pombe Posted April 25, 2016 (edited) Location: E01 - Donwarr Tags: Spaceship, Land Vehicle Dramatis Personae: Octan Pombe Courageous, wise, and a gentleman extraordinaire, Pombe leads his intrepid team of explorers on adventurous adventures, in the name of profit for the Octan corporation and its shareholders. His list of achievements is long, from mentoring the now super undercover Octan explorer, Isabel Novak, to destroying all the cacti on New California, to rescuing Octan employees captured by aliens in Sinden's Run and recovering their pants from the dastardly "jeans stealers". He credits his success to his following in the footsteps of his explorer idols, Lu Caslaug-Hing and Wick Nole, even though Wick Nole is really an engineer. Despite Pombe's accomplishments, he still somehow gets reported to HR consistently by Dr. Danielle Long, whose ship, the O.C.S. Axle, Pombe and his team have taken residence aboard. His sister, Pombie, is a special forces agent for the rival M.A.N.T.I.S. corporation. Eshey Reeshia Kolai Pragmatic and logical, Eshey is Pombe's second apprentice, after Isabel Novak. Prior to joining Octan, she was a popular deejay and an absolute beast on the turntables. She applied to Octan, because she wanted a more stable income. She was taken on by Pombe as a temporary hire, despite not having any previous corporate industry experience, because she showed up at the job interview in Octan regulation approved attire. She initially showed promise as an explorer, but has since been disappointing to Pombe, having demonstrated paranoid and hostile behavior to all alien lifeforms, being labeled as "hard" during collaborative exploration missions with Ava Gato, a Kawashita inter-corporate relations officer, which Pombe interpreted as "being difficult", and just not understanding the situations as well as Eshey's new colleague, Normal Guy, who gives her the heebie jeebies. Despite these failings, Eshey has proven to be a remarkable sharpshooter. She has since become a permanent hire, as part of Octan's response to the alien fleet threat from Andromeda's core. She also has a huge crush on Octan engineer, Big Z. Ethel Alkylhal Originally from Mitgard, where she grew up on a farm and developed animal husbandry skills, she failed to find employment as an adventurer there and ended up wandering the spaceways looking for a job. She initially was turned down for the temporary hire position as Pombe's apprentice, which was given to Eshey, because Ethel showed up to the interview in her traditional Mitgardian attire and not something Octan regulation approved. Due to the alien fleet crisis, Pombe reached back out to her and offered her a permanent position on his exploration team. Her preferred armaments are her trusty battle axe and shield. Ethel tends to distrust technology and is extremely vulgar. She also loves to eat sausages. Commander of the O.C.S. Nut III. Hombre Sue Damoness Sue was an ace pilot with Galaxy Squad's red team, having tallied numerous combat kills against the invading buggoid aliens. She was discharged honorably after deciding to leave Galaxy Squad after a certain incident. Immediately, she was courted by potential employers who wanted her skills as a pilot, but she decided to take up Pombe's offer, due to her intuition regarding Pombe's personal agenda: she didn't think he had one. Astute, but laid back, she often just goes with the flow in daily situations, but her habits learned from the military crop up from time to time with regards to adherence to protocols. She does take piloting seriously and enjoys the freedom that Pombe gives her regarding piloting decisions for the team. Normal Guy/Beautiful Man Normal Guy just sort of showed up one day and started following the crew around the Axle. Pombe, with his keen sense of observation, noticed this, and realized that he needed to help find Normal Guy a girlfriend, so Pombe brought him onto the team. Since then, Normal Guy has been an indispensible member of the team, completely understanding the nature of the exploration situations and assisting Pombe better than anyone else. While the other team members seem unnerved by Normal Guy's presence, Pombe's high praise of Normal Guy have led them to keep their thoughts to themselves. Always caring for Eshey, he sacrificed himself to protect her from a hostile alien creature and was resurrected as Beautiful Man. Commander of the O.C.S. Head. Ishmael Haverly A former Merchant Confederate starfighter pilot and leader of Cobra