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Showing results for tags 'Mantis'.
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Activity- Exploration. Location- A05 Yallorn II Previously, Mark of Orion had helped in the occupation of Barnius and was disgruntled with his task of constructing a "very complex" sensor array... After complaining explaining to his superior officer, Second Branch Executive Ninja Nin, that he was more interested in exploring than assembling equipment, Mark was given a different mission on MANTIS' next target, Yallorn II. Mark was very pleased with the change of position, now he was free to wander around and explore an entirely new planet! Yallorn II was a particularly interesting place. Mark had decided to explore the southern sector along the coast. To his surprise, the normal earth tones of the soil gave way to mud of a deep blue color with small plateaus of clay on which vegetation abounded. Mark deduced that the tide was out, and the foliage in this vicinity was not capable of growing below the waterline. Mark's peaceful walk was interrupted by by his radio ringtone... "Mark here, what's up?" "Hey Mark, this is John." "Hey John! How's the view in your sector?" "Pretty good, But that's not why I'm calling..." "Oh?" "Yeah, my scanner says my area is clear, but that there is some unidentified lifeform activity near you. See anything?" Mark took a quick look around. "I don't see anything near, maybe there's something underground... I can see there being clams or something in this mud?" "Heh, probably nothing serious, just thought I'd call and check." "All right, much appreciated, John!" "Okay, see ya later!" "Later! Bye!" (Click) After hanging up with his co-worker, Mark reflected on the dangers of being too absorbed in the scenery. "Hmm, I should check my scanner more often, something big and ugly could creep up on me without me even knowing!" "The planet description did say "moderate alien activity" and..." The Ghastly Galloping Garctaloid of Yallorn II ! by Mark E., on Flickr Suddenly, Mark looked over his shoulder and realized that a huge alien had snuck up behind him!! "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!" The ferocious alien bellowed and screeched as it galloped towards Mark! "GROGGLAAK!! SKREEEHHKK!! GROGGHLAAKK!!" Mark wasn't about to let himself get gobbled up! He quickly raised his MANTIS death ray blaster and fired into the belly of the beast! The enormous creature screeched out ten times louder than before! But the MANTIS death ray blaster is quite effective on most fleshly beings... The monster collapsed into a pile of squirming dismembered tentacles as it's gnashing mouth slowly stopped chomping in rage. Mark, in a rush of adrenaline and exuberance, dashed towards the dying creature and grabbed one of the limb-like tentacles. "What a monstrous brute! You could've been so useful to MANTIS! To bad there's no stun setting on my death ray blaster..." Mark, still clutching the limb, turned and continued on his exploration. "But all is not lost! I'm sure Big Sal or one of our other scientists will be able to concoct something absolutely terrifying with your DNA sample!" Yes, Mark was beginning to enjoy this exciting job! To Be Continued!
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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.
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Location: B04 - Barnius Tags: B04, MANTIS, Spying AG Octan Camp Infiltration by David FNJ, on Flickr Double D's Log 1: After watching the patterns of a small group of Octan operatives on the planet in sector B04, I was finally able to access their computer for 5 minutes while they took a short hike to a nearby lake. Quickly, I submitted a script back to their headquarters that would ultimately require the group to leave the planet the next day. "Hostile Conditions - no time to explain" seemed to have done the trick ;) M.A.N.T.I.S. engineers and researchers should do fine here now without any other interruptions from Octan....at least for now. ~ DD out -------------------------------------------------- Well, my first AG post! Didn't get to spend too much time on it since I joined late this week and didn't know what planet we were going for, but hey, extra points for M.A.N.T.I.S. I think I got all of the tags, location, etc. right. Let me know if I need to change something. Hopefully I will get used to commenting on people's builds here on EB, but I don't know, I may be more of a Flickr guy when it comes to that.
