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Previously... Luna - 3187 The Skylanes above Aristarchus City It's been a while since a particular pair of Kawashita operatives have seen each other. Bonnie, who was once called "The Mechanic" and renowned for her technical skills with exotic weaponry and cybernetic prosthetics, has been retired ever since the retreat from Andromeda. After what he discovered on Mars, Koro felt it was time to look her up. "It's not that I'm unhappy to see you, Koro. It's just that, after the way you left it..." "Look, I'm sorry. After Orinshi I knew it might be a very long time between visits and I just didn't want to leave you hanging." Bonnie feels a little skeptical. "You must think I'm really quasarin' stupid, Koro. We're both professionals." "C'mon. You didn't really want to sit there waiting for me to get all beat up before getting to see me. What kind of relationship is that?" "Maybe you should have let us figure that out." "Maybe." Koro throws up his hands, conceding. There's an awkward silence... "There's more to it, isn't there?" "Ain't there always?" "Did you finally catch a break in your investigation?" "How did you know about that?" "Raven and I talk all the time. I've probably got better security clearance than you do, these days." "I thought you were retired." "Well. Semi-retired." "Okay then, yes. There's been a lead. I won't go into details about how I found out, just your average boring spy junk, but it's starting to look like an inside job." "Does that surprise you?" Koro becomes uncharacteristically thoughtful. "I don't even know any more. The whole Andromeda thing was such a clusterbrick. Opsecs blown left and right, people going rogue or defecting, second guessing every body at every level. Kind of makes it hard to be the company's #1 Killbot, you know?" "Reminds me of the turmoil around the Belt Resource disputes in 3052." "You read too much, Bonnie." "Whatever. Why tell me all this, anyway? You could have just played the stoic assassin who doesn't trust anybody." "You're about the only person I do trust, Bonnie." This catches Bonnie off guard. She goes quiet for a while, thinking about something. Koro is oblivious, naturally. "Umm... What about Blue?" "Hard to say." "I don't see how. You've been traipsing around with her for a year." "Wait... are you jealous?" "What the quasar? No! Look, let's change the subject." "Uh huh." "Why don't you come over for a... tune-up. Old time's sake." "Whoa. You are jealous!" "Shut up. You in or not?" "Don't have to ask me twice." It's hard to tell because of his robotic face, but Koro is grinning. Get that look off your face, you tin can." Bonuses and Builder's Notes:
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Previously... Mars - 3187 A busy street in Brazos Valles... Koro and Blue have traveled back to Sol System after the events in Andromeda. The trail of Raven's bomber has long gone cold, leaving them to stew in a holding pattern while the suits figure out the next step for the company. Brazos Valles is a busy mercantile city. The foot traffic is such that Koro can pass unnoticed. On a whim, he checks a public media terminal that used to be a KG dead-drop back when he had skin. Blue isn't far away. She's been watching Koro's back for months now and likes to be on hand even if he doesn't necessarily know it. Confirming something on her scanner, she makes a call. "Yes, I understand that I'm not due to check in for another three days. This is urgent. For some reason, he's checking an old drop. No, I don't know if there's anything actually there. Of course I will. Yes. Haven't I been doing that all this time? Yes, I did. I thought you might know and want me to intervene. All right, I'll check in as soon as I know." Koro, meanwhile, can't believe his eyes. Not only is there a message waiting in the dead drop, it's about Raven's bombing! He reads the message slowly. Then again. The dots start forming patterns in his head. Motherbricker! The trail's not cold anymore. Bonuses and Builder's Notes:
