Sodality: Battle for Metheel

Sodality: Battle for Metheel is...

Plot
In the 17th century, John Domeck and Kicked Deer had managed to secure the Timekeeper's Ruby, the Handler's Ruby, and the Grand Ultimate's Ruby. They were in the process of storing and hiding in the wilderness as many Marlquaanite rubies as they could, decreasing the odds of the Society of the Icy Finger ever being able to utilize the immense power of the Marlquaan that said rubies were a gateway to. The Grand Ultimate's Ruby was by far the most dangerous - and the one that the Icy Finger most wanted. They were even so arrogant as to assume it could give them the ability to usurp the throne of God himself. John knew that it didn't have that power, but he did suspect that entire nations could be wiped out in an instant by anyone wielding it. Feeling especially himself tempted by the ruby's power, decided it was an evil beyond that which the other rubies posed. It was only made weak when exposed to the Beamer's Ruby. John knew via an old friend of his that the Beamer's Ruby had been entrusted to Hester Prynne, and so he dared not betray the secret location of that ruby. But without the Beamer's Ruby, he feared there was no other way to destroy the Grand Ultimate's. So instead, he used the Handler's Ruby and constructed a prison for it. He had Kicked Deer recite a poem in her native tongue, which became a password. The seal to the Grand Ultimate's would only open when stimulated by another ruby, while the Incantation of Kicked Deer was recited. The two of them then buried the Ruby and its seal deep underground, making certain that no Icy Finger affiliates were around to witness where it was buried.

Meanwhile, in the 21st century, the evil King Morzhuk as ascended to the throne on the planet of Metheel. He greets with open arms various Hebbleskin Gang affiliates who flee to his world after the death of Duke Arfaas and rapid deterioration of the Hebbleskin Gang on Earth, even aiding them in their Zeran portals to bring more and more of their ilk and equipment to Metheel. Shabika, a warrior woman who had pledged loyalty to the previous king, questioned the wisdom of Marzhuk's embrace of the Hebbleskins. With them came a few werewolves, a few Milthuens, and a few Milthuen Prototypes. One evening, while she was over at her lover's cottage sleeping with him, the king's men raided the place in an effort to capture and kill them both. They succeed at killing Threkshel, but Shabika is able to fight her way free. She soon discovers, however that Morzhuk didn't send his best men after her for a reason: what he really was after was Shabika's younger sister, Visinkra. Shabika followed in cover of darkness, and witnessed her younger sister being executed for sport for Marzhuk's new arrivals. This caused an enraged Shabika to flee the palace, and join the resistance that was forming against Marzhuk's rule. The resistance sought to return Metheel to its Christian roots under Lord Zeras, hoping to bring an end to the evil that had ruled the planet for centuries.

Thoughts flooded her mind; but she remembered one important detail: Morzhuk had plans to capture what the Hebbleskins were referring to as the Sodality of Gerosha "Legends" on Earth and keep them in Marlquaanite suspension fields forever. Thus, he'd make for himself trophies of the only beings in the universe he believed were powerful enough to pose a credible threat to him. He especially wanted to have the Sodality crippled due to the fact that the next wave in the Phaelon-Metheel War was coming. The Phaelite forces were regaining their strength after both worlds had needed to retreat from their war due to sheer exhaustion. The war never truly ended, but had gone through a dry spell over the last few centuries. It was especially dry in the last five years. But that dry spell was about to come to an end. Morzhuk decided he should conquer all of Metheel and destroy the resistance. From there, he'd acquire the Grand Ultimate's Ruby and use it to conquer Earth and Phaelon. He'd finally be the ruler that brought all three world under one rule.

