MoreDread,
Well, I can't tell you how good it is to know that I wasn't "wasting" my time going waaaaaaay down south, enter that cloud, and just to see what would happen. So, the fact that I can even enter that region demonstrates that the Easter Egg mission worked, although I didn't know it yet!
In a way, having to explore that region with no assists makes it feel more foreboding, almost like living "Heart of Darkness." Interesting!
Now I
have to get those "free" mercs, because my first encounter in the canyons was
quite a challenge with me and the one merc I did hire, Warlock. Help is definitely needed from this point onward.
One thing that I miss from Brigade E5 is that a majority of these maps seem more restrictive both in the absence of
vertical tactical options and with depicting regions that certainly
look accessible to humans, but are made off limits in the game. The "Jungle" map is a good example of this. Those mounds look approachable to me!
The canyons map is the first map I've fought on where the threat of the lower and upper elevations kept me nervous. I hope that there's more of this down the road.
Thanks for your tremendously detailed response. It's got my interest level piqued!