squadron aboard the Betsy May. Though she adheres strictly to combat protocols and utterly respects the chain of command, she prefers to be called by her first name whenever addressed personally. She was the one who spotted a space whale during a routine CAP and reported it to Pombe and Eshey. As a Merchant Confederate pilot, she collaborated with Octan by submitting starfighter designs and test piloting the prototypes. She was hired by Pombe and is now an Octan employee and commander of the O.C.S. Nut I. Bruce Vayne A former Merchant Confederate starfighter pilot whose personal fighter is the T.U.M.B.L.E.R., short for Takeoff Ultra Missile Ballistic Laser Emergency Roustabout, which Eshey mistakes for a missile tank. As a Merchant confederate pilot, he operated out of the Betsy May, a light carrier class capital ship. In one incident, he was out on patrol looking for Zoid slaver activity when he crashed into an asteroid in the Fascini Cluster. Fortunately for him, Eshey and Pombe managed to rescue him and his T.U.M.B.L.E.R. from alien space ducks armed with knives that are indigenous to the asteroid. Like Ishmael Haverly, he has collaborated with Octan by submitting starfighter designs and test piloting the prototypes. He is now an Octan employee and commander of the O.C.S. Sack. His alter-ego is Tabman, since he always buys the drinks. Kawashita Ava Gato A Kawashita inter-corporate relations officer who shared Kawashita technology with Octan alongside Kawashita engineer Alexander Vandangant. Ava also stayed aboard the Axle and worked with Eshey on exploration assignments for a while when Pombe was busy debriefing a Kawashita marketing and sales team on Jurin II. Competent and honorable, Ava assisted and followed Eshey's instructions, highly praising Eshey to Pombe upon his return. She has since returned to Kawashita to continue her other assignments. M.A.N.T.I.S. Isabel Novak/Sammy Nelly Typhi Deceased. Sammy Nelly Typhi was a M.A.N.T.I.S. special operations agent who infiltrated Octan as apprentice explorer, Isabel Novak, to get close to the famous explorer Wick Nole, even though he's an engineer, to learn Octan corporate secrets. Instead, she was assigned to Pombe, where she languished for two years under his mentorship. Finally having had enough, she used a special Octan exploration assignment to fake the death of her alter ego and to head back to M.A.N.T.I.S. space to report of her failure. Unfortunately for her, her spaceship had a malfunction due to the engines being only attached by a single stud, and she was forced to crash land on the planet of Xerillian. Pombe found the remains of her wrecked spaceship and sent a report back regarding Isabel's status. Octan special forces agent, Jebediah O'Reilly, and his team were dispatched to take care of Sammy once and for all, ensuring Octan secrets would not make it back to M.A.N.T.I.S.. Pombie A natural leader with an eye for talent, Commander Pombie is the head of an elite crack special operations team for the M.A.N.T.I.S. corporation. She has gained a reputation for taking employees that would otherwise be considered misfits and outcasts, identifying their talents, and molding them into terrifyingly efficient operatives. Her leadership style is brutal and cold, but nevertheless, her team are completely loyal to her because she took the time to identify and acknowledge each of their individual aptitudes after they were dismissed by others. Her brother, Pombe, is an explorer for the rival Octan corporation. Cassandra A powerful psychic with the ability to take over and control the bodily actions of multiple minifigures at once. She acquired this ability as a test subject during one of Big Sal's "employee weaponization" projects for M.A.N.T.I.S., but was rejected and discarded because she did not develop the ability to shoot lasers out of her eyes, or mouth, or hands...or from anywhere really. Unwanted and suffering from depression, she dwelled in the basements of M.A.N.T.I.S. corporate buildings, subsisting on vending machine food, sleeping in conference rooms, and showering in gym locker rooms, until Pombie discovered her by chance and recognized her talent and brought Cassandra onto her team. Since then, Cassandra has been utterly and completely loyal to Pombie, referring to Pombie as "mistress" and obeying her commands without question. Neko-chan A girl who is half minifigure and half cat alien. She grew up with her mother, and never knew who her father was. Because of her beauty and lithe