He sends some replenished troops to Earth, with a few Hebbleskin gangsters as consultants. They quickly discover where the Grand Ultimate's Ruby is buried and dig it up. However, they are unable to remove its packaging due to not knowing the Incantation of Kicked Deer. They send it to Morzhuk anyway, who concludes that he will eventually get around to forcibly prying the seal open with whatever tools are at his disposal. Capturing the Sodality Legends must come first, however. The Meethlites conclude that the best way to pull off this stunt is to first provide a diversion for the Elites. They forge a temporary truce with the Ameristani regime, then head to Louisiana. New Orleans, previously torn apart with war, was in the process of being rebuilt. A new mayor was elected, and the city was celebrating its reconsecration. However, an army of invading Ameristani troops quickly descends on the city to disrupt the ceremony. Charlotte "Mukade" Yamamura and her husband Kyle "the Meerkat" Freneti are discussing their plans for raising a family when the raid begins. Mukade manages to take out several invading troops with aid from Meerkat. However, the two get separated briefly. A Milthuen Prototype from the new army with some combat skill finally confronts Mukade. That new menace, going by the name of Hannah Manigan, has decided in the absence of Kimiyato Hiriyama to assume the mantle of Milp for herself.

No sooner does Mukade finish battling Milp than Meerkat notices the Meethlite invasion happening. The Ameristani raid didn't seem anywhere near large enough by itself; so he concludes it was a red herring. Several terrified residents seek shelter in a nearby church as the Meethlite invaders make their way into town. Meerkat fights off as many as he can while keeping the church and those inside it safe. Mukade assists. Meerkat also contacts Sodality headquarters in Houston, and they alert Emeraldon and Ciem that Meerkat and Mukade need backup. Meerkat continues to fight off as much of the invasion as he can, eventually battling Cupric for control of a powerful weapon that will give him the edge. Right as Cupric is about to finish the fight, Emeraldon arrives and finishes the fight. He reveals that he and Ciem got separated a little ways back, and that they should rendezvous with her. He takes off to find her, letting the others catch up on foot.

Meanwhile, Ciem finds a school being invaded. A new Musaran has been chosen to replace Jeraime Malestrom; and Ciem knows that after battling the hoardes of Meethlite minions wreaking havoc, she'll have to fight Musaran. She manages to knock the new one's helmet off, remembering how she and Earwig defeated the original. The defeated Musaran reveals that the real fireworks are bigger than she has planned for. Ciem leaves the defeated Musaran without his armor, tied to a pole for authorities in Louisiana to deal with. She soon joins the others outside. The quartet of heroes fight off enough invasion forces to secure the area. But they immediately suspect that the invasion force was not giving it their all. Meanwhile, Jackrabbit discovers another group flying out from a base established not far from his Apache reservation. He manages to battle a female soldier in the area, gaining the upper hand and taking her prisoner as the other Apaches join him.

The solider admits that the entire thing in both Apacheland and Louisiana was a ruse to fool the Sodality Elites. The real goal was to use the distractions as a way to capture the Legends. Jackrabbit tries to contact HQ, but realizes that his communicator was damaged in battle. He prepares a large Zeran transporter secured from the Meethlites, and has it calibrated to send him to Houston. He tries to make his way to HQ in Houston undetected, but a crime spree erupts and forces him to take extra time getting to his destination. He finally defeats all the street criminals, only to make it to HQ too late. Wilbur Brocklyn, injured, informs Jack that the enemy has successfully raided the database and knows where the Legends live. They're on their own. Communications have been severed.

A small team of raiders attempt to abduct Extirpon. However, Eric's fiancee Pam and son Wilfredo have a house guest: Dolly "the Earwig" Malestrom. Pam uses stealth them out of the house, eventually stealing a truck abandoned by its previous owner during the raid. She drives it to a spot not far from where the Marlquaanite prison beam device has been established. From there, Earwig takes out the guards and turns the device off. This enables Eric to use offensive maneuvers without getting trapped in the beam. Extirpon then effortlessly blows most of his remaining foes to bits, with a tiny minority retreating in sheer terror. Eric grows suspicious something bigger is afoot, and lets Pam and Wilfredo know to lay low until he returns from investigating it. They fully support his decision to go to HQ.

Extirpon arrives, only to discover that a Phaelite on Phaelon named Desulon has arrived to help establish contact. He states that he cannot send Extirpon and the other Sodality of Gerosha team members over to Phaelon just yet, but that he will when he is able to. Meanwhile, the Meethlites flee Earth with a ship carrying their captured targets. They managed to apprehend Ron Barrin and three Pilltar Mk. III units. They also managed to capture Stephanie Barrin with three Strawberry Mk. III units. In another part of the ship, they have taken Navyrope, Tabitha Pang, and Hea Pang prisoner. Next to them in Marlquaanite prisons are Mapacha and the Gray Champion. A team of Phaelite soldiers find a way to teleport aboard the ship, with Captain Hophily Yemodan in charge. Yemodan and his team manage to secure Hea, Tabitha, Gray, and Navyrope before fleeing. The ship is damaged in the fighting, and crash lands on Metheel.

