These days, it's nicknamed Shanglow.  Industrial development got out of hand in the mid-21st century, and since then the city has been a place of a few elites and a downtrodden worker class.  The arrogance of one of the WEC's largest cities is immense; its only exports are bureaucrats and soldiers, and a hundred acres of farmland in every direction from the city limits would not be enough to feed its population.

Important Locations: Australia
The Outback: No matter how much technology develops, there just isn't much out here for the WEC to exploit or harvest.  A few solar collection facilities are scattered in the desert, but aside from that this land is still largely untouched by "civilization".  There are even rumors that aborigines still eke out a subsistence living, preferring their traditional way of life to one of convenience.  But one rumor that is tightly controlled is that the Resistance is using the isolation of the Outback to build up a store of weapons and materiel...

Important Locations: Europe
Paris: France's reputation as being a weak country is undeserved.  Its government could perhaps be smarter militarily, but its people have always had an independent, revolutionary streak; this goes back, perhaps, all the way to the French Revolution, or even earlier, and could be attributed to the stereotypical French arrogance, coupled with an unwillingness to be ruled by one whom you do not want to.  A weak government was in the interests of France since the Revolution removed the monarchy and Napoleon went nuts.  Even deprived of their language and with their capital overrun with WEC troops, though, the French fight back, the sobriquet "French Resistance" having a double meaning these days.  Though not at all safe, a Resistance operative will find no lack of allies in Paris, if he is careful.

Important Locations: South America
The Amazon: The WEC is not stupid, and not being a theocracy, does not believe in Armageddon.  Therefore, preseveration of the world, or at least its ability to support life and produce natural resources, is paramount.  This is not to say that the Amazon is not being deforested; however, it is being reforested almost as quickly.  The part that dismays some more ecologically-minded Resistance members is that it is not being rebuilt in a "natural" way; instead, the Amazon jungle is becoming little more than a massive farm for exotic medicines and foods.
 
Guns, Guns, Guns
And now the good stuff.

First, most if not all weapons will have a secondary fire of some kind.  Even if that's just switching the mode the gun is firing in, or using different ammunition.  In addition, many weapons will have modifications, essentially after-market additions, that one can find on missions or possibly pick up between them to increase their efficacy or produce a desired effect.  Lastly, "penetration" is how well the given weapon or its ammunition punches through damage-resistant objects (such as mech armor), while "damage" is what it does once it actually gets through.  Both are rated, from low to high: poor, moderate, average, good, excellent.

Close combat
Close combat is a new feature; if he's out of ammo or doesn't have any weapons that are really effective close up, or simply wants a relatively silent takedown, the Silencer can get his hands dirty.  This feature is included because, except against truly elite soldiers, a Silencer should be able to kill with relative ease when out of ammunition or explosives. 

Unarmed: With nothing more than his fists and feet, a Silencer is lethal.  The idea is based on Oni's excellent system.  The Silencer can choose from several styles of combat, dealing poor to excellent damage and even changing how well he penetrates armor, to some extent (though he really shouldn't try using direct physical force against mechs, even with armored gloves). 

The Pointy Stick Theory: There's a military theory that says that every weapon is a variation of either the pointy stick or the blunt stick.  Well, both are available in this game, and depending on the weapon, the style can vary wildly--he will be use different attacks and defenses when fighting with a nightstick as opposed to, say, a combat knife, and that will be different against from a riot prod.  With weapons, he can do good or even excellent AP in close combat.

Pistols
BA-40 "Patriot" .40 semi-automatic pistol: The original pistol from Crusader: No Remorse.  I found it very annoying that the Silencer's figure in No Regret still showed the pistol and its holster on his left (I think) hip...  You can now carry two of these pistols (but not two of the BA-41s; trying to fire two pistols is bad enough, but two automatic pistols?) akimbo, a la John Woo.  20-round clip.  Good damage, good penetration.  Modifications: Silencer (heh).  A silencer quiets the gun's firing sound significantly, but reduces penetration.  Can applied or removed during missions.

BA-41 "Peacemaker" .40 automatic pistol: The BA-40's big brother.  The 41 can now alternate between one- and two-round bursts.  30-round clip, though it can also use the BA-40's clips.  Good damage, good penetration.