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Flickr uploader isn't working, so I've resorted to Brickshelf. Haven't used it in a while, so hopefully everything comes out ok EDIT: Changed the second photo to one showing the cockpit and driver. Added a picture of the lab inside the spoiler. EDIT 2: Switched all the photos to Flickr links - hopefully they'll stay put now! Excerpt from the lab book of Big Sal: Date: 5 Junali 3815. Location:Barnius. Expedition Code: MRV1B04. Expedition Leader: Big Sal. Expedition Vessel: M.A.N.T.I.S. Research Vessel 1 Aims: Conduct hydrological, geological and biomass survey of Barnius's oceans. Excerpt ends. ...but Sal, it’s larvae Friday in the cafeterias today, why do we have to eat bananas? Because every single one of these crates has bananas in. Those idiots in logistics must have misread the requisition form again! C’mon Smith, we’re stuck in the middle of this ocean until the boffins are done, so just chillax. I don’t know how you can relax with all the noise from that water drill, or whatever it is. I can barely hear myself think! Water drill? Seriously? I’m no scientist, but even I know it isn’t a water drill. How would that even work?! Water drill at 80% power, over. GETTING A BIT LOUD DOWN HERE JONES, OVER. WHAT?? Sal, these rocks are incredible! The hydrophobic crystalline structure is unlike anything I’ve ever- Damn it Kowalski, you’re so boring. Do you ever talk about anything other than rocks? Well… I am the mission geologist… Whatever. Come and help us pull up the nets, we might have caught something interesting by now. I hope we’ve got some different seaweed species since last time! Ugh, seaweed this, seaweed that. Don’t you ever talk about anything other than plants, Lafevre? Well…I am the mission botanist… In fact, what exactly is your specialty Sal? … … … Let’s get these nets up! Ooh, this is a new species. Oh, joy. Get it to the lab Lafevre, Kowalski and I can handle the other net. Now this is more like it! Let’s get it on board! Lafevre, forget the seaweed, come look at this! Wow, looks like it made its home around the skeleton. Or around the corpse when it was fresh and a source of food. Ewwww. Grow up Kowalski. Wait, is it moving…? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Did you hear something? Nah, it’s just the ‘drill’. Man, Smith, how would you even drill water? What is wrong with you? JONES, THE DRILL CAN’T HANDLE MUCH MORE OF THIS. NO MORE POWER, OVER! WHAT?? NO MORE POWER, OVER! MORE POWER, GOT IT! OVER! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! *splash* … … Well, I guess it could be worse… Oh... Ok, that was a bit long, so thanks for reading if you made it to the end! Comments and criticism welcome!
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Location: D02 - Barker's Folly Tags: Military, Spying, Science. Does torturing enemy spies count as spying? M.A.N.T.I.S Special Forces log: Myra Dynarski [Off Duty] 6 Junali 3815, M.A.N.T.I.S. spaceship in the Barker's Folly asteroid belt. Previous entry Note: The following has been recorded following standard interrogation procedures, in case information gained from the subject turns out to be useful. However, this recording is to be considered the private property of Special Agent Myra Dynarski, and not to be opened by anyone with less than clearance level 5, and then only if neccessary. [Permission granted for Special Agent Chet Darjak to access recording for personal use] -Commence recording- "Thank you, Chet. Cardioimpetus rubiflora is my favourite species of flower. Because it's poisonous, obviously. Help yourself to the wine. And the knives." "Aaaaaah! I'll tell you anything! You haven't even asked any questions! Aaaaah!" "Shame all the interrogation rooms were in use." "Whose lab is this, anyway?" "I think it's Big Sal's." "I'm sure he won't mind." "Yeah... I hope that blood isn't dripping on anything important." "Who do you work for? Is it Octan?" "Aaaah! No! We were independent explorers mapping the gravitational anomalies in the Andromeda galaxy! Our spaceship crashed years ago!" "I don't believe you. I think you work for Octan." "Aaaah! Yes, whatever you say! I work for clock man!" "Octan." "Aaah! Octan! Whoever! Aaaah!"
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Open Log: Pangolinus recording. I've entered the Barker's Folly asteroid belt. Awesomium was reported to be in the area. My current location is above an asteroid with what appears to several large caverns. This seems like a good time to test the maneuverability of the new MANTIS F.L.I. (Fast Lightweight Interceptor) Ending the transmission now. Entering the cavern. The F.L.I by itself. C&c appreciated! MANTIS shall dominate the Galaxy!
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Planet: D02, Barker 's Foley Job: Special Forces Private Gnarl Graves scanned the desolate asteroid he had landed on, and pulled out his dented vibrating blade to ward off any potential hostiles he may discover. MANTIS had been picking up a strange signal from this particular hunk of rock... a signal outside of MANTIS frequencies. It was up to Private Gnarl Graves to investigate this. https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t35.0-12/11337125_10206486514138959_7995659420309757188_o.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=846a485b85626ab05833340a72c260ed&oe=556C4E38 What's this? An Octan homing beacon? This is no where near their area of influence... what are those bastards planning? No one messes with MANTIS! (Sorry for the crap build. That's literally all the Lego pieces I had on hand.)
