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Lua error in Dev:Quote at line 48: attempt to concatenate local 'quotetext' (a nil value). The Dust Men, also known as the transients, were a large faction that consisted of former homeless people from the Warren District who rallied under Alden Tate soon after the quarantine was put into action in Empire City. After the Blast, the faction had risen to power in a short period of time and took over the Warren.
Background
Pre-Blast
Young Alden, homeless like all Dust Men before the Blast.
Before the Blast, the Warren District was impoverished and known for hosting the majority of the homeless population of Empire City, Alden Tate counted among them. Soon after the Blast, Tate rallied a portion of the homeless population into a street gang, organizing them into the Dust Men, and the faction took the Warren by force in a short period of time. Likely unbeknownst to its members, the Dust Men were merely meant as a tool to reclaim Tate's birthright as leader of the First Sons.
Being homeless, the Dust Men constructed their equipment from scavenged trash and scrap metal and built several bases throughout the Warren to maintain control over the district, building up their Tent City as their main base of operations.
Controlling the Warren
That night, we could hear the screams from Tent City. They were drunk on power, proud of their victory over the cops... over me.
Cole on the Dust Men.
After the Blast, the Dust Men used several methods to gain higher control over the city and the other factions.
The transients began collecting scrap metal from across the Warren, and used it to construct various bases throughout, including a large fort made out of shipping containers used as a makeshift prison, as well as Tent City, which they made their base of operations. At the center of Tent City, they building massive scrap tower overlooking the district, where they began constructing a large scrap golem for use by Alden.
To keep the population of the district under control, they utilized various tactics. They installed surveillance cameras across various apartment buildings. The transients also utilized those with useful skills as slave labor at gunpoint, including medics and city engineers, and forcefully conscripted others into their ranks. Notably, to instill fear into the population, they reinforced city buses and mounted machine guns upon them, which they used to patrol the streets and gun down all civilians in sight. The Dust Men also engaged in general banditry, stealing medical supplies from clinics and committing armed robberies.
At some point, they snuck into John White's safehouse in the Warren and stole the Ray Sphere, and took it to Alden's tower.
Stranded
Cole's first encounter with the Dust Men was after he escaped from the collapsing tunnel between the Neon District and the Warren, after his battle with Sasha. They engaged in a battle within him in the sewers, where they attempted and failed to stop him from restoring power to the Warren's southern section.
An Old Friend
On Cole's mission to lower the drawbridge between the Neon and the Warren, he rescued Roger Miller from their custody, a city engineer whom the transients were using as slave labor. Cole defended Miller from Dust Men attacks as he successfully lowered the bridge.
Zeke's Request
Next, at the request of Zeke Dunbar, Cole investigated the disappearance of Dwight. Cole found him lying dead and discovered he had been killed by scrap crabs created by a Dust Men armored conduit. Cole thereafter defeated the conduit.
Playing Hero
The Dust Men engaged in another battle with Cole in the sewers of the Warren, attempting and failing once again to prevent him from restoring power to the northwestern section of the district.
Standard Protocol
In an effort to escape the quarantine, the Dust Men kidnapped civilians from across the Warren and placed them in cages on four boats at various docks, to be used as hostages to safely bypass the United States military's blockade of the city. Unbeknownst to them, as they made final preparations to depart, the military planned on destroying the boats notwithstanding the presence of the civilian captives. As a result, Cole, with the assistance of Moya Jones, saved the civilians and destroyed each of the boat's engines.
Alden Strikes
Unhappy with Cole's disruption of Dust Men operations, the Dust Men, at the behest of Alden, kidnapped Zeke as he attempted to infiltrate their container fort facility. As Alden taunted Cole over the loudspeakers of the facility, Cole engaged the Dust Men in battle and successfully rescued Zeke.
Anything for Trish
As Cole assisted Trish Dailey in transporting medical supplies from the Neon to Bayview Hospital in the Warren, the Dust Men attempted and failed to destroy the bus in transport. However, as the bus reached the hospital, Alden, standing atop the hospital, telekinetically lifted the bus and threw it on its roof with Trish inside. Cole successfully defeated the Dust Men guarding the hospital and rescued Trish.
