Inca - Devastated

By Ilmari

I wonder how a Shoot’Em’Up Addict could retain the interest of readers through couple of posts? “And then another orc came running from the left. And I shot it! Another one followed it. I shot that one, too! And yet another, blast, good riddance to orc number 45! I was almost ready to move to the next level, when I left my guard down and a stray bullet hit me. I tried loading, but then I remembered I had forgotten the whole saving business. Next thing you know, I had changed into my skeet gear and imagined I was shooting the game disks into small pieces.”

Ever since I decided with Inca that I wouldn’t hesitate to cheat myself out of a trouble, the spaceship simulator part hasn’t really made me nervous, since there’s always a “Get Free from Jail” path to follow. Thus, I had even expected the next spaceflight sequence. This time, I got to shoot a bunch of red enemy ships, and surprisingly I managed to complete the sequence. I must be learning something, I thought to myself.

After the battle it was time to go back to Inca headquarters and a roast with Huayna Capac, who insulted me for being young and incompetent and suggested I couldn’t have succeeded, if the quest hadn’t been so easy (I guess he heard I had skipped the toughest parts). The conversation didn’t last long and it was off to killing another red squadron.

I almost congratulated myself after sending the final red ship to an afterlife, when the computer informed me of a yet another fleet, consisting now of green ships, with better shields than the red had had. Needless to say, I died almost instantly, and last save point was way before my first battle. So much for learning and back to cheating, then.

After avoiding the battle I entered the mothership of conquistadors. Most appropriately, it looked like a ship around the time of Spanish conquest of South America (I suggest not thinking too much how it can fly through space). I instantly met Aguierro, the leader of the Spanish. I had a chance to shoot him couple of times, but eventually I was captured and locked.

Next you’ll insist that you are my father

Are these chains made of gold?

Back to adventuring! The only thing I could really interact with was a barrel. Removing a cork from the barrel opened up a small hole, through which a pile of gunpowder dropped on the floor. Cork also interested a small rat, and when I threw the cork to the rat, it ran away and someone beyond the screen threw a golden pot to me (I assume he was aiming at the rat).

I also tore a label from the barrel and used it with the pile of gunpowder to make a primitive explosive. All I needed was a trick for lighting it. I pulled the gold chain, which opened up some hole and let a beam of light in the room. Then I just had to use the pot to reflect the beam of light and…

...BOOOOM!

I was now capable of walking around, although still locked in a small complex of rooms. The barrel was still there, and the game text indicated it was too heavy to move. Checking out my surroundings, I found some barrels full of precious stones, gold and two keys. The keys opened two cupboards, one of which contained a hatchet and a bag, while the other cupboard contained a cannon ball, which I couldn’t pick up, and a broken board.

I could use the hatchet to open up the barrel of gunpowder and the pot to transfer some powder from it to a bag. Still, the barrel was too heavy. After a while, I decided to take the bag to the cupboard with a broken plank. Sure enough, the bag straightened the plank and the ball rolled a few inches, revealing behind it a cannon sponge (in other words, a long stick with a softer ending). I used the sponge to push the barrel aside, thus opening up the rest of the ship.

So far this section had been the highlight of the game, with real adventure game puzzles. This couldn’t last for long, and I had to endure yet another maze full of shooting conquistadors. This time the last checkpoint had been just after the puzzle sequence, so the section was fairly tolerable. Unlike in the previous maze, there were now rooms with only one conquistador. The single conquistador stood in plain sight, not trying to hide anywhere, and if he was just standing, my shots were reflected from his armor. I had a chance to hurt him only when he started to aim at me and showed his armorless profile.

At the end of my wandering through the ship I found a heavy door with two rings. After few attempts to open the door, two hands grew out of the wall.

Trust me, this gets weirder

One of the hands was holding a candelabra, while the other had a crucifix. I took these items and gave them gold and jewels in return. Door opened and I stepped into…

...heaven??

It was time for random clicking again. Crucifix opened up what looked like a shell, but what the game described as font (that’s the place where holy water is placed).Within it I found a censer (that’s a thing meant for burning incense), which I could put on the pedestal with candelabra. As a result, the gargoyle face at the top right corner started spilling water on the font.

I was able to take a candle from the candelabra and light the incense in cencer. This interested heavenly folk, and Saint Peter appeared. I filled a cup with holy water and gave it to Saint Peter. He became a bit too excited.

Ultimate failure for Incas - baptism

Becoming baptised sent me all the way back to the two doors, and I had to repeat the whole sequence again. This time I turned down the Dosbox speed and checked whether I could do something in that brief period of time before the apostle would wash away my sins. Indeed I could - I took Saint Peter’s key and used it to unlock the door.

The final room was filled with a huge cross. Touching the different parts of the cross in the same pattern as when doing the sign of cross transported me back to my spaceship.

Obligatory love interest?

I drove to a new planet and met Accla, the sun virgin. She told me that conquistadors had desecrated their moon, Paracas (in real life, a town in Peru) and were just attacking the planet.

These skeletons are never explained. Fruits of Spanish invasion or more ancient remains?

The battle with the Spanish was a similar canyon ride as I described in my previous post. It was this time not so clear what they were trying to achieve by flying in the canyon, but it was still as impossible as earlier. Hence, I cheated my way out of it.

After the fight was over, Accla took me to a secret crypt, although I could not enter it, because only the Sun Virgin was allowed to approach the mummified remains of ancestors.

As if I would voluntarily go any way near these creepy bodies

Accla handed me a blue gem, which had the power to control matter, while the gem I found in the previous post had the power to control time. I am a bit puzzled, why the Incas cannot use the power of the gems to ward of the conquistadors (nor for that matter, why they did not use them to beat the original conquistadors). Or are the powers of the gems exaggerated?

On another note, Accla told me that if I were to fulfil my destiny, I would also get her as a prize. Rather quick romance, you say? Well, it seems to be more of an ordained prophecy than love at first sight, which makes this scene somewhat creepy.

Only one gem to go now! I hope I can wrap this thing in the next post.

Session time: 4 h

Total time 12 h