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Earth - 3187 A Kawashita Conference Room... Two executives meet after hours for a little clandestine chat: "Beep-Beep!" "No thanks, unit. I have my coffee." "Ivanovna, you were saying..." "Yes, Shin. Sorry. I was saying that the delays have made it very difficult to correspond with Operations for the info you asked for." "As you've said before. But we both know that all these operators in the wind will almost certainly come back to bite us when we finally do return to Andromeda." "But we also both know that it's one operator in particular who keeps you up at night." "It's been months since there have been any updates. Rumor is that he and his partner are in deep cover, looking everywhere for anyone who knows anything about what happened to Raven. "You're worried he will find out we knew." "As you should be also! He's relentless. If he discovers our involvement, Raven will put us on the Kill List if he doesn't just decide to kill us himself. He's been known to do things like that, Ivanovna. I've seen the reports." "But we weren't really involved, Shin. There's no remaining tether connecting us to the bombing and you have to admit that it went exactly as we were told it would." "How sure are you about that? I have come too far to bet the whole farm on the competence of people I don't control." "That's why we have the failsafe. Don't worry, we will be able to move against Koro long before he can move against us." "In the meantime, there's only really one cure for the itch between my shoulderblades. I honestly don't know how you manage, Ivanovna. Unit!" "Beeeeeep!" "Sake. The good stuff." "You worry too much, Shinzanami." "And you don't worry enough." Bonuses and Builder's Notes:
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EDIT: I changed locations to Sorn Guinevere and added some more relevant tags, as per EpsilonEta's request. Changed some of the write-up too to reflect that. Kawashita Industrial Spaceport Guinevere - 3186 Tags: Special Operations, Land Vehicle, Space Vehicle "But you know I work alone." "I know you like to work alone, Koro. And I even know that putting you with someone is no guarantee you're going to behave. I know that from experience." "Then why saddle me with a partner? Seems illogical." "Because we need you and it's worth hedging my bets that having someone around will keep you in line. So just do me a favor and skip the part where you whine about it." "All right, all right. By the way, I'm glad you're not dead." "You and me both. Go meet your new friend. Run along now." When Koro got to the launchpad, the ship and his new partner were already waiting for him. Kawashita Operators tended to use industrial ports for their comings and goings on various planets, including Guinevere. This kept nosy folks away from details about their movements and allowed a certain amount of privacy and discretion for meetings like this one. Even low-ranking KG employees like dock workers knew better than to get too close to people like Koro. They loaded crates and drove awesomnium around and generally tried to mind their own business. "Agent Koro, welcome to the Hikosake. One of the fastest ships in Andromeda." "Not very discrete though." "She's got a few tricks up her sleeve. I've taken the liberty of bringing down some of your gear. It was sent over from the Section headquarters." "That's my stuff in those locked crates? What's the password?" "Raven said I don't have to tell you unless you're nice to me. Are you going to be nice to me, Agent Koro?" "If you stop calling me "Agent" it'll be a start. What do I call you?" "My name's Blue." "Real original." "I'm typically unique." "Well what's your story? Did they partner you up with me just to fly me around?" "I have... other skills too." "Like?" "Let's just say they picked me because I'm going to make your job easier." "Aren't you supposed to be my babysitter?" "That too, Agent Koro." "Just Koro." "Right. Let's hop in the ship and we'll talk some more." "Just as long as you know I didn't ask for this. I work alone." "Don't we all." Koro had to admit that the Hikosake was pretty sweet. While Blue launched them out of Orinshi's gravity well, he busied himself checking systems and finding out what he'd missed while he'd been in exile. The newsnets were full of interesting tidbits. He had a lot of catching up to do... Bonus pics in the spoiler:
