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Job: Special Forces Planet: Torresta Private Gnarl Graves hadn't been on Torresta in quite some time. He was never a fan of the beaurocracy that came in hand with being at home base, so he simply had avoided it for the most part. Today, however, Pvt. Graves found himself doing the one thing that could possibly make a base stay worth while. Combat Drone Training. Graves didn't exactly read through the 12 e-page dossier explaining the elaborate battery of technical ops he would be running the drones through, so when he found himself frantically leaping across the lowered platform to avoid a giant metal fist, he had decided just to make the best of it. Usually he was paired up with smaller drones destined for sentry duty or something trivial, so Graves had no problem destroying them and sending an aggressively worded complaint note back to the production yards. Today, however, Graves seemed to have faced a different threat all together. The Drone stood easilly twice as tall as Graves, even in his lifts, and very well could have flattened him against the ground if it had landed a direct hit. After several agonizing minutes of avoiding human-annihilation quality assaults, Graves clambered up the railing at the end of the pit and reached for his e-clip board. He looked back at his opponent, and squinted through his sweat to read its tagging info. "Well." Graves began, cracking his knuckles. "Looks like this... Harambot, is getting a commendation." Gnarl smiled as he scribbled a shockingly non-profane message out. He was proud to pass this drone: its massive hulking body, bestial prowess in battle, hell, even its name called back to one of his favorite old Earth heroes. Everything seemed to be wrapping up quite nicely when suddenly... An ungodly screech split up through the air towards Graves from the pit. The private shuffeled over to the edge of the scaffold and looked down. Harambot looked vacantly back upwards, but behind him, something had fallen. Someone. A small child, couldn't have been older than three or four, had somehow gotten in to the training pit. Gnarl shook his head with disbelief and sighed. Kids these days. "Oh well." Graves thought aloud as he casually about-faced from the ledge. "Guess nature's gotta do it's thing." ...an epic (but brief) wrestling match ensued. (He's just... petting the baby. Yeah. Good vulnerable human child. Good.) For compliance Also, here's a picture of my robot crushing dannylongleg's robot.
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Location: F03 Forring Tags: Military Building - - Sebastian, if what you tell me is true, the corporations will not stand a chance against the Dust Demons. At last we will have our revenge against Kawashita. - Joining Spider was the best thing that has happened to me. I am free of the ethical restraints of Octan and can test the limits of science. But enough chit-chat. Did you bring me the artifact? - We did. I don't know what you want this thing for, but I hope you kept your part of the bargain. - Of coarse. The exchange is complete. With this I will be able to take my research to the next level. - - I have to warn you, the test specimen must not fall into enemy hands. If they discover what we have done, all of my work will be for nothing. - I understand completely. we will guard him with our lives. Soldier, take the cryotube to our shuttle. - Right away. - - Well it looks like I'm blessed with even more good news. I am surprised though. You are later then expected. - You can blame Monsters of Andromeda for that. - Ugh, a vile holo game owned by the evil Kawashita Corporation! They must pay! - Sorry to cut our meeting short but you are in the presence of MANTIS first branch executive Hawk. He is the one who did this to me. - I have heard about you. It's too bad you don't have more loyal friends in Andromeda. - Yeah I'm starting to think the whole galaxy has been plotting against me. - Ha ha, so very true. So where did we leave off from the last time we met? Oh yeah you were about to take part in one of my state of the art experimental procedures. Don't worry I won't turn you into a Zoid this time. Thanks for looking. The story should be up tomorrow. C&C welcomed as always.
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... IN THE GREEN CORNER! While 'some' corporations feel that top-heavy, spindly-legged mechs somehow gives then an unfair advantage ; ), others believe that those legs are going to get kicked out from under them when they face the brute-force, mecha-muscle approach of new M.A.N.T.I.S. entry... TIPTOE! Special move: Bunneeeeee! Tiptoe undergoes pre-match scrutineering:
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Location: F03 Forring Tags: Military Building - -Alright we've wasted enough time lets scout the perimeter and move in on the base. Hawk, what are you waiting for. Move out! -I'm going to wait here with the ship and play Monsters of Andromeda. -Your going on the mission with us. It's very important. - I didn't even bring my stealth suit or blaster. Plus I'm first branch executive now and only take orders from the CEO now - So be it. - - Ugh.. why do you guys keep freaking out. It's just a Gubbiemander. You can lower your blasters. -Oh, we're not worried about your stupid game. This is a mutiny. Don't make any sudden movements. -Hmmm. I was so close to catching it to. -Here, put these on. - -You are now caught in the spiders web. We have much to discuss and show you. -............. more pictures under the spoiler tag Thanks for looking. C&C welcomed.
