rodiziorobs Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) Location: B04 - Barnius Tags: Science, Exploration Mission objective: The Council of Five has commissioned several missions to establish a permanent colony on Barnius, location B04. While aware of the planet’s varied plant life, the Council wishes to know how many, if any, of these species may be useful for cultivation, and if any water sources are safe for consumption. This knowledge will enable the Council to make more resources available, if needed, in the interim until an awareness of the planet’s sustainability can be attained. “In other words, ‘go down there, Scorpio, and see if you can find good things to eat. Or at least, things that won’t kill us if we try to eat it.’ Like it matters. Us M.A.N.T.I.S. operatives can eat anything—it’s part of our training, after all.” Scorpio dug around for some roots, and found a few promising greens, and a what appeared to be a large brown carrot. It reminded him of some of the food they had had in System 10193, although hopefully this one tasted better. It certainly smelled better. “Better move on down the canyon, the winds are starting to pick up here in the plains” Scorpio had been sent down solo to one of the larger continents of Barnius, where the mountains were a little higher. The winds had been relentless, but sometimes between the large fingers of rock that sprawled across the horizon, shelter could be found. It meant it was also where he was most likely to find plants, some of which may bear fruit fit for consumption. He came to a low grotto, where he could hear water running up ahead. His scanner was reading high amounts of methane gas in the air, though; nothing lethal, but noticeable. Possibly leaking from some cracks in the age-old rocks, as this planet was still somewhat active. Here the wind was reduced, although still enough to blow blossoms off of the trees…some kind of apple tree, that is! He would have to get some on the way out, and test them for toxicity and growth potential. He also saw a few mushrooms, and hoped they would be edible, as fungi would surely earn him a commendation back with the Council. Then he saw something that made him stop, suddenly. He had come upon the stream, but the water was unlike anything he had seen! Explorer Little John’s initial reports had stated pink water, but it was quite strange to see! The methane count was climbing ever higher—Scorpio wondered if the water was the source. He was about to scoop some into a jar to analyze back at the lab, when he saw an even stranger sight… More mushrooms, only these didn’t look edible, not even to Scorpio. They were glowing, and pulsing strangely. They were quite beautiful, if not exactly appetizing. Scorpio pulled out his knife and punctured one, and a strange hiss escaped—along with some oily, acrid smelling goo. “How remarkable! I definitely need to sample some of this, and take it back to the lab!” He filled a few large jars, not forgetting of course, to take a water sample as well. “Alas, I was so captivated by this strange jelly that I used all the large jars for it. Better use a small jar for the water. I won’t need much anyway…” And with his arms full, with jars, mushrooms, and a cutting from a plant that Scorpio found fascinating (he did have a thing for bright green things—probably what drew him to M.A.N.T.I.S. in the first place)—he trudged back to his bike, to take his findings back to the lab. And what a small lab it was. Big Sal, naturally, got the big labs with the new tech. Scorpio’s lab was smaller, but well equipped. He took off his helmet, and put on his earphones to listen to his music. He hastily stashed the potential foodstuffs—the Council wasn’t expecting a report for another week, so no rush there—and went to work with the other samples. He put part of the plant into a petri dish, and into the fume hood. “Just crank up the nitrogen, here, see if we can’t accelerate the growth a little bit…” But now came the real fun—he suspected that the mushroom goo was volatile, and could be digested into a very efficient biofuel. He put his helmet back on (he had a habit of losing safety goggles, either that or M.A.N.T.I.S. had never issued him any, he couldn’t remember) and approached the flash tester. This was a device that would test the ignitability of the substance. Scorpio poured some of the sample into the brass crucible to begin the test. Next, he put the crucible into the testing apparatus, where it would slowly heat it uniformly and then try and light it on fire. Immediately it ignited in a glorious (but of course, controlled) blaze! Scorpio would have to do some more testing, but suspected that the fungus had already performed the digestion, and what he had extracted was 100% useable without any further refining. A fine specimen of biomass, indeed. Now just to go and check on the plant in the fume hood… ************ Picture of the grotto. My first time trying to build a twisting landscape using Mixel joints (only to go and cover most of it up!) Picture of the lab. I work as a chemist and this lab is actually very similar to my own. A picture of it all together. Even though it is kind of a large build, I felt it was all part of the same story. Sorry for the funky shadow in the back, I had to rush the photos and had no real time to edit. See more at my Flickr page: rodiziorobs Edit: Added required header, edited tags. Edited June 9, 2015 by rodiziorobs Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CMP Posted June 8, 2015 An interesting study. I must get try out some of this mushroom goo in my flamethrower. .. Nice build, cool story to go along with it. I love that we (that is, glorious M.A.N.T.I.S.) seem to always take cues from eachother in regards to story and landscape: you've got the purplish/lavender water and the weird glowing flora of other Barnius builds. Don't know if this is intentional or not, but I really like that. :thumbup: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LittleJohn Posted June 8, 2015 Fantastic set of builds! The angled rockwork and plant life in the second are superb Neat effect with the plant climbing out of the fume hood too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark of Falworth Posted June 8, 2015 Nicely done! The landscape is rad! ...I love that we (that is, glorious M.A.N.T.I.S.) seem to always take cues from eachother in regards to story and landscape: you've got the purplish/lavender water and the weird glowing flora of other Barnius builds. Don't know if this is intentional or not, but I really like that. :thumbup: Indeed! It's really neat that members have combined concepts from other members to create a cohesive story! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zaael Posted June 8, 2015 Haha nice build and story. The biomass in this galaxy has a habit of sneaking up on people! A fine specimen, a fine specimen indeed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zepher Posted June 8, 2015 An interesting study. I must get try out some of this mushroom goo in my flamethrower. .. Nice build, cool story to go along with it. I love that we (that is, glorious M.A.N.T.I.S.) seem to always take cues from eachother in regards to story and landscape: you've got the purplish/lavender water and the weird glowing flora of other Barnius builds. Don't know if this is intentional or not, but I really like that. :thumbup: Agreed. Mantis has really shown some wonderful work this week as far as cohesion in both builds and story go, and it has proven to make for more interesting alien landscapes. Very cool work - the landscape is lovely and the lab looks highly functional. The foliage looks like a total mess, but in a good way in my opinion, like it's heavily overgrown and brambly. The rocks around the cave seem a little too "shaped" to me in comparison to the rest of the build, wish the rest of the rocks rolled into it more fluidly, but other than that superb work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Sal Posted June 8, 2015 Wow, so many different great builds, I don't know where to start! The bike is brilliant, but I think my favourite part is the water and how well you've shaped the ground around it. Great lab too - the fume hood jumped out at me straight away as a great representation! And I love the plant slowly breaking out of it in the background Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
David FNJ Posted June 8, 2015 Very nice, I really like the leaves on the left side of the second build. The lab is also quite cool! Keep it up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pombe Posted June 9, 2015 What a great series of builds! I love the bike! I love the terrain with the water and the cave! And I especially love the lab! What a great fume hood! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andromedas Gates Posted June 10, 2015 The judges awarded you 4 points. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
