Deus Ex Diaries Part Twelve

This is my ongoing exploration of the Deus Ex Universe, in preparation for when Mankind Divided arrives later this year. Whether you’re a newcomer or an old-goer, I hope to make this something you can read along with and enjoy. We continue on with Deus Ex.

After a couple of trips to Hong Kong’s VersaLife facility, the device which created the Grey Death virus had been destroyed. However, a connection in the Illuminati had uncovered the chilling fact that a super freighter was docking at the Brooklyn Naval Shipyards literally filled with the virus. Stanton Dowd had given me the way to scuttle it, but not the means, and I didn’t have enough money to buy more LAMs from Smuggler -- so I was heading there with too few explosives…

I arrived outside the base and snuck in through a duct. I broke into the barracks and went to cut down a guy before realising he didn’t care that I was there, so I walked away. Wanting to avoid open combat, I headed into the sewers, only to find more laser trip wires than I could count, and poisonous gas! It was almost like they didn’t want someone sneaking in!

Looks perfectly safe to me!

I accidentally set off a gas grenade and had to make an escape back topside, finding myself in a hangar. There were dock workers and troops - these ones not here to ignore me. With some quick laser sword work, I raided the place before heading out into the main yard. As I approached a gate, Tracer Tong came through on my comm and told me that I should get through the gate and head for the large crane in the distance.

Turning around, back the way I had come, I spotted the crane. Thanks, Tracer…

There was a nearby building which had a few computers and a security console. I disabled the cameras, read the emails, and went to the next building for loot. It had some ammo, but seemed mainly there to tap in a code to open the nearby gate -- which I had done using the security console.

I ran around the hanger and into the ammunition storage hangar, where those big mechs were waiting to shoot my face off. I nipped into the nearby office, safe from incoming fire for the moment, and hacked into the security console. With the click of a button, the mechs were deactivated!

Be vewy vewy qwiet, I'm sneakin' past mechs!

With a click of three more buttons, I was given access to some more ammunition, LAMs and two more deactivated mechs -- as well as a way to bypass the mechs wandering about outside. I left the other side of the warehouse and had the option to go up the crane, or go inside the Naval Assembly Building via the front door. As the mechs had spotted me, I went in the door.

I snuck under a nearby table, only for the guard to spot me anyway -- and mention me by name -- and be totally fine with my being there. Not quite what I expected, seeing as everyone else was trying to kill me… Plus the newspaper I read in the barracks said that the reason for New York’s state of martial law was specifically because of the terrorist JC Denton. It also said that the quotes were from UNATCO’s Mr Manderley, so he apparently had escaped Walton Simon’s FEMA-wrath.

Nobody seemed to care that I was there, until I reached the PRCS Wall Cloud, the superfreighter containing the virus. I used the code to raise the bridge whilst the troops had their backs turned, and headed aboard. I tried sneaking around, but there was no point as the guards were at the other end of the ship. I went inside and got my laser sword out.

Good thing too, as I was spotted very quickly and the alarm brought all the boys to my murder yard. In the captain’s quarters, there was a hologram communicator, like Mr Manderley had in his office, containing a message from Simons, to the captain. Proof that the ship was there under MJ12’s orders. I looted around the place before heading below deck to start blowing things up. By this point I had six LAM’s, as one of the sailors was evidently carrying one, and another I had picked up somewhere.

Good thing I had a map to find these...

I tried, once more, to sneak around and do things without being spotted. Not very easy when your mission is literally “throw explosives inside a ship”... As soon as the first LAM went off, the sailors and troops attacked, though in manageable waves of three or four, and only as I entered each new section of the ship. With three tri-hull welds (the weak points) destroyed, I activated the bilge pump and reversed the flow as instructed by Tracer.

I headed fore and destroyed another weld - one more remained and surely very few troops. I entered an office area and used the security console to tell the automatic turrets to gun down the enemy, then entered what I now noticed was a helicopter hangar. I could use the helicopter to escape!

The turrets didn’t take aim until after I had been shot a couple of times by the two troops - and did a terrible job of killing them. So I had to hack them up instead and went up to stand next to the helicopter whilst I threw the LAM at the final weakpoint.

As the ship began to shake and explode, Tracer told me to escape. Jock would pick me up from the roof of the building the ship is in. I turned to the helicopter -- and it did nothing, just sat there.

On the upside, I got to use this gif

I ran, trying to remember where the door is whilst Tracer told me that the ship would sink in half an hour. Sounded good: would take me that long to remember the way out.

As everyone was dead, I encounter no resistance as I head aft and escape the ship. Tracer told me to get into the ventilation system and escape that way, so I did. I found some more of those spider-things from the Universal Constructor chamber (I now saw them as spiders, not scorpions), but they weren’t too much hassle in the narrow space. Mere minutes after I threw the LAM, I met up with Jock and he was able to take me to safety.

Pull up, damnit Jock!

Which happened to be a cemetery where Dowd had a crypt. The gatekeeper let me in and I went down to see him. He seemed puzzled that there was a gatekeeper still there at that hour, but figured it was paranoia.

Jock! Pull up! Your alcoholism will kill someone!

I told him that the tanker was scuttled, and the day saved. I also gave him a vial of Ambrosia that I had stolen, to cure him of the Grey Death. He thanked me and told me that I had to get Jock to take me to Paris, so I could find the one responsible for creating the basis for the Grey Death - Morgan Everett. I had to contact Silhouette (the terrorist organisation) member Nicolette DuClare, who could put me in touch with Everett.

Just... Tell me who to stabbity next

Instead of going out the way I came, I began looting the large stone coffins -- one was empty, two had a bunch of loot and one had a tunnel inside. Moving a box over, I climbed in and went through the tunnel. There was a way up by moving a gravestone, so I went up - and ducked back down. MJ12 soldiers!

Jock radioed to tell me that there was an electromagnetic signal jamming his helicopter, so he needed me to disable it from a building near the gate. The gatehouse holding the man who wasn’t supposed to be here today!

I went up and sliced the MJ12’s before they could shoot me more than a couple of times. I then ran for the gatehouse and cut him down before he could draw his weapon. The building looked pretty empty, but I noticed a painting and figured it was similar to in Paul’s apartment back at the Ton Hotel. And I was right! Behind the nearby bookcase was some sort of device: one quick poke and it was out of action!

With that out of the way, Jock landed and I climbed aboard, headed for Paris.