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Torresta M.A.N.T.I.S. CEO Spacer Steve was visiting one of the new M.A.N.T.I.S. secure storage facilities on Torresta Inside: SpacerSteve: So what can you show me here? Facility Manager: This here is a room where we store over-size crystals of awesomium until a use for them is found. Manager: We're currently still transferring mithril and copper to storage here, so I can't show you any of that. And I was going to show you the gold room, but I can't for..... reasons. SpacerSteve: Specifically? Manager: Let's just say an anthropomorphic duck is swimming around in it like a porpoise, and he won't leave. Yay, Tech build done! C&C Welcome! And you can check out the model in 3D on Mecabricks!
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Location: C04 - Aeristus Tags: Military, Building. Previously on Andromeda's Gates: The mark, Uplink, Pay dirt. Departure. Chapter 5: The Gyrocube. Gedron Briskett rapped the fingers of one hand irregularly on the table while he scanned the details on the digi-page he held in the other. Yseult sat, arms folded, opposite him getting increasingly impatient. Being in M.A.N.T.I.S., she thought to herself, seems to involve a lot of sitting at tables waiting for people to think of something to say to me. She shifted her position in her seat, as loudly and obviously as she was able to. Briskett briefly looked up from the digi-page, then promptly ignored her and went back to looking over whatever report they’d compiled on her for his benefit. “The Brawling Beauty.” He finally said with a half-raised eyebrow. Yseult tensed at the name. The Beauty was something she thought about almost every day, but talked about… never, and she didn’t like to – especially not with some ‘full of himself’ desk pilot she’s never met before. “You’re a freight pilot then?” he continued, laying the digi-page on the table in front of him. “who got caught pulling short cons on that swamp-infested mudhole…” he paused for a moment in clear belief that he was about to say something clever, “…without a ship”. He tried to let the irony hang for a moment but her ability to look unimpressed got to him before his increasingly annoying personality got to her. “Box Runners are ten-a-credit.” He continued, “What does that mad scientist think we need the likes of you for?” ‘Box Runner’ was a slang term for small independent freight operators. Hearing it brought back memories, the briefest moment of nostalgia. Don’t go back there, it was a different time, you were a different person. “How should I know?” she responded, dismissively. “You made a deal, I got you the credits back, you owed me a new bike… Now I just stick around until you give a reason to leave.” She knew that prospect would please him. “Fine.” he said, as if trying to out-scheme her, “We’ll put you though our usual pilot assessment and see where it spits you out.” A cocky smile had developed upon his face. The gyrocube was a full-rotation simulator designed to test a pilot’s ability to separate visual, auditory and gravitational sensory inputs and decide which to trust and how to react. The program’s scenarios mostly involved being in a spacecraft that was wildly out of control and dangerously close to hitting a planet, or something to that effect. Yseult sat in the pod at the centre of the device, intense concentration on her face. She’d flown through the ‘principles of spaceflight’, ‘astro-navigation’ and ‘Gate dynamics’ tests, that was expected, but freighters weren’t known for their manoeuvrability and rarely got into unstable high-G situations. This is where they expect me to fail, she thought as she felt the grips of the controls in her hands… But they never flew with me. Dragging the rear of the simulated ship round and down, the imitation ‘gravitational anomaly’ put her in a flat yaw spin with an edge of pitch climb. Her feet had countered the spin a little, reacting immediately with rudder thrust but it would never have been enough. It feels like roll but it isn’t, don’t fall for it. She countered intuitively, using the rudder and bursts of opposing roll control in time with the rate of rotation to halt the spin. Now she was cartwheeling down a rapidly decaying orbit. Briskett stood beside the operator in the control booth, a look of annoyance already on his face. “She’s arresting the decay.” The operator announced. “She’ll maintain orbit at this rate.” “I can see that!” Briskett retorted. He thought for a moment. “Blow the starboard nose thrusters.” He ordered. The operator hesitated. “Those are the one’s she’s using to stop the spin” he informed. “I know.” Briskett snapped back. “Blow them”. With the ship gently rolling on its axis, Yseult had to wait to be facing the right way every time she used a thruster or it would only make things worse. With the flat spin almost under control, she made one final burst… The simulated explosion set off every alarm and for the briefest moment, she lost track of which way she was facing. Red warnings lit up on her displays. The entire nose thruster assembly was inoperable. She checked the flight gyro. Now she was spinning in every direction. She tried to counter it but with so little control now, nothing seemed to work. A new alarm sounded “RE-ENTRY, RE-ENTRY.” the verbal warning announced. Air. Something I can work with. She reversed the controls and stopped trying to recover the spin. She put the engines into full reverse and opened the aerobrakes on one side at the ship’s rear; as they caught the increasingly dense atmosphere, the additional resistance encouraged the ship out of the tumble. With less air resistance than the rear of the ship, the nose stayed pointing down and the ship slid into a whirlpool-like spin. Opening the aerobrakes on the other side and increasing the roll, the ship soon became a spinning top of reverse thrust. Inside the pod, Yseult was trying hard not to throw up, or pass out. She watched the flight gyro as the rotation steadily settled into a rolling nose-dive. Just a little longer. She was still descending way too fast but arresting the roll, she finally began to pull up. In the control room, a small crowd of pilots and techs had gathered behind Briskett, watching the unknown pilot handle the ridiculous sequence of events she’d been handed and were responding far too positively for his liking. “Fail engine one.” Silence fell. He didn’t wait for the operator to hesitate this time. “Fail it”. Yseult felt the drop at the rear immediately but in an already desperate situation, using every Newton of thrust to halt her descent, it slipped away so quickly… There’s only so much you can do, but I won’t give up this time. She fought it to the end, every metre. The gyrocube came to a gentle rest and a tech helped the disoriented pilot out of the pod. She felt them holding her under an arm as she fumbled down some steps. She felt someone remove her helmet to see a fuzzy image of a man with a sickeningly wavy smirk stood before her. He said something but she didn’t hear it, she was busy convulsing as her body wrenched free of the tech and she fell to her hands and knees, vomiting when she hit the floor. She noticed some boots, splattered with sick, turn and walk away… Then she wretched and threw up again. Additional images: Environment. Closer view of backdrop. Control booth. Removable fold-down steps. Thank you for reading. Luc.