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Mt. Takei Orinshi - 3186 Tags: Special Operations "I'm assuming you got my message." "Yes, I'm nearly at the location now. I forgot how humid it is on Orinshi." "You have to adopt the local fashion, Brik. Silk is very breathable. Helps with the humidity." "I'm not really big on silk clothes, Raven. Just... not my style." "Ha. To be honest, I never liked silk clothes either." "So you're sure about this? The Asset has been out of play for months now. What if he's not up to it any more?" "Trust me. I know him personally and I'm pretty sure I know exactly how he's going to react when he sees you." "Really. How?" "Just don't make any sudden moves and you should be okay." "Uhhh... should I have brought a security detail?" "I'm kidding. He's a teacher, now. He's not gone feral. I think." "Well... I'll report back when I've spoken with the Asset." "Stop calling him 'The Asset', Brik. He has a name." Mt. Takei was once the heart of the original Orinshi colony. Many of its banners and decor still featured the original symbol of the Kawashita Group. The Takei Dojo had been on the mountain since the earliest days of that first colony, and the old traditions died hard there. Brik had occasionally wondered where the Asset had been sent after the events in the Hamilton Belt almost a year ago. He had heard rumors about training facilities on secret moons, or deep below the ocean of that watery world he could never remember the name of. He never expected Raven to send the Asset here, hidden in plain sight from all the enemies he had made in Andromeda. When he entered the dojo, there was a brother and sister training in kendo gear. Brik wasn't much of a traditionalist, but he had to admire the aesthetics of the room, their armor, and the poise with which they trained. The brother did not seem impressed to see him. He looked down at Brik's shoes and said nothing. The sister was more friendly. She seemed to know exactly why he was there. She pointed him off to an exit that led behind the dojo, along a carefully tended garden path. Koro was meditating in the gardens when Brik came looking for him. More accurately, when Raven sent Brik looking for him. It had taken awhile for the resentment and boredom to subside, but now he was getting used to Mt. Takei, his students, and the long slow days of quiet contemplation. Sometimes he wondered if perhaps Raven had not been right about the Commodore. He stayed away from the news networks and all his old contacts in Special Operations had long ago gone silent. Now he hardly knew what was happening out there in the galaxy. "Uh. Hi there, Koro." "Great. I was just ascertaining the meaning of life." "We've never met before, but I've heard a lot about you. Your file is as thick as my thigh." "What do you want? Does she know you're here?" "Actually, she's why I'm here. Raven was targeted in a bombing--" "Whoa. She's not..." "No, no. She's alive. She barely made it." "And let me guess... now she needs me back?" "Something like that. Not everyone knows she's still alive. We're waiting until the time is right, but before she steps back out of the shadow, we need to track down the people responsible." "That was going to be my next question: who had the stones to try and erase Raven?" "We thought it was a guy called 'SpacerSteve' but now we're not so sure." "Affiliation?" "M.A.N.T.I.S." "Assassinating another corporation's leader seems like too bold a move, even for them." "That's what Raven said. We don't know how deep this goes. That's where you come in." "Okay." "Okay? That's all?" "What were you expecting me to do -- ask for a raise?" Sometime later, Brik had gone and Koro was alone again in the garden. He thought about the way his life was now, the idyllic peace he'd resisted for so long had finally started to seep in and just like that... it was over. Now it was back to the swordplay, the close calls, getting his arms ripped off, and so on. He felt... excited. Ready. Meanwhile, Brik reported back to Raven... "I have to admit, I expected more of a fuss." "Nah. For all his faults, he's a pretty loyal guy." "You say that, but he's only been in exile all this time because of disloyalty." "Here's the thing: he's stayed in exile this past year. He went into exile willingly when I ordered it. Would you have done that quietly? I wouldn't have." "I see your point, but how do we encourage him to follow orders without his usual... creativity?" "Don't worry about that part. I can handle Koro. Once he makes contact, I'll get him set up and ready to go." "I hope you know what you're doing, Raven." "Time will tell." *** END Builder's Notes: Koro is back! I hope I can build more often now than I did last year. I've missed the Lego! Thanks for looking and, as always, there are a few extra pics on my Flickr.
