Vaudevillain

Chapter 33: New Mechanics

The first thing Dylan noticed as he logged in was the massive spaceship floating over the city. The second thing was the notification that appeared in front of him.

Earth is under attack!

For centuries the mighty Quli lived as conquerors of the galaxy. These warlike aliens subjugated all around them with their advanced weaponry and unscrupulous tactics. Despite numerous uprisings, the Quli Empire ruled unquestioned. It seemed nothing could stop the military might of the Quli.

That was the case until the youngest prince survived an assassination attempt on his life. He was dragged off the edge of a cliff with his would-be assassin, yet survived from the kindness of poor farmers. Their altruism changed the prince's entire outlook and he began to see his race as despots.

Once grown, the prince enacted a plan to cripple the entirety of the Quli Empire's military by altering their phlebotinium weapons. With the help of sympathizers and rogue agents, the prince infiltrated the major weapons factories and set off a bomb that would render all phlebotinium inside inert. Unfortunately, the prince's older brother caught wind of this plan and brought a crack team of specialists to disable the bombs. To stop them the prince fought against his brother in single combat.

In the end, the prince's plot was a success and the explosion disabled the factories and their phlebotinium. But the phlebotinium released a wave of energy that engulfed both the prince and his brother. The chaotic energies of the world swirled, altering both and sending them across the galaxy. The prince landed here on Earth and is now known as the Orange Visitor.

His brother, Qraxis, was sent to a world of death and destruction. Now he has escaped his hellish torment and blames the Orange Visitor for his suffering. He has taken over the last remnants of the Quli empire, forging them new weapons with his power and the ruined phlebotinium. The might of the Quli is now bearing down on the blue jewel of Earth. Will you rise to the challenge and repel these alien invaders?

New mechanics!

Introducing Alienite!

Alienite is a unique substance found in the Quli Empire. Created by Qraxis through the use of ruined phlebotinium, this material can be used to create fantastical creations such as teleporter pads or spaceships! Alienite can be obtained by defeating Quli soldiers.

Base defense and assault!

The Quli loom over the major cities around the world and have captured the major leaders. The hero's guild has gone underground, hiding in hidden bases. The Quli are now performing thorough searches around the cities in order to remove the last pieces of resistance. At varying times during the game players with bases will be assaulted by small teams of Quli. Players must repel these attackers or see their base destroyed. To help with this the base building tab has been updated to include traps and minions that will fight alongside you.

Shared bases.

Heroes and Villains can now team up with others of the same morality and create a shared base. Work together to repel the incoming Quli invasion!

Strike back against the Quli threat!

In each invaded city, there is a Quli invader that answers directly to Qraxis. These trusted aides were each given a key to the grand mothership where Qraxis leads his conquering army. Players can assault these mini-bosses and take their keys. Once every key has been collected the forcefield protecting the grand mothership will fall and the players who collected the keys will be the first to assault Qraxis' fortress in the sky. But be warned! Qraxis' lieutenants are powerful and cunning. Do not expect to win off might alone!

Dylan closed the notification and created a group message.

Superfan39526:

Hey you guys see the changes?

DemarX:

Patch notes or the new stuff in game?

Oh I'm in Haven

Where do I meet?

Superfan39526:

Both

And here type this in your map

12 Gothic Ave., Haven City

DemarX:

Got it

Candequeen:

I like the rep changes

And getting contacts earlier will be nice

Surfsup26:

Dude, we should totally make a secret base

Kill some aliens and have superfan make us alien jetpacks

DemarX:

How's that any different from a normal jetpack?

Surfsup26:

It's alien duh

Superfan39526:

Can we use my place as a base?

It'll be hard to move my factories if we find a new place.

Candequeen:

Sure

Long as I can bring my fish

Surfsup26:

Heck yeah team base

I'm heading over there

Candequeen:

Same

Bringing my fish too

DemarX:

I'll be there in a bit

Superfan39526:

Cool I'll be waiting

Dylan closed the group message and went inside the mansion. "Mabel! Cass!"

"Yeah boss?" Cass appeared at Dylan's side.

Mabel came from upstairs. "What is it Zlo hon?"

"An alien empire has decided to invade our planet without asking me first! Don't they know I will be the one to conquer the Earth? I will not stand by and watch as these amateurs botch it up. We're going to stop them!"