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Planet: F03 Job: Special forces "Surprise!" cheered his fellow special forces comrades in unison as Private Gnarl Graves stepped out of the MANTIS barracks on Foring. He stumbled out only to find his pals had hastily set up a picnic, complete with a cake to celebrate his birthday! Black chocolate cake, with larvae, it looked like. Graves' favorite. "Happy Birthday!" Doe cheered. She was a tough ladette with scuff-marks on her chin and short auburn hair. "Oh shit!" Exclaimed Graves. The man was rarely surprised, considering his line of work, but he truly hadn't suspected this. "Where'd you even get this stuff?" "We've been saving up. Not every year you turn... How old are you again?" chuckled Grave's closest mate, Raynes. "A gentlemen never tells." Graves replied, wryly. A smug smile spreading beneath his blacked-out visor. Graves surveyed the scene laid out before him. Cake, guns, and dates or something. The best celebration he'd had at MANTIS. https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7569/28376528495_47dd97d12a.jpg "What are these? Dates?" Graves queried, gesturing to the purplish wrinkled dried fruits. "Figs!" shot Doe. Well put a fig on my plate!" laughed Private Graves. "I've got you a present," Raynes announced. "A new sword. Yours is beat-up as hell." "But I like my beat-up sword." Graves replied. "Well, let's see who's sword is better in a battle!?" Challenged Raynes. "You're on." An epic sword duel ensued. Not the build i planned for this week, but unlike my brother i don't live with my Lego collection. anyways, i hope you enjoy. And, happy birthday to me. :p
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Location: F03 Forring Tags: Military Building - -Where are you. You can't hide from me forever. - - -Sir, what are you doing? It seems like we have waited half of a solar cycle on the landing pad for you. -well I'm looking for a...... - - Why are you pointing that blaster at me? -Stay still if you don't move I might be able to take it out. -Oh. That is a Fiegre. I have been playing Monsters of Andromeda. You use your communications holo tablet and it projects little creatures around you that you have to hunt down. It's pretty fun. you want to try? -No thanks. Anyway the captain wants you at at the landing pad now. -I bet if I found a Froganator you would have had this base in lock down! Now how do I get this thing to fit inside the capture ball. -............. Thanks for looking. C&C welcomed as always
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Location: F03, Forring Tags: Spaceship, Military Building - -Welcome back to Forring Hawk. -Thanks General. I was just plotting out my next supply run. How can I help you? -Well, we are delaying your supply runs. We have a new assignment for you. Recently some of our armored scouts have gone missing on patrol. A few days ago one for them sent out a distress call with coordinates before loosing contact. We want you to investigate. -Sounds dangerous. Do we have any idea what took these scouts out? What will I be flying. The only ship on this outpost is the Turkey Mk2. -We don't know what took them out. Your shuttle will be enough. We will be assigning a group of special forces to be working with you. I would like to introduce you to Captain Mira. She will brief you on the mission. - -I'm glad I finally get to meet you Hawk. I have heard much about you. We will have 4 spec ops soldiers with us and we will start our search at these coordinates. Are you ready to go? -I just have a few questions. shouldn't we have a more backup then this. Something capable of taking out scout mechs should have no problem with a few spec ops. Couldn't we just send some unmanned drones? Plus an unarmed shuttle isn't the best choice for a situation like this. What if it is some kind of subterranean super predator? -Right now the mission is to observe and report. Our supplies have been cut a little short recently so this is all the soldiers we can spare at the moment. The CEO himself requested for you to go on this mission. We would never had any drones to do our work for us on Ice planet. - -Dont' worry Hawk. One MANTIS spec. ops. soldier is worth 100 of another corporations soldiers! It looks like your ship is unloaded and my soldiers are ready to go. We will meet you out on the landing pad. -Ok. I will be out there shortly. I hope you are right about all this Dax. - Thanks for looking. C&C is welcomed as always.