PA-21 "Arbitrator" laser pistol: A common sidearm for officers and politicians.  May be linked directly to a shield's or power armor's energy source, or mount an internal battery.  Good damage, average penetration.  Modification: pulse-fire.  Though a bit more expensive, energy-wise, pulse-fire released a constant, visible beam of energy, rather than a bolt.  This effectively makes it easier to track targets, and once a target is locked can result in more damage.  May only be applied or removed between missions. 

Shotguns
SG-A1 "Conformer" combat shotgun: The Conformer is the archetypal pump-action combat shotgun.  12-round clip, available in a variety of ammunition: buckshot (standard), flechette (more damage at close range, less at long range), sabot (armor-piercing slugs; decrease damage to average against unarmored targets, but penetration to good against all targets).  Modification: sawed-off.  A sawed-off shotgun is more easily concealable, and may also do slightly more damage at extreme close range.  May only be applied between missions; irreversible.

AC-88 "Reaper" automatic riot gun: Huge and unwieldy, the Reaper is perhaps the ultimate close-range weapon short of a flamethrower.  The gun may be set to single-shot or autofire.  The last really shouldn't be fired without something to brace oneself against.  20-round rotary magazine, available in a variety of ammunition: buckshot (standard), flechette (more damage at close range, less at long range), sabot (armor-piercing slugs; decrease damage to average but penetration to good).

Rifles
RP-22 "Conciliator" .30 semi-automatic rifle: The basic infantry rifle that many guards are now armed with.  The Conciiliator can be switched between single-fire and autofire presets.  Good damage, average penetration.  Modifications: Laser sight.  The laser sight, within moderate range, can turn the RP-22 into a makeshift sniper rifle in a pinch.  Can be applied or remove during missions.

RP-32 "Pacifist" .30 assault rifle: The most commonly-used assault rifle in 2196 CE.  The weapon can switch between single shot, three-round burst, and autofire.  Good damage, average penetration.  Modification: Extended clip.  The Pacifist can now mount 100-round magazines, in addition to the standard 60.  100-round magazines are found in and between missions, but may also be jury-rigged during a mission if the user has enough rounds.  (I.e. After loading a fresh 60-round mag, reload again to get a 100-round mag if you have the ammo.)  May only be applied between missions.

MAG-3 "Predator" railgun: The Predator fires a heavy, armor-piercing slug at hypersonic speeds, enough to pierce several enemies or even punch through walls and doors.  6-round magazine.  Good damage, excellent penetration.  Modification: Infrascope.  Using an infrared imager, the wielder of the Predator can literally see through walls for the perfect assassination attempt.  May be applied or remove during missions.

PA-31 "Adjudicator" laser rifle: The bigger, meaner, faster-firing brother of the Arbitrator.  Good damage, average penetration.  Modification: pulse-fire.  Though a bit more expensive, energy-wise, pulse-fire released a constant, visible beam of energy, rather than a bolt.  This effectively makes it easier to track targets, and once a target is locked can result in more damage.  May only be applied or removed between missions. 

PL-1 "Unifier" plasma rifle: A huge, heavy beast of a weapon.  The plasma rifle can fire an almost-continuous stream of superheated plasma using an internal power source.  However, if hooked up to a greater external power source, such as the ones used to power high-end personal shields, the Unifier may also perform a plasma discharge--that is, charging the plasma coils up to maximum capacity and then releasing in a massive blast.  Excellent damage, good penetration.

EM-4 "Vortex" electromagnetic pulse rifle: Compact and almost comical in design.  The Vortex is effective only against mechanical targets.  It can destroy even heavy anti-personnel platforms in one or two shots, but on humans an electromagnetic pulse has only a slight effect.  It may briefly numb an organic target, or at best (in the case of a head shot) stun them for a short time by disrupting the eletric impulses of their brains.  The Vortex may also release all of its energy in one mass EMP burst, disrupting all electronics within the blast radius and perhaps stunning unarmored human victims.  Someone wielding powered armor must be careful, though, as it could temporarily disable their armor's onboard systems.  Excellent damage (vs. mechanical targets)/negligible damage (vs. organic targets), excellent penetration.  Modification: "Ball lightning".  The Vortex may be altered to produce fast-moving orbs of electricty, rather than EMPs; this allows it to affect organic targets.  However, while increasing damage to good for human targets, it decreases damage against mechanical targets to good, as it is no longer specifically designed to affect their systems.  The secondary fire becomes a lightning surge, affecting organic targets, but otherwise is unchanged.  May only be applied between missions.