gracefulness, she was hired by Kawashita to be a spokesmodel for their products. She proved to be hugely popular with Kawashita's customer demographic, driving up Kawashita profits astronomically through her marketing efforts. Despite the success and fortune she earned as a spokesmodel, deep down, Neko-chan felt exploited by the Kawashita corporation, who she felt only wanted to use her for her looks. Really, all she wanted to do was to hit others with her huge and impossibly heavy hammer, which is she able to produce out of seemingly nowhere. One day, she ran away from home, and fled to the Andromeda Galaxy, where she felt no one could find her and she could hit anyone she wanted with her hammer. Unfortunately, she quickly used up her fortune dining on fish expensively exported to Andromeda and became destitute. Neko-chan was discovered in the slums of Torresta by Pombie, who recognized her talents, and offered her employment where she could hit people with her hammer. Neko-chan happily accepted and has been loyal to Pombie ever since. Simon...I mean, Mephistopheles, lord of the 1337 H4XX0Rs A geeky and awkward teenager who was recognized as a prodigy in computer programming early on. Unfortunately, his abrasive personality, combined with his social awkwardness, led him to being kicked out of one team to the next. Pombie took him onto her team realizing that she needed his talent, but was initially unsure of how her team would handle him. Being a hormone driven teenage boy, he, of course, was caught trying to peep on the attractive girls of the team, Cassandra and Neko-chan. However, instead of having to issue some sort of disciplinary action, Pombie realized that the ladies could handle themselves. Cassandra simply made him punch himself in the genitals repeatedly until he passed out and Neko-chan destroyed the harddrives with his porn collection with her hammer. Since then, he's behaved himself and so long as he's referred to by his proper name, he'll follow Pombie's commands. Oddly enough, he has shown no interest in either Commander Pombie nor the other woman on the team, Scooter. Scooter Scooter is the team's pilot, though she wasn't originally trained as a pilot. She started out as a low level M.A.N.T.I.S. administrator, dealing with employee training documents. Quiet and awkward, she mostly just kept to herself and did her job. An avid videogamer, anime and manga junkie, and dedicated cosplayer, she was just working to support her hobbies. She was reassigned to Andromeda and during her trip out, she was incidentally placed on the same shuttle as Pombie. During the journey, the pilot of the shuttle had a sudden heart attack and died. Because of her experience playing space simulators, Scooter recognized the controls of the shuttle and took over and safely navigated the shuttle through a freak asteroid storm. Pombie, amazed at what she saw, commented that Scooter piloted the shuttle "like a leaf on the wind" and promptly offered her a position on her team as a pilot. She has served proudly as the pilot of the team ever since. Balthazar von Habibi Vice president of M.A.N.T.I.S. ultra-super-secret operations. He's in charge of running the secret M.A.N.T.I.S. drape factories. Gregory aka Origameister A M.A.N.T.I.S. employee who suffers from "resting angry face". While he did not gain any abilities from Big Sal's "employee weaponization" projects, he did develop the ability to fold paper really, really, really fast from experiments conducted on him by the Zoid. Married to the alien hottie, Lois. Lois An alien hottie found on Arium Minor by Eshey, Pombe, and Gregory. She works as a regulatory compliance officer for M.A.N.T.I.S.. Married to the Origameister, Gregory. Zoid Mafia Joey Lucchese Deceased. An enforcer for Don Maggiano who has a severe dislike for the Octan corporation due to Octan's aiding the Merchant Confederation, which the Zoid raided for slaves. Slain by Hombre on Forring during a battle at New Fredericksburg. Mugsy I'm Bugsy. Bugsy Um...I'm Mugsy. Other Normal Guy/Beautiful Man's Mother Normal Guy/Beautiful Man's Father Previously: http://www.eurobrick...howtopic=129901 Currently, on Donwarr... So let me get this straight: you're asking me to beat another pilot in an illegal spaceship race? When you put it like that, it doesn't sound so great. But you have to understand she's been ruining racer participation and our profits! And as the coordinator for the Kawashita Underground Racing Circuit, or KURC for short, I needed a way to