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Garden Path Farmolis 3186 Dr. Markham blissfully walks through the Andromeda Arboretum of Farmolis's capital city without a care in the world. His job was just too good. Great paycheck... and the retirement package? Wow! Koro sensed the doctor's presence but kept focused on his meditation. He picked a spot where he knew the good doctor would see him on the way to the lab and waited for confirmation from his secretary confirming his Friday schedule. The secretary confirms, and Koro comes out of his trance. He drops down from the Torii to say hello while Dr. Markham is trying to decide what upholstery to use in his new orbital yacht. "Dr. Markham, we were just now able to schedule another spin class for Friday. Can I sign you up for the 10 am slot?" Alternate Shot: [Challenge 3][Cat. A][H06] Swift Reprisal - 2 by Ryan McBryde, on Flickr Based on mccoyed's Swift Reprisal
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Location: H03 - Kaalin Tags: N/A This is a rebuild of mccoyed's Kawashita Commissary, which can be found here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=113473 Kawashita Octan takes the comfort of its flight crews and guests pretty seriously. Even frigates and cruisers have fully stocked commissaries staffed by actual humans robots! The politest, most helpful humans robots in Andromeda! Let's take a closer look! Uh oh. Koro, a special consultant who works for Kawashita Octan has a delayed order and he is not happy about it! Looks like the consummate professional Ms. Melynchuk will have to quickly look up the ETA and report it to him in order to promote the excellent customer service one can expect in an Kawashita Octan commissary. Even Tim, the youngest crewman robot onboard this particular ship, is helping out by making a call to the cargo deck to check if Koro's item has been misplaced. Let's hope not, since Koro likes to order only the best exploding death devices, available now at all participating Kawashita Octan outlets! But what's this? Another consultant is trying to get on the public QE (that's Quantum Entanglement, boys and girls! only the best tech for Kawashita Octan!) communication station to make a call, but there's a marine in his way! Well, I'm sorry but our flight crew gets first priority, Mr. Beltar O'Reilly, and you'll just have to wait your turn! Who are you trying to call anyway! Over here in the corridor, a dapper Kawashita Octan executive confidently walks the halls of the ship. Where others might find the constant presence of armed marines intimidating, Mr. Tanaka Pombe is happy to see them and knows he is safe under their benevolent watch. Look how friendly they are! Jackbooted thugs? Not on an Kawashita Octan ship! Our marines know that good relations and good etiquette keep a crew happy and less likely to succumb to the Space Madness. Extra photos in spoiler: Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed this build as much as I did! Comments and criticism welcome.
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After the Commodore made his escape, Koro followed him through winding corridors. He spared no thoughts to Raven or her men, all his concentration was bent on not letting the Commodore escape yet again... Dust Demon Base The Hamilton Belt - 3185 Tags: Special Operations Koro came upon him in the access corridor for a small hangar. He stood there, surrounded by his goons waiting for the transport that would put him in the proverbial wind. He was confident, Koro gave him that much. He'd ditched his armor and didn't even bother to raise his pistol. He smirked when he saw Koro enter view. "Why bother, tin man? You know there's no prison in Andromeda that can hold me." "This time, we're going to do this my way. No prisons." "You're completely outnumbered. Even you can see the futility." "Just who the quasar do you think I am?" "Well, if you insist. I may as well enjoy some entertainment before my transport arrives." "Time for a..." There was a hiss and a click only he could hear as Koro's faceplate slid into place. Full battle mode, no holding back. One of the Commodore's goons turned and spoke to his boss. Koro barely heard as his microfilament-edged katana slid through another suit of cheap power armor. "Boss. Permission to deal with the enemy cyborg." Koro was done with the goons. He sized up the Commodore's last two bodyguards. "Yes, they're cyborgs. Like you." "Not like me." "Get him!" "Argh! What do I have to do to get good help in this megablocking galaxy!" "Some cyborgs. It was cute that they had matching haircuts." "Maybe we can--" "Don't even start with me." "Fine then. See if you can dodge a shot at THIS range!" Koro knocked the Commodore's pistol away and then decked him in the face. "You're finished." "No! It can't end like this!" "Die with some dignity. Andromeda won't miss you at all. All the pain you've caused ends right here." Sometime later... "Holy crap." "Raven. Took your time. Nice hair." "Shut up, Koro. I was just blown up. I'll be in a med bay for weeks once these stims wear off." "Well, you're just in time to pay your respects to the Commodore. I finished the job, just like I said I would." "You killed him. I expressly forbid that. You're going to face the music for this one, Koro. This time, Narbilu and your record won't protect you from learning a valuable lesson in loyalty." "Don't bother. You're also just in time for me to tender my resignation from the Kawashita Group." "Well I don't accept it." "What!? Shouldn't you be throwing a party or doing back-flips or something?" "You're a good agent but you need to learn some manners. Besides, we own too much of your body for you to quit. You belong to me and the company and you're going to go where I put you." They stared at each other over the bodies of their enemies, as if those very bodies told the story of the vast difference in philosophy and methods between these two former colleagues. Now, Raven was the boss and Koro still just a cog in a vast machine. She willed him to let go of his stubbornness for once. He willed her to realize he was more trouble to her than he was worth. It was a stalemate. "Fine. Where?" "What?" "You said I'll go where you send me. So where is that going to be Raven-sama?" "I'll figure out what to do with you later. Like I said, you're a good agent. We need more like you, but we need more like you who can follow orders." "Oh no. You're not thinking what I think you're thinking. Anything but that." "You earned it. You're going back to Orinshi. I hope you like being called sensei."
