[SoNE Episode IV] Sector C: Operation NOSECONE

[VK-318]

It's always a good sign when my commanders take the time to find out what "enlisted specialist" means. I knew things were starting to look up when I got picked for Operation NOSECONE.

First, some background. In the weeks and months following the Battle of Hoth, the Rebel Alliance launched a breakout attempt targeting the Imperial prison facility on the planet Sullust. Imperial resistance proved stronger than they had expected, and what had evidently been intended as a hit-and-run mission turned into a knock-down, drag-out battle for control of the facility. As Rebels flocked to the assault from the neighboring systems, the Avenger was posted to provide reinforcements for the beleaguered defenders. Our position was strong; an Imperial Star Destroyer carries enough troops to subjugate most star systems, and while we would not have access to our vehicular weapons platforms, we would still have the rebels heavily outnumbered. The difficulty would be communications; specifically maintaining contact with the Avenger and coordinating our efforts with her fleet and the forces acting outside the prison. For that, we would need a secure communication channel.

The prison was quite old, and a communications encryption module had been installed in a hidden bunker in a small, sandy valley on the surface, far from known lava flows, to communicate with the outside and (via secure cables) with the prison underground. The Rebels had seized that module, and the first step in Captain Erdbeereis and Commander Brickdoctor's plan to retake the prison was to regain control of this communications facility. Since it had been retrofitted on the surface of the planet, there was no entrance from the rest of the base; we would have to get in by the main surface entrance of the small, shielded bunker. My job was simple.

I was supposed to open the door.

A few well-placed directional charges, set off at same time, took down the door without giving the Rebels inside the slightest notice of what was going on outside until the door came apart. One of the Rebels was knocked back by the force of the explosion, and all of them were caught completely by surprise as we burst in.

Our captain burst in, and I was right behind him. This was fortunate, because the Rebels had posted a guard just inside the door, to the right. He was a little quicker to react than his companions, and as I entered the bunker the barrel of his weapon was rising quickly.

There was no time to aim and shoot. I shoved myself in front of him and struck the Rebel with the butt of my pistol, and he fell without a sound.

Finally, the Rebels began to react, but by this time most of us were already inside.

The rebels fought bravely ...

... but two of their number had already fallen, and by now they were hopelessly outnumbered. In a few seconds, it was all over.

Suddenly, I heard rapid footsteps behind me. We all whirled around to see the man whom I had clubbed sprinting out of the open door and across the sand.

In the heat of battle there had of course been no time to be sure that he was dead. In a firefight, one does not waste shots on people who aren't pointing their weapons at you. We fired at the Rebel, but he quickly disappeared behind the rocks and escaped. It didn't matter. We had accomplished our objective, and the Empire would settle accounts with him later. We cleared away the bodies and the damaged droid and propped the door up again, held up as a barricade by the two heavy fuel cylinders that fed the bunker's backup power supply beneath our feet. The final tally was: one stormtrooper dead, six alive and uninjured; one Rebel escaped and five dead. With the station thus secure, the engineering specialists who formed part of our team began transmitting the first signals from our newly-recaptured facility.

"Come in Base One, come in Avenger, this is Communications Station 109-E. Mission accomplished."

[Nom Carver]

Nice job trooper, keep your ground until the reinforcements arrive. I love that tiled floor.

[TWP]

Good work! I love that tile floor too, and your comm tower looks cool too!

[Lord Tyrus]

Well done comrade, victory is in sight... Love the patterned floor and comm. tower!

Good work! I love that tile floor too, and your comm tower looks cool too!

Almost posted at exactly the same time!

[Donnie Bricko]

This is a nice build...very good detailing. Great work

[Dapper-D2]

The best Antenna in the competition, but I do say that with some hesitation because of my fondness for JaseTJ's 50's model.

[JaseTJ]

Seriously though when I first saw this I immediately realized how un-Star Wars mine was. But I liked it too much to change :P

[Kaitan]

Yep , love the floor and the antenna, both very well done!

[LucasLaughing]

Awesome job! You do a great job capturing the chaos of a close-quarters battle, and I like all the thought you put into the story as well!

[Rogue Angel]

I agree with the others-the floor tiling and the communications tower are very well done. Nice job!

[VK-318]

Awesome job! You do a great job capturing the chaos of a close-quarters battle, and I like all the thought you put into the story as well!

