Biome 3 of 4 · Water reserve and archive

The Ice Fields

ARCHON keeps its water here, and something older. The ice fields change how every glider handles, and under them lies the record of four hundred years of listening to Earth.

The place

Frozen lakes, glacier roads and ice cliffs, with snow falling and blizzards closing in. You can see what is slippery: smooth blue ice gives almost nothing to push against, packed snow gives a little more.

The rule of the biome

On the ice every glider has less grip and steers more slowly. Corners you took flat out in the desert now need a plan. This is where the Ray earns its place, with far more lateral grip than any other hull.

The fight

Relays, generator, factory, Node, as before, with a bigger turret nest and machines that take more punishment. The Node guards the way into the archive, and the archive explains why ARCHON turned on the people it was built to wait for.

What it unlocks

The fall of the ice Node opens the lava fields and makes the Renegade, the elite hull, available at the station.

Screenshots

In-engine captures, work in progress. In the game this region is scored by “Frozen Terraforming”, a track from the original soundtrack. Which glider to bring: see the five hulls.