UV-9 "Pulsar" ultraviolet rifle: Perhaps the most powerful single-user non-mounted weapon ever constructed, the Pulsar deals horrendous damage to anything it's shot at.  Thus far only powered-armor grade batteries or better can allow it to fire more than one or two shots.  Excellent damage, excellent penetration.


Explosives/Munitions
GL-303 "Thunder" rocket-powered grenade launcher:  The GL-303 is a favorite choice for police and anti-terrorist units.  It may fire a rocket powered grenade that explodes on contact or an unpowered grenade timed to detonate based on a variable fuse that can be determined by the wielder.  8-round magazine.  Excellent damage, good penetration.  Modification: Ammo versatility.  The GL-303 may use grenades not designed for it as ammunition (see below).  However, they may only be used with the fuse-timed secondary, as they do not come with their own rocket propulsion.  May only be applied or removed between missions.

AR-7 "Rico" rocket launcher: Immediately after clearing the barrel, the unique round fired by the AR-7 splits into a "fan" of three micro-missiles.  Each missile deals significant damage individually; together, the effect is quite pleasing to the psychopathic eye.  7-round magazine.  Moderate damage (individual missile), average penetration.  Modification: The Rico can be given an alternate fire option, launching the missile so that it the micro-missiles don't separate and can be laser-guided to the target by the wielder.  Only one rocket may be in flight at one time in this mode.

Fragmentation grenade: Frag grenades are the stereotypical grenade: they make a big boom and throw shrapnel and raw concussive force around.  Excellent damage, average penetration.

EMP grenade: Designed specifically to destroy electronics.  The EMP grenade is cheap and effective.  Excellent damage (mechanical), negligible damage (organic), excellent penetration.

Plasma grenade: Designed to penetrate hard targets, the plasma grenade unleashes a burst of superheated plasma many times hotter than napalm.  Though it burns out much more quickly than napalm, it also deals a horrendous amount of damage; nothing short of a starhip hull, or the utterly inert casing the grenade uses, can even begin to resist it.  Excellent damage, excellent penetration.

Incendiary grenade: Using thermite, the incendiary grenade is essentially the opposite of the plasma: burn hot for a very long time, so the fire will spread and ignite as much as possible, as opposed to just vaporizing it on contact.  Excellent damage, moderate penetration.

Detpac: Standard field use explosive charges.  They may be detonated from up to 10 meters away in enclosed areas, or 50 meters in open areas or outdoors.  Good damage, good penetration.

Limpet mine: Lightweight proximity mine.  May also be detonated remotely or on a timer.  Average damage, good penetration.

Spider bomb: Ambulatory munitions.  It may simply be "fired and forgotten" in a given direction, or guided to a target with a joystick.

Spider mine: Ambulatory munitions.  The ultimate "fire and forget" weapon, a spider mine is set down, where it stays in place or can "patrol" an area (walking in a circle no greater than 5 meters in diameter).  Upon spotting anything within 10 meters its tiny onboard computer has designated as an enemy, it walks toward the target so long as it has line of sight.  They even have a self-powered shield that can absorb two or three shots from heavy anti-personnel weapons, such as the GL-303 or UV-9.

Pocket betty: "Chain-reaction" explosive.  The pocket betty may be remotely detonated; when it is done so, it flings out four "bomblets" in the four cardinal directions (relative to how it was set down) to a distance of 3 meters.

Disrupter: A disrupter is a new weapon, designed by the WEC to kill Rebels incoming through teleporters on a pirated signal, but in less-protected facilities, the Resistance has learned to turn them against the WEC, placing them on teleporters in areas they operate to prevent reinforcements from being teleported in.  A disrupter scrambles the signal between teleporters, so that on arrival it's assembled in a random collection of biomatter that quickly dies.


Experimental weapons and/or crimes against humanity
BK-16 "Crystallizer" molecular inhibitor: The BK-16 creates a motion-inhibition field so strong that atomic motion actually stops for about a second.  This has the effect of almost instantly freezing the target.  9-round clip.  Good damage, excellent penetration.

LNR-81 "Liquifier" catalyitic cartridge: The LNR-81's unique and classified ammunition dissolves a solid target's atomic bonds in a viral pattern, reducing a target to its base elements.  Done carefully, the Liquifier may also be used to dissolve obstacles in one's path, such as doors.  8-round clip.  Excellent damage, average penetration.