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Location: C04 Aeristus Tags: Patient Record: L8C04 Patient Number: 8224(M) Facility: The Narbilu Exotic Diseases Centre, Aeristus Leading Practitioner: Dr Ando 2318h 10 Junali 3816 Patient transferred from M.A.N.T.I.S. facility in critical condition with advanced case of Marphacian Swamp Fever. Emergency treatment begun immediately. 0430h 11 Junali 3816 Patient stabilised for now after hours on the verge of death. We’re all experienced with Marphacian Swamp Fever; indeed Kawashita built the Exotic Diseases Centre on Aeristus primarily to treat the personnel stationed on Marphacia. But none of us have seen a case this bad since those terrible first weeks before we developed the treatments. Hopefully the patient will survive until morning. There’s nothing more we can do for now. 1021h 11 Junali 3816 Condition stable. 1347h 23 Junali 3816 Patient beginning to show signs of recovery after almost two weeks with no improvement. Nurses report he began vocalising this morning, which indicates the hallucination stage of recovery is starting. 1819h 26 Junali 3816 Patient’s hallucinations appear to be fairly mild, which may be a good sign, or may just reflect how little energy he has after weeks of suffering. According to nurses, he mostly mumbles incoherently about webs and spiders. 0700h 30 Junali 3816 No change in condition. 1553h 05 Julali 3816 No change in condition. Fever shows no sign of breaking. Patient continues to ramble about spider webs. 0246h 10 Julali 3816 Patient’s condition has deteriorated during the night. Fever has worsened. Patient became extremely distressed and appeared to believe he was being eaten alive as part of a giant plate of ‘larvae salad’. Is alternately terrified about being eaten and furious about salad leaves ‘ruining perfectly good larvae’. Became so violent that he had to be heavily sedated. Thanks for reading! C&C welcome!
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Location: F03 (Forring) Tags: none Another week that's story-heavy despite being light on build. Enjoy! **************** After weeks of searching, Jex was no closer to finding Scorpio's sister than she had been at the funeral. She had to make sure that his remaining belongings reached his next of kin. It only amounted to a few books and journals, along with some claim tickets for some things still in MANTIS' possession, but in Jex's mind they weren't legally hers, and she sure as heck didn't want them, anyway. Because she was technically still on medical leave, Jex was able to go anywhere in Andromeda that was currently under MANTIS' control; her search had led her through several gate jumps to here, Forring. She was after the MSS Strata, a supply ship that was engaged in an operation in Forring's atmosphere. MANTIS supply ships were versatile, designed to reinforce a number of possible MANTIS operations in any circumstance, including mining, spying, piracy, troop and material transport, and war. Jex wasn't exactly sure what she would be finding here, but one of Scorpio's claim tickets stated that he had a possession that was currently held aboard the Strata. Maybe whatever it was would hold the clue to help her continue her search. After some asking around, she found the claims desk--or at least, the closest thing to it. "I am here to redeem this claim stub, and pick up whatever it is for. Says here the location is MSS Strata B68 #P-C04-k2." Minifig(s) on a Plate. by rodiziorobs, on Flickr "B68, you say?" "Yes, #P-C04-k2. Do you have it?" "Yeah, lady, but if it's down in B-block then it ain't what you seem to think it is. That ain't no normal claim stub you got there." "What do you mean?" "Come down with me and see for yourself. We'll have to call them to let them know we're coming..." (...to be continued...) **************** I should have done this earlier, but I got a new photo setup. Bought a Daylight LED and poster board at WalMart for less than $5. I always thought it would be so much more expensive, which is why I put it off The above photo hasn't been altered at all. C&C welcome.
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Location: A06 Guinevere Tags: MANTIS Double D's log 49: If I was going to be chased around by this alien, I was going to do it my way - underground.
