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Rogue Trooper Classics #2

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    Nolando
    Senior Member

  • Rogue Trooper Classics #2


    Published by: IDW Publishing
    Released on: June 11, 2014

    Another great collection of four of the original stories from Rogue Trooper's A.D. 2000 days. He continues his quest to discover what happened in the ambush that wiped out all the other G.I.'s like him, helping out his Sout'er brothers against the evil Norts along the way.

    [SPOILERS]

    Raiders - The first story has Rogue encountering Nort raiders, preying on Sout'er civilian refugee convoys as they try and cross the dangerous rad-deserts of Nu-Earth. His G.I.-chip-implanted equipment (Helm, Bagman and Gunner) all want him to keep on his way, mostly so they can get to safety and placed back in proper bodies.




    But Rogue persists in saving those he encounters however he can. As these refugees are unarmed and the raiders are as vicious as they are efficient, he approaches the civilians with an offer to help and a plan. He uses a discarded transport tread to create a deceptive dust trail, luring the raiders to his location rather than toward the refugees. Then, once they're upon him, he's able to start cutting them down, leading them to a trap of some explosives buried under the sand that proves the raiders' final undoing. Rogue notes then that this group is safe but laments the fate of the others that will undoubtedly follow.




    Scum Sea - Just as the land itself has been poisoned on Nu-Earth so, too, have the great oceans. Here, the Nort Navy reigns supreme and, with the foul water keeping the poisoned clouds away, they can operate without chem-suits. But they dare not touch the water, not like Rogue can…

    He's soon aboard a vessel, thinking that someone on this boat might have more information on the Quartz Massacre that wiped out his regiment. He takes the minimal crew captive and, in order to demand information, let's Helm explain why they're there: He tells the story of his last night “alive.” The Sout'er Milli-Com, in orbit, gave the order to the G.I.'s to breakout, under the safety of a chem-cloud barrage. As it turns out, though, this is a trap that the Norts somehow knew to spring. After all the fighting, it's only Rogue and Helm still alive and they head to the coast for extraction. There, though, the shuttle on the water gets destroyed by the Nort navy and, in the attack, Helm dies and voices his suspicions about a traitor with his dying breath.




    Back on the ship, then, the older navy captain confesses that he was there that night and not proud of what he did. He tells Rogue the name of the Nort in charge of this all was Grand-Admiral Hoffa, whom the Sout'er traitor worked with to make this all come about. But then the captain attacks Rogue who, caught a bit off guard, managers to commandeer the nearby missile system and fire it at the sailors, killing them all and destroying their ship. Rogue then declares he is now on a “waste mission,” to waste that admiral.




    Ascent to Buzzard-Three - Rogue lays in wait, ready to spring a trap on Grand-Admiral Hoffa when he eventually passes by. He spies the admiral and destroys the transport only to discover that the person inside is a double for Hoffa. Rogue plans his next stage, though, knowing this area will soon be covered by Nort troops and give him another chance to get at Hoffa.




    Hoffa himself heads to the locked-down area, wanting to inspect it personally. Thinking that the G.I. has run “like all Sout'er cowards” he gets out of his speeder. A trooper nearby warns him not to but he arrogantly dismisses his concern. He also briefly ponders aloud whether he should warn Buzzard-Three, a Sout'er Milli-Com satellite overhead where his traitorous contact is located. The trooper nearby repeats this name, causing the admiral to notice something not right about him - but too late! Rogue has snuck in as a suited Nort trooper and got the intel he needed. He cuts Hoffa's suit open and leaves him upright in his speeder, dying but looking like he's just sitting there. Rogue escapes the area, knowing now where his next destination lies…




    He manages to sneak aboard a supply shuttle headed to the satellite and, soon enough, is in the command center with all the other generals. He relates his story of a traitor in their midst and the generals rightly decide to investigate immediately. However, they soon have other problems as a Nort missile is headed right toward the defenseless satellite. They all hop into the lifepods and escape but Rogue soon realizes this, too, was part of the traitors plan as all the pods begin burning up due to sabotage. Rogue quickly assesses the problem and manages to use Gunnar's chip into the wrecked control unit to get them safely to the planet's surface. Nearby, though, they see another satellite coming down, knowing they've found their traitor at last...

    The Rookies, Part 1 - The narrative switches here, to regular Sout'er soldiers getting freshly-deployed to Nu-Earth. Kransky and Field are a 2-man lazooka team and Field “dares” question why they're fighting this war in the first place. Kransky gives him a history lesson about the conflict between North and South and the strategic importance of Nu-Earth in ending that war.




    Time passes for them, realizing what the true cost of the war is. Kransky grows stone cold while Field acts like this is a nightmare he's going to awake from at any point. The two continue to argue constantly which causes them to delay a deployment one day. However, a sneak airborne Nort attack kills the rest of their company, leaving just these two alive. Field is starting to really lose it now but he soon finds himself face to face with that lone surviving G.I., the Rogue Trooper!

    These fast-paced, action-heavy stories never seem to cease to entertain. Gerry Finley-Day keeps it rolling along at a great clip while still building an overall bit of mystery. Artwork duties are covered at different points in this collection by Dave Gibbons and Colin Wilson and they both give a real life to the varied environments the big blue hero character finds himself in. This collection is as solid as the first and sets itself up nicely for the next collection to follow.
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