Mapacha, Ron, and Stephanie immediately find themselves being taken in by Shabika and other rebels. Shabika establishes contact with Desulon, who explains the situation to the three confused heroes. Meanwhile, Yemodan on Phaelon finishes explaining the situation to the rescued Sodality Legends in his care. They agree that someone needs to go back in time and destroy the Grand Ultimate's Ruby before Morzhuk can discover a way into its stolen prison chamber. Deciding that two Hester's lockets in the same time period would cause a dangerous paradox, they elect to recruit Hester Prynne to convince Kicked Deer to help her destroy the ruby. However, they also decide that the job is too dangerous to have John go back in time. They fear creating a paradox if he meets himself. They also seek to minimize ripple effect memory on him by deciding that whoever does go back needs a disguise. Navyrope declines, arguing that Hea is the expert on Hester's locket. Navyrope volunteers to look after Tabitha if anything should happen to Hea. As the group finalizes its plans, Morzhuk's forces attack Yemodan's base. The Sodality is forced to flee. Desulon gives them the coordinates to his lab, where he has a time machine ready for Hea to travel back to the 17th century with.

Navyrope utilizes stealth tactics to help his friends weave through the hills, taking out various enemies in the hills while Gray keeps Hea and Tabitha hidden from view. Meanwhile, a monstrosity Marlquaanite with a snake head for a chest is sent out by the Meethlites to attack Desulon's facility. "Bosom-Serpent" fights his way through hordes of Phaelite defense, and confronts the heroes. As they arrive at the facility, the Gray Champion battles Bosom-Serpent so Navyrope and the others can get safely inside. Hea is sent back in time to befriend Hester Prynne and gain her help in locating Kicked Deer. However, she ends up in the woods alone. Roger Chillingworth is in that forest, practicing his Marlquaanite ability to freeze things solid. He takes notice of Hea and her Korean ethnicity immediately. He suspects that she's "not from around here," and immediately attacks. Using only a shield and whatever weaponry she has at hand, Hea defeats Chillingworth. She leaves him in the forest and goes into town. She decides to let events happen as they will. After witnessing Hester's locket fire its beam and shatter Chillingworth into a million pieces, Hea decides that she can safely approach Hester the following evening. In the present, Ron and Pilltar have been sent to assist Gray and Desulon in holding down the fort. Hea takes little time befriending Hester, and convincing her and Pearl to go on a voyage to find Kicked Deer. The girls succeed, but run into some Icy Finger agents. Hester takes to battling them with powers temporarily granted her by Hea, who knows better how to yield the locket. They successfully beat back their attackers long enough to convince Kicked Deer to lead them to where they must go.

Hea stays out of sight near negotiations, so that John Domeck will not have any memory of her. The girls successfully destroy the Grand Ultimate's Ruby, and stage everything as if it were normal. But as they are heading back to John's house to drop off Kicked Deer, more Icy Finger agents attack. Kicked Deer outwits them while buying the other girls some time. However, the girls are outflanked. Kicked Deer returns to the village to alert John to what is happening. As Hester and Hea try to get past the Icy Finger, Ron and Pilltar travel back in time. Pilltar readily beats back the remaining Icy Finger agents, allowing Hester and Pearl to return safely to the harbor and board a ship back to their home town. Pilltar and Hea return to the present, where Desulon reveals that Phaelite forces have successfully beaten back the Meethlite invasion. Phaelon is a free planet again.