Um ... about the close-quarters thing? I just didn't have enough tiles to make it any bigger. Thanks, LucasLaughing!

[BEAVeR]

O, really nice! So... what does NOSECONE stand for? I'm expecting a super duper abbreviation here!

But even if it isn't any cool abbreviation in particular, your build is still nice. The antenna tower is the star. It's nice, so symmetrical, yet so diverse. You balanced between the two nicely. I like the different sections at 45 degrees, and am particularry fond of those cone combinations at the bottom. Moreover, the overall shape actually makes sense. Only thing is, that it seems to be just put on the floor: there is nothing of some support, or piping, or fencing of the sort. Maybe just a different tile pattern would be better.

The ground level is well done. The tiling is nice, and so is that door with the hexagonal shape. The fact that it splits up in two angled parts is good, but it's a pitty that doesn't show clear in the build. I'm a big fan of your consoles with the right chosen printed tiles. Maybe try to go a little bit more assymeyrical, because what's the use of having every control double? Very nice touch to set the panels at that slight angle by the way.

It really pleases me to see such a well worked out story, and a lot of documentation of the build. It makes you stand out as a dedicated builder, although you may not have that many parts. Imagine what you could do more though. Building walls all the way around (or just at the back, so the view isn't blocked), or building some rocks on top to convey the nested feeling you're talking about more... I would love to see that one day. But still your build is great as it is, and a very welcome addition to SoNE!

[LegoFjotten]

Nice build!

[VK-318]

O, really nice! So... what does NOSECONE stand for? I'm expecting a super duper abbreviation here!

Actually, it isn't an abbreviation; U.S. military operation names are sometimes all-caps, hence the appearance of an abbreviation. Nosecone refers to the fact that this is the first operation in the overall mission, and the nosecone of a rocket is the very front ... This would provide an operation whose name is pertinent, but not a giveaway. I thought I had put that in the narrative, but I see I didn't. Might edit the narrative later to fix that.

O, really nice! So... what does NOSECONE stand for? I'm expecting a super duper abbreviation here!

But even if it isn't any cool abbreviation in particular, your build is still nice. The antenna tower is the star. It's nice, so symmetrical, yet so diverse. You balanced between the two nicely. I like the different sections at 45 degrees, and am particularry fond of those cone combinations at the bottom. Moreover, the overall shape actually makes sense. Only thing is, that it seems to be just put on the floor: there is nothing of some support, or piping, or fencing of the sort. Maybe just a different tile pattern would be better.

The ground level is well done. The tiling is nice, and so is that door with the hexagonal shape. The fact that it splits up in two angled parts is good, but it's a pitty that doesn't show clear in the build. I'm a big fan of your consoles with the right chosen printed tiles. Maybe try to go a little bit more assymeyrical, because what's the use of having every control double? Very nice touch to set the panels at that slight angle by the way.

It really pleases me to see such a well worked out story, and a lot of documentation of the build. It makes you stand out as a dedicated builder, although you may not have that many parts. Imagine what you could do more though. Building walls all the way around (or just at the back, so the view isn't blocked), or building some rocks on top to convey the nested feeling you're talking about more... I would love to see that one day. But still your build is great as it is, and a very welcome addition to SoNE!

Nice build!

Thanks, guys! (And thanks to the rest of you whom I didn't want to fill up the page by quoting.)

[VK-318]

I hope in future to be able to things like adding the walls BEAVeR mentioned, but right now my stock of light and dark bley is pretty small (I spent more time trying to find a way to cover the floor with the tiles at my disposal than I did on every other part of designing and building this combined.) But I am adding some sets and Bricklinked parts to my collections, trying to complete an almost-SHIP, so we should see more parts in my collection to do things like this soon. Until then, expect more small-scale freebuilds and episode builds from me; LDD is not really my thing, and it's much cheaper, and to me much more interesting and challenging (though not as awe-inspiring to the viewer), to build something accurately in such a way that you can hold it in one hand than to do so in such a way that takes up a whole tabletop.

(Sorry to double-post, but since BEAVeR had requested walls earlier, in the secret communications channel we used to plan our builds, I felt I really owed him and the rest of my team an explanation for that obvious omission).

Edited May 1, 2014 by VK-318

[Brickboy123]

Good job, soldier. Try to hunt that last rebel down. He'll try to call for reinforcements on the planet. If you do, the ALLIANCE SHALL FAIL