XP-5 "Broiler" microwave projector: The XP-5 fires tightly-focused microwaves that cook a target from the inside out.  It may also fire its energy in a cone, dealing less damage but affecting a large swath of targets.  Good damage, good penetration.

FLR-7 "Firestorm" flame projector: Originally created as a symbolic "purification" device, the firestorm is perhaps the most effective close-quarters weapons ever built.  Uses external tanks.  Excellent damage, poor penetration.
 
Missions
The meat of the game, where the Resistance does its dirty work.  Some ideas.

Mission 1: "Pirates of the Procellarum"--The Resistance decides that Darkside Base is well-enough defended, and wants to send its better assault personnel--including the Silencer, of course--to Earth.  However, they don't have any ships of their own, and the last freighter, with the WEC's surviving troops and personnel, is leaving.  The Resistance gets aboard and has to capture the ship in mid-flight.

Mission ?: "Infiltraitor"--To replace supplies lost, stolen, or destroyed, the Silencer dons the armor of an elite stormtrooper to mount a raid for materiel on a nearby munitions dump.

Mission ?: "Hear No Evil"--One of a trio of missions that occur quickly, one right after the other.  This mission details the destruction or neutralization of the ubiquitous listening devices the WEC plants everywhere.

Mission ?: "See No Evil"--The second of the trio.  The Resistance attempts to blind the WEC by disabling, destroying, or interfering with as many security camers and IR eyes as possible.

Mission ?: "Speak No Evil"--Unlike the two previous missions, which were primarily viral in nature--i.e. the Resistance does part of the work, inspiring the populace to aid them and finish the job--this one is a somewhat more traditional assault, this time on the WEC's "news" services.  Noncomplicit civilians are removed, complicit "journalists" are captured, killed, or otherwise silenced, the building where the WEC's news is broadcast from is demolished, and the satellite network used to beam the propaganda directly into viewers' homes is destabilized.  For the truth to come out, the lies have to stop.

Optional Mission: Chrysalis--The Silencer is experiencing headaches and hemorrhaging.  The cell's doctor is concerned, and hatches a daring plan to steal into a WEC hospital to make use of a high-tech device capable of scanning parts of the body, including the brain, at the cellular or even molecular level.  May be played as a mission or viewed as an extended rendered cinematic.

Optional Mission: Metamorphosis--Well after the events of Chrysalis, the Silencer has completely recovered and in fact seems stronger thanks to the medicines the doctor prescribed after viewing the apparent brain damage.  Late one night, however, he awakes from a troubling dream, seemingly compelled to go to a certain place at a certain time.  He evades Resistance pickets; if he's spotted, he won't be allowed to leave, and that can't happen; yet they are his comrades and he does not want to kill them.  Finally, he arrives at the appointed place and time..where he is ambushed.  Killing the initial wave of attackers, he suddenly finds himself surrounded by Silencers...

Optional Mission: Deus Ex Humanitas--Some time after the events where he was captured and later freed from the Silencers' base (I won't say how or why), the Silencer begins to get...hunches.  He offers elegant yet fiendishly complex ideas for missions, suggests alterations to given missions' itinerary, and seems to know exactly what the WEC will be doing before they even do it.  Still fuzzy on the exact nature of the actual mission for this title, but it debuts a new ability for the Silencer, which is only available if this mission is played, which is in turn only available from Metamorphosis...

Structure
Web.  That is, depending how you finish a mission--how many objectives and secondary objectives you carry off, how well you do it, whether you complete them at all--the next mission changes.  Naturally, extraordinary successes will lead to what might be called the "best ending" very quickly.  However, even total defeat, minus the death of the Silencer, on a mission will still be recoverable.  It's very rarely that a single battle wins or loses the war in the modern battlefield; in the future, that will be less so.  Even if, for example, the Resistance storms Gauthier's headquarters and kills him, bureaucracy--the heart of the WEC, if not its head--is the original perpetual motion machine.  This is also why I have not numbered any missions beyond the first.

The above "optional" missions are only available if the given subplot is active.  I think it would be interesting if certain missions were only available if you were willing to deviate from the main plot, but since said missions might take the player out of the main plot, "subplots" could be disabled.  Maybe even individual subplots.  For example, the Silencer's origin story might not be entirely necessary or you might not even care, so you could turn it off, but you'd like to see the other subplots, so you can leave them on.
 