Desulon then sends a team with him to rendezvous with Shabika and the resistance. The only members of the Sodality's fighters to stay behind on Earth are Extirpon, Botan the Plant-Man, with his wife Emily Cormier. When a True Centhuen warrior named Centipede Brutus discovers the Sodality's HQ, Botan defeats him in a brawl before he can give the location away. Meanwhile, Desulon makes sure to bring the other Elites over. This ensures that the odds may be tipped in the Sodality's favor. He also brings to Phaelon, a some-time ally of theirs: the Sapphire King. As they're traveling to Metheel, Shabika orchestrates an offensive to reclaim resistance towns that are taken hostage by Morzhuk's regime. Strawberry takes the first town, before Stephanie argues that her Strawberry unit needs a break. While she pulls one of the spares out, Mapacha battles to recover the second town. Their successful missions lead to a frustrated Morzhuk and his army ascending on the third town to confront the newly-arrived Sodality. They are able to handle most of his army, but Morzhuk tricks Hea Pang into accidentally giving him powers with her version of Hester's locket.

The stronger, flying Morzhuk proves to be equal in strength to Emeraldon and the Sapphire King, and readily knocks around anyone less strong than the Gray Champion. After beheading Shabika to make a point to his enemies, he heads back to the palace alone with his power. He tries to force open the stolen seal. However, he is enraged to learn that there is no ruby inside it. While the Sodality and resistance forces begin decimating his troops, Morzhuk plots to return to the field and slaughter them all. However, Desulon finally brings Extirpon over in sheer desperation. A final, desperate wave of raiders late to the party attack Desulon; but Extirpon defeats them easily. Morzhuk proves a tough foe to break down, but Extirpon is finally able to do so while taking advantage of Morzhuk's endless pride and sense of entitlement. Once the king is slaughtered at Extirpon's hand, the castle is stormed and the Sodality reunite in full. The last of Morzhuk's non-Hebbleskin followers surrender, while the Hebbleskins either retreat back to Earth or are mowed down. New leaders are chosen that aim to restore Metheel to its virtues during the reign of its leaders immediately following Zeras. A peace treaty is forged with Phaelon, effectively ending the Phaelon-Metheel War permanently. The Sodality is sent back to Earth a short time later, so they can recover from their journey.

Aftermath
Candi and Donte are allowed to return home to their son Frank McArthur, living mostly in peace in Waco. They resume their roles for the Sodality only as needed, only seldom getting involved in superhero work not pertaining to the Sodality. They eventually have twins John and Dana, and consider passing the torch to their children. All three end up accepting the call. It isn't until significantly old age, however, that the parents decide to completely retire from the business.

Marge Ramirez goes back to her modeling job, though she does end up saving Belize from a Muslim Brotherhood invasion. John Domeck returns to his new life in Texas, where he lays low while hanging out with Hea Pang and Tabitha Pang. Eventually, Hea meets a new man. Hea Hayes proves to be a very happy and successful housewife. When a time traveler from WWI ends up in the present many years later, John decides the time is right to retire. He allows Roy to become the new Gray Champion, keeping the tradition alive of the mantle never staying with one man for too long. Tabitha grows up to marry Jordan Steel, the son of Garret Whaling and Tiffany Sterlie-Steel. Tiffany's marriage into the Steel family comes with perks for her and Jordan both. As Jordan's wife, Tabitha helps Jordan raise their eccentric daughter: Samantha "Dollschief" Steel. Samantha ends up becoming the youngest Sodalist ever to join.

Eric returns to Pam and Wilfredo, and finally he and Pam officially marry. It is the happiest day not only of their lives, but of Wilfredo's. Eric eventually meets Eddie Pintal, a boy whom he feels is more worthy of the Extirpon mantle. It only takes a little convincing and some wielding of Hester's locket to transfer the powers and make Eddie into Extirpon II. Dolly returns home to her ranch with Jeraime, eager to plot the latest software development now that his eyes are fully healed from the trauma of being Musaran. However, she sidetracks him by suggesting they throw caution to the wind as they once did when they first married. Dolly soon ends up pregnant with their first child: Gunther Malestrom. She has no regrets. Given that it took a lot longer for her to require maternity leave from the Sodality than Candi, the other members are more than sympathetic.

Botan and Emily return to their ordinary lives. Jack and Miranda finally get married. Jordan Reddelwick and Celia Winehart finally settle down. Ron and Stephanie return to their lives in Oklahoma, where they begin work on licensing a variation of a Pilltar-like drone to various neighborhood watch organizations. Charlotte and Kyle return home to Louisiana, and decide after three years go by of no more full scale invasions that it is totally safe to settle into their domestic lives. They remain at a moment's notice should they ever have to return to combat. Vince Finton and his Navyrope Organization continue to fight for the right to life of all whose blood is not guilty of shedding innocent blood. He remains on alert should he ever have to don the suit again, but takes solace in a world where he can freely go out in public as Vince Finton. He eventually finds true love when he meets a divorced woman looking for a second chance.