"Alright hon. By the way, what did you want me to do with the Jacques downstairs?"

Dylan took a second to remember what she meant. "I completely forgot about that! It seems we have enemies closing in from all sides! Its a good thing I called in some favors."

"Favors boss?"

"We have some new partners Cass! Villains almost as evil as I am. We have agreed, for the time being, to work together against these aliens."

"I'll go make some drinks then."

"And I think we should do something about that Jacques."

"Quite right! Come Mabel!"

Dylan walked down to the secret base with his minion. The possessed Jacques was still standing in the corner though it looked to be struggling a bit more than before. "Sit still dear," Mable said. The Jacques stiffened at the sound of Mabel's voice.

Dylan nodded. "Mabel, I'm going to leave it up to you to interrogate this Jacques. I have too many other things to do, like plan for this invasion."

"Alright hon." The old woman turned to the Jacques. "Now dear, tell Momma everything that happened."

Dylan walked away from Mabel and over to the gigantic storage area where the Jacques had deposited all the materials. He had already made Cass and Mabel's equipment so next up was the disassembler. He took out all the pieces and selected them with his power. Industrial machinery and other materials whirled around, stacking on top of each other into a large contraption.

The machine was around twice the height of Dylan's character and five times as large. The top of the disassembler hosted a wide shredder. Materials placed on top would be broken down into small bits and travel through a house of piping to a flat surface. There a multitude of extenders and grabbers would sift through the materials and separate them into piles. Each pile was then shoved down into a square box where it was compacted into a cube and rolled ejected out the bottom to land in a shallow tray.

Dylan tested the machine by tossing in some plastic toys. Seconds later a multicolored cube of plastic was resting in the trough below. A smaller cube of metal rested beside it. Dylan grabbed both for inspection and placed them in his inventory.

Dylan walked over to the exit and yelled up the ladder. "Jacques! Come here!"

A group of Jacques appeared at the top of the ladder. One tried to head down first but another shoved him out of the way. The unlucky Jacques fell down the pit and cracked against the stone floor. Dylan sighed. "One at a time!"

The other Jacques all carefully made their way down the ladder and stood in front of Dr. Zlo. One of the Jacques tried to kick the broken Jacques awake. "I have a very important task for you," Dr. Zlo said. All the Jacques stood a bit straighter.

"I need you to work my disassembler and the lackey factory. Make sure the factory is always able to produce minions and break down all of the other materials."

The Jacques nodded. One grabbed the broken Jacques leg and hauled him over to the disassembler with the rest. A second Jacques grabbed the arms and the two started to swing the broken Jacques. Before the two could toss the Jacques into the disassembler the broken minion jerked awake and twisted out of the Jacques' grasp. As he stood up, the broken Jacques wiped an imaginary bit of sweat from his brow.

The Jacques soon settled into a rhythm, lining up to toss goods to a minion standing on a box for easy disassembler access. Another line of Jacques stood near the trough and snatched up any materials that dropped down. If it was plastic, glue, or thread they brought it over to the factory and attempted to place it in the feeders. If it was the wrong material the cube got spat out and clocked the Jacques on the head.

Dylan turned towards the entrance to his base. It was time for him to make that elevator.

Hidden elevator

This elevator is used to enter the secret laboratory of Dr. Zlo's base. The doors of the elevator are disguised as walls and a candlestick on the door must be pulled to call the elevator.

Steel wire (1)

Better Homes magazine (1)

Candlestick (1)

Winch (1)

Generator (1)

Spy movie (1)

Dylan already had some of the materials on hand and it looked like he could easily buy the rest. He climbed up the ladder and yelled, "Cass!"

"Yeah boss?" The butler appeared from behind the bar in the basement.

"I need you to go buy me a copy of Better Homes magazine, a candlestick, and a spy movie." Dylan tossed some of the cash he had on hand.

"Um By myself boss?"

"Yes Cass by yourself. Buying three items can't be that hard."

"But boss what if I get attacked."

"Fine, bring a few Jacques for a distraction then." He would have said to use the secret identity function but he didn't read anywhere in the patch notes that said minions had the option.

"Oh okay." Cass looked like he wanted to complain a bit more, but Dylan had already left the room. His friends had arrived at the mansion.