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Some time ago... Koro had waited until the Skip-Speeder stopped and Jackson got out to take a wee. The poor fool had never even known anyone else was there. He didn't watch as Jackson bled out. He was too busy getting an earful from Raven over how he chose to deal with the treacherous bugger. "We needed him alive. Haven't you ever heard the word 'interrogate'?" "Do you spell that with an 'I'?" "I'm serious. There's tying up loose ends, and then there's this. There's "eliminating traitors with extreme prejudice" and then there's whatever it is you think you're doing." "I'm eliminating traitors with extreme prejudice." "Dammit, Koro. I know you don't answer to me but you seriously need to think before you stab. Next time, call me first... not after." "Yeah we'll see-- oh, she disconnected." Weeks later... Secret Mountain Hideout Marden - 3185 Tags: Special Operations Koro liked to come home every now and then. Because he kept all his stuff in a mobile bunker, he could plant "home" wherever he needed it to be. These days, that meant Marden but he had a funny feeling it was about to change yet again. All he'd wanted to do was log in to World of Roawia for twenty minutes to run some dailies with his Level 75 Lenfaldian Knight. But it wasn't meant to be. There was a call coming in. "Hello Koro. Long time. You miss me?" "Yeah. I miss all my old friends." "Then you're going to be happy I called. You remember the Dust Demons?" "Yeah. They've been quiet for weeks now. Something new happen?" "The Commodore went into hiding after what happened last time we took a run at them. Now he's back." "Please tell me we're going to finally close the book on these quasars." "Quasars? You been hanging around Bonnie again?" "Uhhh. No comment." "Whatever. Anyway, yeah, we have a go order on the base. We're going to take it and hopefully the Commodore along with it. Then it's over with the Demons. I know I'll sleep easier... but Koro? We're going to do this one right, you understand me? That means it's my Op and my rules." "Your Op. I get it. Can we get to work now?" "Absolutely. Get to Goshi Junction. My team and I will hook up with you there." "Understood." BUILDER'S NOTE: The first build is just a flashback to reconnect Koro to where things with the Dust Demons left off. My actual build for the week is Koro's "apartment" on Marden. I didn't claim Spying this week because even I can't make the logic of that work. This is a "connective tissue" build and story.
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Undisclosed Location Guinevere - 3185 Tags: Spying, Special Operations Koro was glad to get away from higher society for a while. Back out in the field with a hot ride and a new planet to sneak all over. And would you look at that, he planted his listening post just in time to sit back on his bike and watch the Tsurugi-Gs do a fly by in low atmo. Beautiful sight. Good to be back out there.