resolve this situation. I was desperate, Sue. So what exactly happened? She just showed up one day and beat everyone. No one can beat her, and she's claimed that she won't leave until she loses. All of the other racers are too afraid to take her on. You're the only pilot I know who has what it takes to beat her. Sigh. It's not like I can turn you down when you ask for help, Shaniqua. I owe you so much for this. You did have it shipped over, right? Yep, she should be there waiting for me. How much further are we? Note the road is recycled and should not be judged. Note the road is recycled and should not be judged. It's just up ahead. There! There she is. And she's stolen all the hot guys, too! Note the road is recycled and should not be judged. Ishmael? You know her? Yeah, she's my wingman at Octan. It figures. Hold on. Ishmael? What are you doing here? Note the road is recycled and should not be judged. Sir? I should be asking you the same thing. I hear you've been tearing it up on the KURC. I've always been into underground spaceship racing, sir. It was what I did before I joined the Merchant Confederacy. When I got wind of this Kawashita circuit, I couldn't help myself. I even pulled my old racer out of mothballs and fixed her up even more with my Octan salary. Well, I've been asked to take you down, and I'll admit, now that I know it's you, I'm getting a bit excited. I even brought my own ride. Then let's do it. First one to go around the second moon and back wins. Winner gets the loser's ride. I hope you're ready to lose, Ishmael. That's my line, sir. I've always wanted to take you on. Then line them up, ladies. READY? GO!!! <ENGINES ROAR> Comments and criticisms are all welcome! Edited April 25, 2016 by pombe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Col. Brik Posted April 25, 2016 (edited) We have a underground race series....and I missed the awards ceremony where Raven got all the glory.....MEMOS people, we need MEMOS! Great build, I love the ships. Is there a spec for the series you came up with? Set stud length, engines? I'd love to try and build one myself. Edited April 25, 2016 by Col. Brik Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kodan Black Posted April 25, 2016 Using the cannons as engines is really inspired. Gives a really awesome scifi feel with the angles from them. I also like the detail of whatever the little white piece is on the Octan ship that connects the two outer flaps (sorry, no idea what the part is, never seen it). I like how different the ships are while still looking like they might be in the same racing series. The photos look really good this week too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StarHawk3 Posted April 25, 2016 I really like all the race ships in this. My favorite is the octan one with the cannons as engines and the shape around the cockpit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pombe Posted April 25, 2016 Is there a spec for the series you came up with? Set stud length, engines? I'd love to try and build one myself. Specs? I don't need no stinking spectacles! I have perfect vision! Hold on, what? Oh...erm...you mean like individual classes to make sure that starships with GATE engines don't race against small sublightspeed snub fighters? Lesse...1...2...3...when I count the studs from the pics they look like they are less than 18-ish studs in length and not as much wide. Um...I hope that helps. I also like the detail of whatever the little white piece is on the Octan ship that connects the two outer flaps (sorry, no idea what the part is, never seen it). Yeah, that's an aftermarket accessory. You won't find them on a stock starship. But here's the ordering information: https://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/clone/catalogitem.page?P=15341&name=Arm%20Mechanical,%20Hero%20Factory&category=%5BMinifig,%20Body%20Part%5D#T=C. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Greeble Posted April 25, 2016 I really like Sue's racer. A lot of cool NPU. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LittleJohn Posted April 26, 2016 Fantastic racers here! I particularly like the blue one, but the cannon usage on Sue's is great too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andromedas Gates Posted April 27, 2016 The judges awarded you 5 points. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Sal Posted April 30, 2016 The Octan racer is superb! Loads of great shaping and details Share this post Link to post Share on other sites