These Junkyard Dogs Bite!

by: Taea

Something stinks in the southeastern part of Valverde Plateau of Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa. A huge Bane junkyard sits down here, and you and your squad have become the AFS garbage men. Ustor Yard is a level 30 squad instance, and it’s highly recommended that you do not attempt it alone. You need to complete this instance to gain entrance to the Maligo Bridge and waypoint, which allows you to enter the more formidable Maligo Base.

You’ll want to start off in the Southwest part of Plateau at Camp Resistance. Grab a bunch of EMP bombs and plenty of ammo for your chainguns, as you will run into a huge amount of targets in this instance. Colonel Bosley waits for you at -620,442,-210. He has received distressing news that the Bane are attempting to assemble their own wormhole machine inside nearby Maligo Base. Previously they haven’t been able to use the wormhole technology because their molecular structure is just too different. You’ve got to stop the creation of this Bane Wormhole at all costs. His mission, One Way Trip orders you to proceed through Ustor Yard, a large junkyard of Bane equipment, to gain access to the waypoint teleporter and doorway to Maligo Base. Run east from Camp Resistance along the canyon ridge, make a slight southern turn around -14,433,-392, then turn east and run along a Bane trail. Jump down to the path below and head south up a hill to the Ustor entrance at 373,433,-555.

Upon entering the instance you’ll find a local waypoint generator and a Field Medic for those last minute repairs and purchases. Just ahead you’ll find Field Lieutenant Rapp who advances your One Way Trip mission. Rapp then offers you Silent But Deadly, which involves you helping to bring down the Bane security systems in the area. There are 2 ways to complete this mission: stealth or force. Stealth involves sneaking to the security station in the south, and uploading a virus to the Bane systems. That may sound easy, but it’s extremely difficult to avoid being spotted by all the large patrols in the area. One way to accomplish the stealth mode would be to avoid accepting the mission, and run around clearing the zone. Yeah, that is about as silly as it sounds. Remember you are a soldier in the AFS, so you may as well get out there and disable the systems by force.

From Lt. Rapp’s position, head up and over the debris hill to the south, where you will most likely encounter a Bane patrol. Upon being spotted by the Bane, the “avoid detection” objective of your mission will fail. Ignore this and proceed in dispatching the enemy. Most of these patrols are accompanied by a Sentinel, the small round eyeball bots that can port in reinforcements. Target these Sentinels quickly to keep the Bane numbers under control. Expect to run into Mortars, Stalkers and Predators at any time, and several Bane-modified Mox.

Continue down the path to the south/southwest toward the mission marker at 276,164,-158. Look on the side of the generator for the detonator spot and set your charge. The mission will update as you’ve blown open the door to the security station. Just northwest of the blown generator is the entrance to Security Station Bravo. Proceed to the southeast room, jumping off the catwalk and down into a mess of Bane, including the named Taskmaster Yvik. When you clear the room, the mission updates with a new objective to interface with the computer that will bring down the force fields. The computer is on the west side of the station at 153,157,-194. It’s time to return to Lt. Rapp at the zone entrance to turn in Silent But Deadly with a reward of 6200 credits and choice of Graviton Gloves or Hazmat/Motor Assist/Reflective Boots.

Rapp has intel that the Bane are executing multiple missions to the north, and taking something from large tanks in the area. The AFS has to know what this is all about. Rapp gives you the mission Interception, ordering you to head up there and intercept a patrol before another patrol comes near. Hopefully you’ll grab a pass to the tank storage area in the middle of all this. Head west away from Rapp, and be prepared for another patrol around 298,178,-6. You have a mortar to deal with on your way toward the mission marker near 272,179,86. You should meet your first patrol here, getting a mission update to clear the patrol before another enters the area.

Next you need to gather samples from the 2 tanks around 316,173,91. Look up on the side of each and “use” the Machine Parts to get what you need. Next head down in the pits and destroy each fuel pump by using the detonators on the supports. With the destruction of the tanks, Interception will complete by radio transmission with a reward of 4650 credits and choice of Grenade Launcher, Leech Gun, Electric Net Gun or Pistol.

A follow up radio transmission gives you Monkey Wrench. The original theory about Ustor was that it was simply a junkyard, but the information you gathered leads them to believe the spare parts are being used for some kind of machine in nearby Maligo. You’ve got to turn off the conveyor system feeding Maligo, and gain entrance into the facility. Make your way toward the central area of the zone, and watch out for a Juggernaught around 161,176,49. Follow the trail up to the north part of the zone, (Predators!) to the mission marker at 19,177,127. A poor naked prisoner is stuck here in the middle of a nasty pit, with no armor to increase her muck resistance. She has noticed the Bane use some sort of stim pack to help them fight the effects of the green glowy junk, and she thinks that will help her survive a naked run out of the area. Out of Thin Air requires you to kill some Bane and loot one of these stim packs for (she’s nameless, so we’ll call her…) Barbie. Step out of the muck and find a patrol, loot a stim pack, and hand it to Barbie.

Barbie now becomes your friend and attaches herself to your squad for an escort out of the base. There is a big problem with this mission, however, as it often bugs. If she dies, you can return to the muck pit and start over, but often other group members can’t get it too. If everyone isn’t able to get the mission, you can try /petition to get GM help while you are still in the zone. You will need to complete the Barbie mission to get Operations credit for the Plateau ToO. Your best bet is to keep whomever is escorting Barbie way behind the group, so she won’t get caught in the Bane line of fire. Run out of the muck pit area to the west, and follow the trail south, then east around the bottom of the central green area, and up to the facility doorway at 153,176,-14. Monkey Wrench will update inside as you kill the named and loot a facility key. Place the key inside the console at 66,178,-12, then turn to your left and use the keyboard to shut down the supply line. The mission will complete by Radio Transmission with a reward of 6600 credits and choice of Bio Helmet, or Hazmat/Motor Assist/Reflective Gloves.

You’re on the home stretch now. All you need to do at this point is get out of Ustor. Backtrack out of the facility, run south and then west along the trail to -40,176,-15. You don’t need to kill anything in the yard here if you can run west fast enough into the building, down the ramp and to the exit at -180,160,1. Out of Thin Air will complete by radio transmission here, with a reward of 6400 credits and choice of Chaingun, Cryo Net Gun, Electric Polarity Gun or Laser Rifle. As you zone out, One Way Trip will update as you have gained access to the Maligo Bridge and waypoint. Right ahead of you lies the entrance to Maligo Base, but that’s another story.

Want to comment on our guide? Please send me a note, or post your thoughts in the Tabula Rasa Community Forums.