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Location: F03 Forring Tags: Land Vehicle, Military Building, Spying Alarms sounding - -Sebastion, I seems that MANTIS has finally stumbled on our location. Are the preparations complete? -They are, but what happens if MANTIS get there hands on what I have accomplished here? -Everything that has happened so far has been by my design. It will be a good test for your new subjects. We will lure them right in my t....... -I have seen what MANTIS can do first hand. I will not be one of your pawn to be discarded at you will. Maybe I will take my work and go elsewhere with it. -You need to remember your place Sebastion. I saved your life from that remote Octan base for a reason, and I can just as easily end it. Plus i have a gift for you. I have made arrangements for a reunion with the MANTIS that did this to you. -I'm sorry. How is this possible? - I will all become clear soon. All you need to do is sit back and enjoy the show. - -This is Mobil scout 1 to base. I have found something that you need to see. -Base: what is it Scout 1 - It appears to be an abandoned Military bunker. I am reading no movement or energy signature. -Base: Thats bizarre scout 1. None of our satellite images show any structures in the area. Please send us your coordinates and check the perimeter. - Right away. Sending coordinates now. - -Now they know where we are. We should have opened fire on them when we had the chance. Now they will destroy my work for sure. -My contacts in MANTIS have assured me that will not happen. Your work is truly great Sebastion, but if you keep questioning my plans your time in this organization might be cut short. I have to be going now but one of my associates will be staying with you to keep an eye on your work. Agent 3.... -Yes sir. - - The pieces are in place. It is time to set the trap. Like a fly in the spiders web, the Mantis will meet a similar fate. - yes sir.... - Scout 1 to base. Im picking up movement on my scanners. Wait, there is an energy spike to......oh no........its fast......... systems fai........bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt More pictures under the spoiler tag Thanks for looking, C&C welcomed.
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Tags: Military Building, Fleet Location: F03 - Forring This is the second to last Chapter in my story focused around Pangolinus' Disappearance We are ready at last Urtem. The time has come for the raid to save the Captain, who has been trapped for many months. Aryna has confirmed his location within an Octan military tower on Forring, and will be joining you shortly. You may now throw caution to the wind and walk right into the building. The time for secrecy is past! Hell yeah! Time to leave some of Bass' middle Bricker Graffiti everywhere! Mission first, obscenities later. Yeah, yeah. I'm hitting the gas. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Well this story is finally wrapping up! Thanks to everyone who has been reading it!
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Location: A06 - Guinevere Tags: Exploration, Engineering My first mission back I was dispatched to Guinevere. Objective, build a mobile research platform for our scientists and gather several samples from the heart of the lava. After several days I've amassed several samples but my scientist has yet to arrive. Well I keep climbing and gathering, grueling work but well worth it. - D
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Tags: Land Vehicle Location: B05 - Marphacia Sometimes the best way to relax is to grab some parts, piece together a one of a kind speeder and go off on a nice long ride across a planet. Impending dangers be damned. Back from vacation, and before that end of year craziness. No relation to my main story, just a fun build! C&C Welcome!
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Location: A06 Guinevere Tags: MANTIS Double D's log 48: I ran through this alleyway and that alleyway, knocking over any and everything I could to stay ahead of the Alien. High-heat energy shock lasers exploded around me, though mostly ahead of me. It was almost as if the Alien was only trying to trap me... but all I knew was that I had to get to the lower levels of the GU-Labs and Weapons complex that were underground. Several "Wells" were located throughout the facility that open up into the underground levels, so I immediately headed for the nearest one and jumped down.... I can hear the Alien close behind me... but I have a plan. To be continued!
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Location: A06, Guinevere Tags: Land Vehicle, Civil Building As a duty of Third Banch executive, Hawk was sent to inspect Delta mining base. He hated doing official Executive stuff, and wasn't really sure why he was sent to the remote mining base. - - - - - - I'm in position. should I take the shot. -No. I don't think the pirates told him about us. I think he will make a nice pawn. Continue to follow him. More pictures under the spoiler tag Thanks for looking. C&C appreciated. I will add dialogue tomorrow.
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Location: B05 Marphacia Tags: Land Vehicle, Spying Hawk was given a pretty simple weekly mission. He was sent to investigate a Kawashita communications relay deep in the swamps of Marphacia. The base itself seemed overgrown and poorly maintained but it still appeared operational. - - Hawk sent out his beetle scout droid. Once it was in place on the satellite dish, it would send MANTIS intelligence communications coming though the relay. - More pictures under the spoiler tag. Thanks for looking. It doesn't really continue my story I have been working on. I had something more elaborate in mind but I was running short on time this weekend. As usual, C&C welcomed.