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Excerpt from the lab book of Big Sal: Date: 27 Maian 3815. Experiment Code: X2B03. Lead Scientist: Big Sal. Laboratory: Linopeia III Facility, Xenobiology Lab 2. Aim: Investigate local wildlife for useful properties. Excerpt ends. "Johnson, stop messing around with my awesomnium! That's the first batch from Ninja Nin's drilling machine, and I need to store it here because my materials lab is still being repaired." "Fine, fine. Wait, Sal, isn't that one of the man eating yellow frogs that nearly killed Lady K's team??" "Calm down, it's sedated. I've run all the usual tests and there's nothing interesting. Just extreme aggression, virulent toxins and regenerative abilities." "Those sound pretty interesting to me Sal!" "That's why I'm the lead scientist, and you're not. Now, let's inject it with some of my new awesomnium extract." "Uh, that doesn't sound very safe. Especially since the combination of the extract and the regener-" "Damn it Johnson, show some backbone for once! Science isn't about being safe!" Excerpt from the lab book of Big Sal: Method: Despite my objections on safety grounds, Johnson insists that we try injecting the new awesomnium extract into the predatory yellow amphibians discovered by Lady Kianna. Prediction: The serum may react in an unpredictable manner with the creature's regenerative abilities. Excerpt ends. "Nothing's happening Sal. Let's just forget this ever happened and... WHAT THE F???!!!" "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Excerpt from the lab book of Big Sal: Results: Awesomnium extract caused extreme growth in the creature and negated the effects of the sedative. The creature was driven away by laser pistol blasts but appeared to suffer no significant injury. Its resilience may therefore also have been enhanced by the awesomnium extract. Conclusions: A combination of the awesomnium extract and a serum from the creatures could lead to powerful combat drugs for our special forces. Extreme care will be necessary. Safety Report: Johnson's reckless approach to science, despite my warnings, led directly to his death and the destruction of the laboratory by the enhanced creature. Were it not for my heroics in driving the creature away, dozens more lives may have been lost. Is there a chance Johnson was an Octan or Kawashita agent trying to sabotage our research? Excerpt ends. I had a lot of fun with this one! Comments and criticism welcome. Here's the whole build: (Ok, so I forgot to take a photo before the lab was destroyed )
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Location: B03 - Linopeia III Tags: Military, Piracy, Building. M.A.N.T.I.S Special Forces log: Myra Dynarski 20 Maian 3815, Linopeia III. Previous entry "I've arrived at the building. It looks secure, but their security protocols are very poor. I guess they don't have visitors often. Stun gun is fully charged, combat analysis probe is deployed. Injecting stimulants and engaging the enemy." "All enemies subdued. Heart rate up 20% from usual, adrenaline levels up 200%, accuracy up 1.7%, reflex speed up 30%. Mission successful, awaiting retrieval." The door opens! Okay, in future I'm making sure I edit out the background before I shrink the pictures.
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Excerpt from the lab book of Big Sal: Date: 20 Maian 3815. Experiment Code: M5B03. Lead Scientist: Big Sal. Laboratory: Linopeia III Facility, Materials Lab 5. Aim: Assess local rock sample for precious metals. Excerpt ends. "Well, I suppose I'd better get on with aligning the lasers." "The other lasers are fine, but the connections on this one are a bit loose. However... to fix it I'd have to go borrow a ladder from Sci-X's lab, which would mean actually speaking to Sci-X... I'll just leave it - what's the worst that could happen?" Excerpt from the lab book of Big Sal: Method: Precious metal content will be analysed using newly designed quad-laser quark-gluon spectrometer. Prediction: Analysis will reveal any subatomic impressions of awesomnium, gold, mithril or copper, effectively scanning the whole of Linopeia III with just one sample. Excerpt ends. "Everything's set up - time to fire the lasers!" "Everything seems to be working as expected. Wait, what's that tearing sound?" "Whoops! At least it didn't damage the highly explosive gas canister it fell on..." Excerpt from the lab book of Big Sal: Results: Quark-gluon impression spectra contains distinct awesomnium signature. Conclusions: High probability of extensive awesomnium deposits on Linopeia III. No other precious metals detected. Spectrometer worked perfectly. Safety report: No incidents to report. However, on returning to laboratory after experiment, evidence of large explosion causing extensive damage to laboratory. I suspect Octan or Kawashita sabotage! Excerpt ends. Comments and criticism welcome! Here's the whole build:
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Location: B03 - Linopeia III Tags: Military, Spying, Vehicle. M.A.N.T.I.S Special Forces log: Myra Dynarski 19 Maian 3815, Linopeia III (B03). "Dropship has landed; I'm on Linopeia III, halfway up a mountain. There's a lot of moss and grass here, but few larger plants. Anything big must die when the water dries up. My primary objective: Detain and interrogate whoever's in the building across the valley. Scans indicate outdated technology and a handful of humans, so the most likely possibility is survivors from one of the early pre-GATE pioneer ships." "An Octan supply pod was found by another agent recently, though, so it's possible they're spies. Either way, secondary objective is to field-test the new K-3 combat stimulants, which I have in my pack here. I'll be injecting them and deploying a combat analysis probe once I get closer to the target."
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Heading for Linopeia III Pilot's Log: Pangloinus here. I've been sent to Linopeia III in an experimental, long range, fighter: the M.A.N.T.I.S. Cristax Fighter Mark I. MCF for short. Currently running at normal cruising speed. Preparing to push the ship to its max. 3....2.....1.....GO! This is awesome! I'll be making record time for this run. Ending transmission so i can fully test the ship. YEEHA! OOC: First MANTIS build! C&C appreciated!