The Arrest
The remnants of the 43rd Precinct of the Empire Police Department later began an operation to arrest Alden for his crimes and became embroiled in a battle with Dust Men forces at Tent City. Informed by Moya of the operation, Cole traveled to the area to assist the police in making the arrest. With Cole's support, and the defeat of a golem conduit, the police successfully arrested Alden and transported him to Eagle Point Penitentiary via helicopter.
Terrorized Streets
Enraged by the arrest of their leader, the Dust Men fortified a city transit bus and used it as a mobile weapons platform, indiscriminately killing civilians as it traveled through the Warren. Cole successfully disabled the bus.
Alden in Chains
Dust Men's rise to power
Eventually, the Dust Men mounted an attack on Eagle Point Penitentiary, where Alden was held captive. As Cole and a team of police engaged the transients in battle, Alden was being interrogated inside, with Zeke keeping guard. The Dust Men eventually breached the prison's walls and freed Alden from captivity, mostly due to Zeke abandoning his post.
Light in the Tunnel
Upset by Alden's escape, Cole elected to restore power to the final section of the Warren. For the third and final time, the Dust Men attempted and failed to prevent Cole from restoring power. Cole successfully restored power to the entire district.
Secrets Revealed
As Cole and John White were to meet for the first time, a First Sons helicopter arrived to trick John into breaking his cover, pretending to be his handlers who were there to extract him. As the helicopter broadcast a message to John over its loudspeaker, a Dust Men golem conduit destroyed the helicopter, and used its gas tank as a weapon against Cole. Cole defeated the conduit and entered into a partnership with John.
The Ray Sphere
After Cole learns that the Dust Men are keeping the Ray Sphere is being held at the top of Alden's tower, he and Zeke meet there to capture it. After scaling the tower, Alden announces his presence, and Cole defends Zeke from attacking Dust Men forces as he attempts to dislodge the Ray Sphere from its mount. As Zeke finally dislodges the Ray Sphere, Kessler arrives in a helicopter. Caught between Alden and Kessler, Zeke attempts and fails to activate the Ray Sphere to obtain super powers. Kessler tricks Zeke into believing that he can fix the Ray Sphere so Zeke can obtain super powers. This results in Zeke's betrayal of Cole, as he leaves with Kessler, Ray Sphere in tow. Enraged by the loss of the Ray Sphere, Alden enters his unfinished giant scrap golem and leaves on a rampage to the Historic District.
Alden's Rampage
After Alden leaves on his rampage, Cole intercepts him halfway across the bridge to the Historic District and engages in a battle with Alden's scrap golem. Cole successfully defeats the golem, but Alden escapes by jumping into the water below the bridge. Left leaderless and having much of their operations disrupted, the Dust Men were in shambles.
Alden's defeat.
Aftermath
After the defeat of Alden, the Dust Men continued to operate in the Warren for some time, but as a shadow of their former organization. However, after the destruction of Empire City at the hands of the Beast, it is likely that the entire organization perished along with the rest of the city.
Equipment
Weapons
Submachine Guns: Standard Dust Men most commonly carried a submachine gun similar in appearance to the Sterling L2A3, but rusted and with a sharp makeshift scrap metal bayonet affixed to the barrel.
Shotguns: Some standard Dust Men less commonly carried what appears to be a police issue pump-action single-barrel shotgun. They wielded shotguns more often than other factions, however.
Miniguns: On rare occasions and for special operations, some heavy Dust Men carried miniguns.
Rocket-Propelled Grenade Launchers (RPGs): Some heavy Dust Men, including armored conduits, carried what appears to be a makeshift RPG which resembles the RPG-7 but with four additional grenade storage tubes.
Fragmentation Grenades: All standard Dust Men wielded fragmentation grenades.
Grenade Launchers: Some standard Dust Men wielded a six-shot drum fed grenade launcher resembling the Milkor MGL.
Scrap Crabs: The scrap crabs were small, crab-like golems made entirely of scrap metal and telekinetically constructed and controlled by armored conduits. They were used in battle to harass and annoy opponents, often constructed and attacking in groups of three, using their retractable stinger to stab opponents before temporarily fleeing. The scrap crabs were deployed on an ad hoc basis by armored conduits from their scrap backpacks in battle but also but also sometimes left inert in garbage repositories, lying in wait to ambush passersby.
