Nobody Does It Better...

You know... 2011 has been a  good year for gaming. Now, on the last day of the year, I can look back in all honesty and say truly- YES... It was an awesome year for gaming! Consider that I started the year playing Rift beta, and wound my way through Eve Online, Age Of Conan, Sims 3, World Of Tanks, Microsoft Flight Simulator X, Second Life, Forsaken World, and of course... Guild Wars, only to find myself leaving one galaxy far far away and joining the same... 3000 years earlier (RIP SWG, Hello SWTOR). How about that, I even managed to time travel, to boot. Doc Brown would be proud of me. Along the way, I managed to end my 2 year unemployment stint; was able to get into an awesome rock band by the name of Death Of Adonis; and even have my daughter- "Lolo" up here for the holidays... The last one being significant, since it has been several YEARS since we spent the holidays together. Last but most certainly not least... I have a new roommate named Luna- a gorgeous grey kitten, gifted to me by my awesome coworker, Jaclyn.

I was going to use this last blog of the year to recap all the fun events, and the not so fun ones of 2011, but after further review... You really do not want to read about that anyway. If you have been keeping track, you already know what life was like this year. So instead, I want to talk a bit more about the surprising level of FUN I have been having in the last month of Star Wars- The Old Republic, as the Imperial Operative- Belenos.

The name's Geode... Belenos Geode. I have enough swagger as James Bond, with the skills of a master hacker, and the medical know how of Bones McCoy... Not to mention they gave me a kickass British accent! You can find me on the RP-PVE (roleplaying- player vs environment) server known as Lord Adraas. I was lucky enough to get into early access and had 5 days of playing before the mad throng burst through the SWTOR gates... So I started my life on Hutta, deep undercover as a criminal known as the Red Blade.

My boss- a brilliant strategist codenamed- Keeper, sent me here to see if I could garner the support of the major Hutt cartel, for the Empire. The task seemed easy enough... Do what Nem'ro The Hutt and his lackeys tell me to do... gain their trust, then take it from there.

As expected, Nem'ro is a slimy piece of worm ridden filth... Aren't they all though. I managed to get into the good graces of one of his lieutenants- a stocky, black man by the name of Karrels. With my charm, and skills I was able to get him to see things my way, without having to disintegrate him. In due time, Nem'ro himself respected the Red Blade.

I got free run of the palace, and was able to take in the many sights of the place... Let me tell you, for a backwater, poisoned world, there are indeed some sights worth seeing. Turns out I was not the only one keeping an eye out. From the shadows, there was another player in the spy game... an assassin known as Kaliyo. Not quite sure what to make of her, I regarded her cautiously, till she figured out that working for me was going to be more lucrative, not to mention FUN.

Ok, I think I can get into the Sinead O'Connor look... as long as she can handle herself with a blaster. More importantly, Keeper taught me never to waste a valuable resource. If Kaliyo was willing to tag along while I get my mission done, then the more the merrier.

As it would turn out, she became a great asset to have on the battlefield. While I generally prefer to work alone, I have to admit, having the Ratataki by my side makes fights go a lot smoother. Besides... she has a sick sense of humor that I find highly attractive, even if she does repulse my advances.

Belenos and Kaliyo... almost like the high tech version of Bonnie and Clyde... tearing through Hutta like it was made out of rat poison filled cheese. I do have to say that she knows how to handle herself, and has even been willing to sacrifice herself in the pursuit of a target. Luckily for her, I know how to cheat people of death... as well as hasten them to it.

In short order we found ourselves tackling a rival Hutt gang, to aid in Nem'ro's supremacy of his home world, and along the way, picked up some baubles for our trouble... For example, this shining gem is called a datacron (each starting world has 3, the rest have 5 or more). When touched it grants the user a permanent attribute increase, which comes in really handy for gaining an edge on the competition.

I can assure you, as an undercover agent... there is ALWAYS competition... In any event, having satisfied my mission parameters, and having made Keeper a happy man for it, it was time to get off Hutta to more palatable climes.

Only one thing stood in our way, as we were to get off world... Unbeknownst to us, the REAL Red Blade apparently heard of my endeavors in his place, and decided to come to Hutta to investigate.

He was not a happy camper by the time I explained to him that his services and presence were no longer needed. I did thank him for the alias though... It was fun.

Once that matter had been... dealt with... It was onto the shuttle and off the smelly world of the Hutts, to rendezvous at the Imperial Fleet- my home away from home.

I took the time to get to know my companion a little better... all the while still amazed at her resolve. Every pick up line I used failed in a major way! I was beginning to think perhaps I lost my legendary charm!

By the time we landed on Drumond Kaas- Imperial capital world, I had put the issue in the back of my mind, in favor of getting to the task at hand... a meeting with Keeper to discuss my next assignment.

Ahh Kaas City- there has never been a more gloomy looking capital city. Always raining, always dark, and full of more intrigue in one sector than in most of the galaxy, save the senate tower on Coruscant. To make a long story short, I was sent on some errands for a Darth Jadus, as well as Keeper, and by the time I got back, I found out that some heavy duty terrorists had succeeded in blowing up Darth Jadus' personal ship- with HIM on it... as well as a thousand civilians. Keeper was livid, to say the least.

More undercover work... Find out who is responsible... follow the leads and uncover the masterminds behind this plot. Standard fare Imperial agent work, to be sure...

But who says the job has no perks? Gathering intel can be a rather lengthy and draining process after all. At least I have not truly lost my charm, even if my choice in women can be limited at times. Speaking of women, after my brief tryst with this daughter of a suspect, I also turned my eye to my coworker- Watcher 2. A tough nut to crack, I put that bug in her ear that she is more than just a pretty voice on the comm, and went about my business.

One such mission involved me retrieving an ancient mask of Darth Revan, thereby securing my initiation into the Cult of Revan. Once that was secure, I betrayed them and walked away from the fallout and purges that occurred. Silly cultists...

I also had the dubious good fortune of travelling to the Dark Temple, to solve some pressing matters that concerned the Sith council. How I managed to make it out of that spooky place with my mind intact is beyond me.

By the time I returned to Kaas City, a plan was being formulated to locate and eliminate the Terror network run by a shadowy man called "The Eagle". There was just one more thing I NEEDED to do before leaving Drumond Kaas...

Seduce Watcher 2. Let's just say, mission accomplished. (wink wink). As part of my bonus for my work with Intelligence, I was granted clearance to fly one of the new X-70 starships.

To call it a luxury yacht is a mere understatement. This slice of paradise is more than just a fancy place to call home, but a mobile assault platform, complete with its own (annoying) servant droid! In short, this ship is the perfect thing to run around the galaxy in!

Of course, I had to take it for a test drive...

Not too shabby... a brand new ship, a new codename of Cipher 9, spiffy new uniform, got laid TWICE on the Imperial capital, though I still have not gotten into my companion's pants... yet. Not bad at all... and all this before level 20!

We shall stop our story here, in the interest of length, but I do promise a LOT more to come in the new year, and possibly a spinoff blog, to go more in depth into the story of Belenos the Imperial Agent. For now, I hope you have all enjoyed the story, as well as enjoyed the many blessings of 2011.

Happy New Year to all! See you in 2012 and may the force be with you!