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Kawashita Embassy Manor Angornal - 3185 Tags: Spying, Special Operation Determined to find out what the heck was going on with the "suspicious" characters at the function, Koro tailed them when they went out on a nearby balcony. As if Bonnie The Mechanic was psychic or something, the woman put the data cube into a mediaplayer and stuck a pair of headphones on her face. The man was barely containing his excitement, but Koro could tell from the tension in her shoulders that the woman was not enjoying whatever it was she was hearing. Just when it was getting good, Koro heard a very chiding voice pipe in on his communicator. " Koro. What the quasar are you doin' out there?" "Shhh. Dude. I think he's playing recordings of some secret conversation." "I would be three battleships, two mining asteroids, and a partridge in a pear-frickin' tree that he isn't. But for the sake of argument, tap into the 'player's signal and find out." "Wait. I can do that!?" "Ugh. I swear. I'm going to strap you down to a workbench and watch you read that manual." Sure enough, Koro confirmed that the mediaplayer was indeed playing the man's new demo. The woman was a signer for a Kawashita recording company, one of the dozens the corporation included in its Media Division. The music was terrible and Koro felt a bit sorry for the signer. She had to listen to it for quite a while before she threw the data cube off the balcony and stomped back to the party. Koro stayed in cover until they left. Eventually, Bonnie The Mechanic came out after him. "So I guess I'm glad you got that out of your system." "It's so weird. Maybe whoever the target was got wind of us and changed their mind." "See? This is the problem with you "need to know" clandestine types. You don't actually know the who, when, why, or quasarin' what you're doing half the time." "Beltar always says 'don't hate the player, hate the game'." "There were no targets, Koro. This was a set-up." "So what, we're going to get ambushed at some point." "No, you idiot. Remember what I said earlier? I had a hunch this was some kind of blind date or something? Well while you were hiding behind the shrubbery stalking crappy musicians, I was getting to the bottom of the real reason we're here." "Why's that?" "It's a BLIND DATE, you ninny. You and me. Set up at a fancy place with fancy people." The End! Builder's Note: -Guess I needed one more to get this out of my system. No more fancy Koro builds for a while after this. And you'll all just have to wait and see whether he gets his crap together and gives Bonnie The Mechanic a halfway decent response.
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Kawashita Embassy Manor Angornal - 3185 Tags: Spying, Special Operation Having got into the big shindig, Bonnie The Mechanic and Koro proceeded to fake having a good time until, somehow, they actually began to have a good time. They almost forgot what they were there to do, what with all the famous faces around. They took a dance in the center of the room, getting a feel for all the faces and names. Koro didn't know who they were looking for, all he knew was that there was going to be a hand off of some kind and he and his "date" were to keep an eye on it and follow it to where it led. The Op was secretive even for Kawashita standards, but Koro knew that either Narbilu or one of his fellow Operators would eventually let him know the details. Until then, he focused on looking like he wasn't there to work, and on keeping Bonnie The Mechanic from stepping on his feet. "Koro, look over there. Don't stare, you quasaring fool! Yeah, behind you... is that General Akama? But who is he dancing with?" "Who the old guy with the cyber-eye? Yeah that's Akama." "Shhh not so loud!" "That's his kid with them. Teen fashion these days, I swear." Koro looked to the west side of the dance hall and noticed the famous actor Chad Schmidt dancing with his husband... a retainer flirting with a pretty lady... an older couple he didn't recognize... service staff... security... "See anything?" "Just people doing people things. Nothing suspicious yet." "Do you think you were recognized? You're not exactly the most inconspicuous guy." "Look who's talking. I may be closer to you than any man's been in a while, but I'm sure they can smell the machine oil on the next planet." "You keep talking like that and I'm going to get creative with these heels." "Promises, promises." Koro looked to the East side of the dance hall and noticed another retainer... an officer smirking at his oversized holodisplay (compensating much?)