Turrets: Like the other factions, the Dust Men utilized heavy machine gun turrets reinforced by a steel shield, placed at strategic positions across the Warren, particularly the sewers and the areas where the power was turned off.
Vehicles
Fishing Boats: In an attempt to escape the federal government's quarantine and blockade of Empire City, the Dust Men commandeered various fishing boats with added cages for civilian hostages. These boats were disabled at the hands of Cole.
Terror Buses: After the arrest of Alden, the Dust Men commandeered city buses and reinforced them with scrap metal and slits for mounted machine guns on all sides. These were dubbed "terror buses" by the populace, as they were used to indiscriminately gun down civilians. They were invulnerable to conventional weaponry and could only be disabled by overcharging the engine from atop the bus.
Turret Trucks: Like other factions, the Dust Men utilized eight-wheeled flatbed trucks a turret on the back. These vehicles were commonly used to patrol the unpowered areas in the Warren and served as mobile turret emplacements.
Other equipment
Scrap Metal Shields: Some Dust Men carried shields made of large chunks of scrap metal in addition to the standard submachine gun.
Ranks
The Dust Men ranking varies. The high ranks carrying considerable stronger and more advanced weaponry.
Standard Dust Men
A standard Dust Man.
The type most often encountered in the Warren district, this rank of Dust Men carry Sterling L1 submachine gun on most occasions. However they carry a more varied selections of weapons than the other groups. As mentioned earlier, they wear quilted jackets, parts of old clothes, trash bags, scrap metals, combat boots and garbage bags over their heads acting as masks.
Most also wear capes made scavenged from garbage bags. Their armor is always damaged when a Dust Man is hit by any attacks. The Dust Men in general have stronger foot soldiers than the Reapers and can take more damaged due to more armor.
Heavy Weapons Dust Men
They come in 3 variants: The RPG Dust Men, the grenader Dust men and the less common, Minigun Dust Men. The RPG variant wear bulky brown cloth and a dirty white balaclava with a cloth cape and are more resistant to lightning damage than other dustmen. The minigun variant only appears in missions and looks like a standard dustman wearing a square hood with green cape and armor pieces.
Dust Men Bombers
They carry flare like bombs and have a set of explosives strapped to their chests. They are similar to the Kamikaze Reapers, but can handle more damage due to their armor. They make a truly incredible amount of noise even when they are not alerted, and this is the main means of locating them.
Armored Conduit
Also known as Scrap Crabs Conduits, these are heavily armored figures that carry RPGs and have the ability to spawn an infinite number of Scrap Crabs from a weird, cage-like "backpack" from their back. It is implied that they have limited telekinetic abilities, and that the "backpack" consists of the garbage they are using to make the crabs. These Conduits can withstand a lot of damage, such as several Head Shocks or Megawatt Hammer blasts. In the mission Zeke's Request Cole follows the Echo and at last it lead him to an Armored Conduit.
Golem Conduits
Also known as Armored Golems, are Conduits who encase themselves in a huge scrap armor. They can fire a machine gun-like arm, shooting rocks instead of bullets, scrap bombs and they can do a thunder drop-like attack(splash shockwave) if Cole is too close of the Golem. One needs to shoot out the leg or the arm, causing the Golem to fall and expose the Conduit. They also change colors depending how damaged it is, from yellow (normal), to orange (partly damaged) and red (critically damaged).
Locations
- The Warren
- Alden's Tower
Trivia
- They are the only faction out of the three that tried to break the Quarantine.
- The Golem Conduit is the only conduit that will give you 1 XP for live capture and is not referred to as "Tough Collar."
- Most of the Dust Men are green but the ones with the missile launchers are brown. Some regular Dust Men are black or gray as well.
- The insignia of the Dust Men (a gear with a nail through it) bears a strong resemblance to the Brotherhood Outcasts' insignia from the Fallout Series but with a nail instead of a sword.
- Being a gang consisting of homeless civilians, the Dust Men's weapons are very old and rusty. They seem to, however, boast the most accurate weapons in Infamous, albeit they are very weak.
- They never use their bayonets in-game.
- The RPG-weilding Dust Men do not glow red when using Cole's Radar Pulse, which can make them difficult to spot, except for when they fire their weapons.
Gallery