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I'll add story tomorrow, but at least the photos are here for now. UPDATE: Story below (a long one ), pics same as before. "Dearly Beloved, we gather today to mourn the passing of one among us, MANTIS scientist 1st Class Scorpio Starstriker. His life was [...]" AG week 50 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr Jex shrugged and tried to stay awake. She didn't want to be here, despite her doctor's insistence. "It'll help you find closure," he said, "to put the whole episode behind you." Hmmmph. While Scorpio's death was still fresh on the minds of everyone at MANTIS, it had been two years ago for her. She had already done her grieving. After the explosion and all the mysterious circumstances that followed it, Scorpio had been all she had. She had tended to his wounds as best as she could, but in the deep swamp of...wherever it was they had ended up on, she couldn't even remember...there was no helping him. She talked to him, and sometimes he talked back, and then he was gone and that was that. She was alone. But his death steeled her will to survive. She held out hope that MANTIS would somehow find them. She looked up again at the ceremony, trying to gauge how much longer it would go on. She didn't see a reason why she should be here, although she did think it nice that Scorpio was finally being laid to rest. AG week 50 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr "And now while Brother Armando plays a hymn on the organ, Brother Jacobim will offer a solemn chant as we prepare to give our final respects. The doors you see behind me symbolize death, the portal that will take the deceased to the great beyond..." "Too late,' Jex smirked. 'He's already at the 'great beyond', or whatever it is you call it, Father. Two years ago." The music was soothing, though. Perhaps her doctor was right, and this would help her find a little more closure. She didn't share the beliefs of the priests of the order of San Corbin (having been a Davidite in her youth), so while she found their practices somewhat silly, yet she admired their dedication to them. She was aware that everyone was beginning to stand and approach the casket. She remained seated, allowing the others to leave before rising herself. AG week 50 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr "Poor Scorpio. You really didn't have a chance. Perhaps, if there is another place you've gone to, it will treat you better than this world has." AG week 50 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr Jex was surprised by Brother Jacobim standing behind her. "Pardon my interruption, but are you Jessica DuBois?" "Yes, what do you need?" "Well, we have some documents we need you to sign. Next of kin sort of stuff." "I'm...not his next of kin." "I know that, but your corporation said since he had no next of kin that you would be the closest..." "I'm not. Before he died he told me he had a sister that was also at MANTIS." "A sister? Well our MANTIS rep made no mention of that. Well his belongings were entrusted to us after the funeral arrangements were made, but it seems then that we cannot transfer them to your custody as we were instructed." "How long can you hold them?" "Well there isn't much, but to be rid of it all sooner I'll say...a week? maybe two?" "Fine. That should give me time to find her and let you know where to forward them to." "Very well, thank you miss. My condolences." AG week 50 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr Jex turned and headed for the door. She was intrigued by what Scorpio might have left behind, and also wondering, if Scorpio's sister was also at MANTIS, why didn't she attend the funeral? **************** Last week was my 1 year mark, but I was unable to get anything built. Oh well, Scorpio was already dead then anyway. I thought of using this post to reminisce of some of my builds from the past year, but the story had too much going forward to take very long looking back. C&C welcome! Pics of the priests and organ below: AG week 50 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr AG week 50 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr
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Planet: Marphacia - B05 Tags: Military, Building. Chapter 2: Uplink. Yseult stood on the upper terrace on the eastern side of the M.A.N.T.I.S. outpost watching the Marphacene sunrise. As usual, the morning mists diffused it into a messy and unattractive blur that was far too bright for her liking but she hadn't been able to sleep again, so she watched it anyway. Why am I here, she pondered, considering the unusual events that had led to her being wrapped up in the Galaxy's 'most avoided' mega-coporation. She didn't trust them, but then they probably didn't trust her either... except maybe for that scientist... Why an I here Big Sal? Why did you bring me in? "Late finish or early start?" The voice behind her came from a man carrying two steaming mugs, one of which he offered her. "Either way" he continued, raising his eyebrows to emphasise the offer, and perhaps intonate that there is wisdom in having the drink. "Coffee?" Yseult asked, taking it with both hands, the warmth welcoming against the brisk early morning air. The man let out a wry smile. "I wish" he responded. "Why pay to ship in coffee once they discovered you could get twice the caffeine from locally grown delicious cold-steeped brooga beans. Just add..." He looked, down at his mug with a worried expression. "Well, anything that'll take the taste away". Yseult couldn't stop a brief smile and an ever more brief chuckle. She looked at her feet as if to hide her face in embarrassment; it had been a long time since anyone had made her laugh. The man carried the smile he had from evoking the reaction openly. "And there was everyone telling me the new girl was just a walking bad temper." He said, holding his mug forward. That's because I am she thought. She considered the gesture, Friendship her heart implored. You can't trust him her head warned. Warily, she raised her mug and they chinked with a dull thud. "Riddaeon" He said before taking a large gulp of the brew. Yseult stopped, perhaps she'd hoped she'd never have to tell him, she'd prefer not to. It was an instinct, she was safer if no one knew who she was, that was how it had been for five years now. That's how I survive. "Yseult" she finally said, as quietly as she could get away with before taking a long sip of the drink herself. She didn't mind the bitterness so much as the flavour of something trying to be a tart fruit and a herb at the same time. She lowered the mug and couldn't hold back the grimace of displeasure but upon seeing Riddaeon's similar reaction, they both found some comedy in sharing such an unpleasant experience. "It's very bad" she was finally able said once the taste has stopped forcing her mouth into a painfully tight sliver. The moment was broken by the sound of an approaching shuttle as it flew directly overhead and disappeared at the peak of the pyramid-like structure that formed the outpost. 