Interludes
Interludes are rendered cinematics (no more FMV; seriously dude; the acting largely licked the sweat off a dead man's testes) that tell the story of the game.  There are short ones within the mission to thicken the plot, as it were, but most of them are much longer and placed between missions.

Example interlude: Clubbed To Death: A young Resistance soldier wakes the captain up in the middle of the night.  The Silencer was more resting, not sleeping; he doesn't need to sleep very often.  In any case, as ordered by Colonel Shepherd, he is to report to a transport at the back entrance to the base in civilian clothing (or at the least, clothing over his armor, and no helmet) one hour hence.  There, he meets Brooks and Shepherd, both in civvies.  "Like the coat, Red," Brooks says, grinning.  "You're lookin' a little pale, though."  They go to a deserted part of town and enter an elevator that takes them below ground.  Pausing before the door is opened, Shepherd turns to the Captain.

"This is something that's probably outside your experience.  You might be a little uncomfortable.  Just remember, there's no threat here."  The blast door starts to lift...revealing strobing lights, pumping music, and a mass of writhing bodies.

"You have got to be kidding me," the Silencer says.

The hidden bunker is a club, where rebellious youths interested in subverting the WEC in any way they can, no matter how minor, congregate to socialize without worrying about fraternization forms, listen to forbidden music, and discuss different philosophies without worrying about being pick up for sedition.  It's also a favorite destination for Resistance members looking for a good time.

"What do I do?" says the Silencer.

"Mingle," says Shepherd, as he and Brooks head to the bar.

As he moves into the crowd, feeling its motion, he overhears a young voice, despite the noise, whisper "Narc."

"Where?"

"There.  Big guy.  Pale."

"In the coat."

"Yeah.  Total narc."

He turns to face them.  They stare for a long moment, then he turns away.  They shut up.

Later, a disoriented Silencer bumps into Shepherd.  "Am I supposed to be having a seizure?" he shouts over the music.

"Yes.  What, you think that even kids would call this dancing?"

Abruptly, Silencer spots motion that doesn't seem right at the corner of his eye.  The strobes make it hard to pick out, but he sees two young men and one young woman, none of them likely older than seventeen, encircling him in a triangle formation, trying to look like they're dancing as they approach.  He moves away from Shepherd, and they move with him, closing the noose.  As they hit a gap in the crowd, the young men attack.

He defeats them, but not without effort; odd, as they are too young to fight half so well.  Self-defense courses are no longer taught except in the military, and no one that young could join any branch of SecCart or MilOps.  As the fells the second with a blow to the solar plexus, the young woman attacks, a storm of fists and feet he barely manages to fend off.  By this point, the gap has become a circle as they pick up spectators, and the music has either faded to silence as the jockeys realize something is wrong or has altered to something wholly inappropriate for a fight.  He soon realizes that with her unarmored and him with the armor under his clothes, she's actually faster than he is.  He gets back in control when she attempts a punch for the solar plexus that breaks her fingers when they smack into his chestplate.  He goes on the offensive, and finally the music dies and the lights come up, and he can see her eyes, and they're his eyes...

Mind suddenly made up, he lunges and grabs her, whispering something in her ear in an old and forgotten language.  She crumples in his arms, asleep.

The party's over.  They return to base.
 
I'm pretty much out of things to add that don't spoil the rough plot I'm doing, so I thought I'd just give what my current influences are.

I'm Listening To: A Perfect Circle, Bill Hicks, Constantine
I'm Reading: Star Wars--Vision of the Future, The Man Who Was Thursday, Player's Guide To Eberron
I'm Playing: Dark Forces, Deus Ex, Max Payne
I'm Watching: Firefly, The Daily Show, the news
I'm Surfing: morons.org, Bartcop.com
 
I forgot to add that since this is hardly official and I have no talent at all at programming, feel free to add your own wanted features and such.
 
Thats some pretty good info of what a sequal to no regret would be.
 
hahah very very nice stuff. You knwo GOKU, we need to invite Shadowen to our team.. lol nice writing you have there :D
 
That's a GREAT idea, Cyb!

Shadowen..... Wanna be apart of the team? You could help me write Crusader fiction!
 
I'd love to, guys, but you should know that I do not code.  I have no talent for coding.  My real name is Cody Noncoder.  I just write, or try to, anyway.
 
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