Characters
Characers were chosen for the roster based on what the Dozerfleet founder believed would both make the most sense given the narrative and which characters would be the most interesting for purposes of gameplay. In the regular series pitch for Sodality, certain characters had a tendency to hog the spotlight. Those characters were Jackrabbit, Earwig, and Botan the Plant-Man. As a result, their roles were significantly reduced for this project's roster. Ciem, who was being given a reduction in role from what she'd previously had in the Ciem webcomic trilogy and Vigilante Centipede novel series, got to have some of her original spotlight returned. Emeraldon was also given more to do, although the Sapphire King would remain underplayed.

A unique dynamic for casting for this game premise was to give Pamela Marcones, Extirpon's fianceé, more to do than she'd ever done before. This is also the first time since Extirpon 2 that she got to feature prominently in much of anything. The involvement of Kicked Deer in the storyline meant that a good portion of the story was guaranteed to be Gray Champion-mythos-centric. However, the Dozerfleet version of the Gray Champion began with a set of high school illustrations of The Scarlet Letter. The Dozerfleet founder back in high school took a lot of liberties with interpreting Hawthorne's work, resulting in the mythos of Hester's locket and the Marlquaanite rubies. It only seemed logical then to include the reinterpretation of Hester Prynne as a playable character, who learns more about her role in the sacred secret-keeping of the locket's power through her interactions with Hea Pang. The reinterpreted Roger Chillingworth also appeared briefly in The Gray Champion: Chillingworth's Revenge; but the major villain of that story was Miles "Chillingworth II Charleston." Therefore, it seemed only fitting to have Hea Pang go back in time and battle the "original" Chillingworth. Since Feathertop II doesn't feature until after John Domeck passes the torch of his powers to Roy Bernald, there is no mention of Feathertop as a supervillain. Instead, Bosom-Serpent becomes Gray's adversary. This was done in large part to avoid having to bring back Eqquibus or Foalesce.

Other than leading a troop to Desulon's lab safely, Navyrope was otherwise reduced to comic relief. He barely pulls off having a role in the story, utilizing his tact and stealth to keep everyone hidden from the enemy. His status as a Legend is one of the few things securing him a role, since none of his usual fare of enemies are present. Benefiting most from this game premise, perhaps are Pilltar and Strawberry. Their Mk. III forms being tested for the first time ever became an excuse to find a way to create their concept art entirely in The Sims 3, as opposed to trying to take the old Sims 2 models and transplant them into a Sims 3 environment - as had to be done with the Mk. II models. The Mk. I models were entirely shot and rendered in Sims 2. Upgrading concept art for them from Sims 2 to Sims 3 allowed for more-accurate depiction of their bodily textures than what was previously possible. This was to ensure a greater likelihood that a high-end game developer would take the models seriously from a graphics perspective. In a character development perspective, the inclusion allowed for showing that Ron and Stephanie Barrin have grown into their roles much more so than what they were capable of in Pilltar 3.

Realizing that it wouldn't be fair to make a game about the fate of Metheel without at least some playable Meethlites, original characters Shabika Kribbenswik and King Morzhuk are both proposed to be playable. They are given their own abilities and fighting styles - Morzhuk having both pre and post-Marlquaan-bonding forms to choose from. Several characters who are NPCs featuring briefly in 1-player Story Mode become playable in 2-player Versus Mode. These include Sapphire King, Taterbug, Cupric. The 2-player mode also allows for players who achieve a certain number of XP points to unlock classic characters that didn't make it into the game's storyline. These include primarily Jawknee and Chillingworth II. The 2-player mode also allows players to play as villains that are not playable in 1-player mode.

The goal of each character's role in the game premise is to give them movesets, especially during fight sequences, that will match their personalities and fighting styles. This aspect of the game premise is modeled after the DC universe-based game Injustice: Gods Among Us.

Development

 * Inspired by Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects and Injustice: Gods Among Us