'Uplink' was a communications hub, its landing bays arranged vertically down the centre of the North and South faces with smooth walls of opaque and transparent composites on either side. The East and West faces were not so elegant, one having a huge dish for off-world communications and data transfer (the function that gave the outpost its name) and the other having the communal block and local transceiver antenna. At the top of the pyramid, 360 degree views were afforded to traffic control and the executive's offices, above which was their private landing pad. with regular traffic all being directed to approach the main landing bays from the North or South, a shuttle arriving from the West into the peak of the structure could only mean one thing... Someone important had arrived. Once the shuttle was out of view, Riddaeon looked back to Yseult. "Looks like news of your arrival is spreading" He said. She looked back at him, did he expect an answer? Did he think she knew who was in the shuttle? "I've seen people come and go in M.A.N.T.I.S." He continued. "I know what kind of people they are, what they look like". He paused for a moment, as if trying to figure out the answer to a question he hadn't asked yet. "They don't look like you." A tension emerged between them. Yseult knew M.A.N.T.I.S. operatives were supposed to be suspicious types, always looking for spies. Was she accused? Suspected? He took a last gulp of his despicable coffee and inspected the dregs at the bottom of the mug. "Why are you here... Yseult Brenneux?" He gave her one last look, then casually strolled back towards the building entrance. "I didn't tell you my full name" she call after him. He stopped, gently placed his mug on a nearby table. "No." he replied with certainty. "You didn't". He gave her one last glance, then turned and continued to the doors back inside. He's trying to read me she told herself, or scare me. She didn't like either. Uncertainty clutched at her. Where am I? Why am I here?. Would she ever get back to her normal life? But I don't want to go back. I didn't choose that life, they left me there. She was tired of looking back though, M.A.N.T.I.S. was a strange place but look what it offered. But if I leave, I'll never find her... I'll never get her back. Chapter 1: The mark Additional images:
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Location: A06 Guinevere Tags: MANTIS, spying, military building Desert Diversion Double D's log 47: The Kawashitan commander told us of 'safe zones' where they could have temporary rest from being on the run from the Alien. We immediately hurried to one of these 'safe zone' where we were to discuss the situation.... Commander: "Hurry, get in!" Others: "MANTIS is here?! This could be our way out!" Commander: "Keep your voices down!" Dave Daring: "So what what exactly is this alien you've been talking about, and what does it do, and why are you all here?" Commander: "We don't really know. The Alien seems to be immune to blasters, yet has its own weapon, powers, I don't know, that wreaks havoc all over the place. Somehow the Alien has made a communications dome around this MANTIS facility that sends out signals of normal operation, when in reality it hasn't been operational for months. Actually, there hasn't been any activity on the planet other than normal operations for more than 5 months! According to the global records that is. Anyway, the communications dome also intercepts all outgoing messages (like the one you tried to send back up to the orbiting MANTIS Spaceship a while ago." Dave Daring: "How'd you know I sent something to MANTIS?!" Commander: "Easy, one of the Alien canisters started sending out vibrations, alerting the Alien to your general location. Thankfully, I was in the area and was able to bring you here before the Alien found you...." Dave Daring: "What does the Alien want, and why would it attack?" Commander: "That one is not so easy. Though it probably has to do with whatever the Alien is doing on the West Wing of this GU-Labs and Weapons plant. Probably making sure no one knows whatever it's up to..." Dave Daring: "The West Wing huh? Great....that's the weapons section." Commander: "You got the hologram to work! Is that for all MANTIS facilities? Having the West side the Weapons side?" Dave Daring: "Hey now, that's classified, and so is how to open these holograms." Commander: "Whatever. Anyway, we need to figure out how to get out of this communications dome to get backup." Dave Daring: "You still didn't answer my question of why you all are here." Commander: "That's classified....." Dave Daring: "Fine....why don't we just walk out?" Others: "The Alien has the perimeter armed so that anything that enters or exits the dome notifies the Alien of the enter/exit location. Dave Daring: "So why weren't we attacked then? Are you just messing with us?!" Others: "......." Commander: "Look, you were smart when you came in, you ran to different buildings expecting something to jump out at you. You didn't stay put, so you managed to escape his notice...at least, managed to escape his physical eyes." Dave Daring: "....." Commander: "Well, what about the Alien flags and canisters! If you still want proof, then.... Scout: "Sir, we're picking up a moving Alien signal about 3 warehouses away." Dave Daring: "I thought you said the canisters stop any signals?" Scout: "No, just inbound and outbound signals. They also have a relatively small radius that also detects movement. Signals that stay within the dome aren't caught by the Alien, else we would have been found already and safe zones such as this one. If only we could get word to the outside, or find a bay full of speeders! Dave Daring: "I think I might know of a way....The West Wing you talked about earlier. There is a large antenna there, probably strong enough to get through this dome." Scout: "There's no way! The Alien kind of lives at the West Wing! He'd need to be out of there for a long time for someone not to get caught." Dave Daring: "You've got two MANTIS operatives here now chief. All we need is a diversion. I'll head towards the Alien signal, and when you hear me running around here, then you know it's your time to head for the West Wing. My friend Chad here can get you there. DD out! Several minutes later....... ~ DD out To be continued! ---------------------------------------------------------------- More photos in the spoiler --------------------------------------------------------------- It was great to do a larger build again for AG and make a MOC that is viewable from all angles and include an interior. My favorite part of the build is the design on either side of the entrance with the 2x2 tan tiles and the 1x2 lime green tiles and being able to hide the inner workings of that in the interior. Thanks for looking!
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Location: A06 Guinevere Tags: MANTIS, spying Double D's log 46: Before I could report about my findings and get a group of MANTIS operatives to explore the mysterious building on Illustria, I was sent to Guinevere of all places. I was to find out why MANTIS operations have been slow to the West of the volcanoes because Kawashita now has the competitive advantage of gold mining, and we aren't sure why MANTIS equipment isn't as effective as it should be. It's not like we're in conflict in Kawashita, even the CEO noted the planet's apparent peacefulness. So far the outposts we inspected were running at full capacity, and the employees had high morale, so we moved further West towards the GU-Labs and Weapons Center. From a distance it was immediately apparent is that there had been an attack of some sort on the facility! What's more, sand was beginning to dust the surfaces of....well, everything! That means it had been like this for quite a while now. There were flags of black, white, and azure blue, and canisters of matching color in various places, but MANTIS equipment seemed to be scattered around almost as if for survival. Then I noticed helmets used by Kawashitan forces. Before my rage could surface, I heard the distinct voice of the Kawashitan general whom I retrieved planned fleet paths from back on Crentium. "Be very quiet and cautious with your steps, or you will be found by the Alien." "Aliens?" "No, the Alien. This destruction you see, it is the Alien's doing. The azure canisters you see, it's the Alien. Now that you've entered the GU-Labs complex, you're trapped with us." "Us?!" To be continued! ------------------------------------------------- Woot! I finally have a story arc going!
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Location: B05 Marphacia Tags: Land Vehicle, Spying So what information are we trying to get out of them sir? We need to know if they detected the massive explosion we caused the other day. If the Kawashita seismology lab didn’t detect the explosion, we’ll know the GATE field expanded ahead of the explosion and stopped the information leaking out. If so, we have a functioning cloaking device, we'll just have to fine tune the stabilisers. Couldn’t we just ask them if they detected it? No! If we just ask them if they’ve detected any explosions recently, they’ll know we’re up to something. We have to persuade them to tell us, preferably without even realising we’re from M.A.N.T.I.S. That’s why we’re in this Kawashita boat! Exactly. And it has to be a row boat so it doesn’t upset their seismology instruments. No point annoying them before we even get there. And you have to be here to do the rowing… I see the lab sir! Good work Stevens, bring us in. Now, this is probably going to take a lot of natural charm and quick wits, and you don’t have a persuadomatic spy suit, so let me do all the talking. It could be very difficult to get the information out of them, so prepare to witness some incredible spying. Yes sir! Ok, here goes. I guess I’ll knock on the door. This is going to be very difficult, so you’re going to have a great story about my awesome spy skills to tell your friends. Oh my… can it be true? Are you real? I haven’t seen anyone since I was posted here back in Julali! I’ve been so bored – there’s not been a single seismic event the whole time I’ve been here! Well… that was easy. Uh, sorry guy, we must have the wrong lab. Best be off! No, no, come in and have a drink, I insist! Do you like tea? I love tea! Wonderful! Come on in! I’ll just put the kettle on! This is so exciting! Damn it Stevens! Oh, I’ve been so lonely here. I’ve only had my plants to talk to, and they never say anything back. Guess that makes sense though. There are lots of sentient, communicative plant species in Andromeda actually! That’s what I told them! But they’re still giving me the silent treatment! Oh boy… Right, well, thanks for the drinks, we’d best be going. What?? No! Please don't leave, I’ve been so alone! And besides, I’ve made some food for us to share. It would be a shame if you had to leave before you try it… you could have all sorts of ‘accidents’ if try to you leave on an empty stomach… *Gulp* OK, OK! We’ll stay for some food, sure, no need for any 'accidents'… Oh, how wonderful! I’ll just go get it! Damn it Stevens, why couldn’t you keep your mouth shut?? This guy’s a lunatic! Sorry sir! Hopefully he’ll let us leave if we eat his food. I hope it’s not anything weird, or we might have to make a run for it. Fresh sushi! Made with local ingredients! … … ... Quickly Stevens! Come back! --- Thanks for reading! C&C welcome! I have to confess that I straight up stole the roof design from Bushido - Way of the Warrior by Disco86, which is one of my all time favourite MOCs. Hopefully Disco86 won't mind, as a fellow M.A.N.T.I.S. player
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Location: B06 Sorn Tags: Land vehicle Note to judges: the landscape is reused and should not be judged. - More pictures of the speeder under the spoiler tag Thanks for looking. C&C welcomed