... a couple of women in very expensive clothes... and the owner of the Manor himself, Mr. Olsen, drinking alone and gazing disapprovingly at the oversized holodisplay. A man after Koro's own heart. He made a mental note to introduce himself to Olsen later on, if he got the chance. Unless of course it was Olsen he was here to spy on... "That has got to be the ugliest dog I've ever seen. And what is she feeding it? You see the size of that bone?! It's bigger than the quasarin' dog!" "You know, your lack of focus is really starting to become my lack of focus." "This mission is so weird. Maybe someone was just trying to trick us into going out on date." "..." "?" "Uh..." "What are you trying to say, Koro? You'd better not be--" "Ummm... what's THAT OVER THERE!?" "What those two? She's probably a DJ or something. Maybe that's his demo?" "Or it could be secret intel!" "They're doing the hand off a bit out in the open if that's the case. C'mon, at the risk of painting a target on my face here... you think it's really that amateur hour?" "Who knows? Times are strange. No one seems to remember what happens to traitors in Andromeda like... a week after the fact. So people keep doing it. It's weird." "I really don't think those two are our targets, Koro. I think you're trying to change the subject." "What? No. Those are definitely traitors. We'd better, uh... get closer." 20150906_214854 by Evan Todd-McCoy, on Flickr "I see you, you bastards. Koro sees you." "This is not going to end well, is it? So glad this isn't a real date." "What? You say something?" "Sigh... never mind, Koro. Never quasarin' mind." BUILDER'S NOTE: I felt the need to finish off this little story about Koro and Bonnie The Mechanic having their outing. Is the mission real? Did someone just set them up on a date without their even seeing it coming? Who knows! I have a lot of fun writing their dialogue. Maybe too much fun. Also this build gave me a chance to stretch some figging muscles after a few straight weeks of pretty challenging spaceships.
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Kawashita takes the comfort of its flight crews and guests pretty seriously. Even frigates and cruisers have fully stocked commissaries staffed by actual humans! The politest, most helpful humans in Andromeda! Let's take a closer look! Uh oh. Koro, a special consultant who works for Kawashita has a delayed order and he is not happy about it! Looks like the consummate professional Ms. Melynchuk will have to quickly look up the ETA and report it to him in order to promote the excellent customer service one can expect in a Kawashita commissary. Even Tim, the youngest crewman onboard this particular ship, is helping out by making a call to the cargo deck to check if Koro's item has been misplaced. Let's hope not, since Koro likes to order only the best exploding death devices, available now at all participating Kawashita outlets! But what's this? Another consultant is trying to get on the public QE (that's Quantum Entanglement, boys and girls! only the best tech for Kawashita!) communication station to make a call, but there's a marine in his way! Well, I'm sorry but our flight crew gets first priority, Mr. Beltar, and you'll just have to wait your turn! Who are you trying to call anyway! Over here in the corridor, a dapper Kawashita executive confidently walks the halls of the ship. Where others might find the constant presence of armed marines intimidating, Mr. Tanaka is happy to see them and knows he is safe under their benevolent watch. Look how friendly they are! Jackbooted thugs? Not on a Kawashita ship! Our marines know that good relations and good etiquette keep a crew happy and less likely to succumb to the Space Madness.
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Kawashita Embassy Manor Angornal - 3185 Tags: Spying, Special Operation Koro was definitely more at home running around some backwoods planet with sword in hand and head on fire, but every so often Narbilu-sama tricked assigned him a mission that looked safer but felt more dangerous than a thousand angry space worms. When he was asked to infiltrate a gala being held at the Kawashita Embassy on Angornal, he expected to be sneaking through air ducts with Beltar or strapping on a jetpack and bringing death from above with Raven. He did not expect to be wearing a suit and ceremonial sword. He didn't expect to need a date, and he certainly didn't expect that date to be the Mechanic. "By the way, you're going to have to tell me your name." "Why? Isn't this supposed to be undercover?" "Well, sort of. But I'm not exactly inconspicuous. Look at me. People who know people are gonna know who I am. And I can't introduce you as "my mechanic"... or can I?" "Hey, I'm not your mechanic. I'm the Mechanic." "Great, yeah. That's what we'll tell people." "Ugh. I'm never going to hear the quasaring end of this am I?" "Nope." "...it's Bonnie." "Your name is Bonnie?" *METALLIC SNORT* "Oh shut up and focus. I'm Bonnie, you're Koro, and we're hear to mingle with some high-ranking Kawashita bureaucrats who are suspected of colluding with MANTIS agents, or possibly being agents themselves. We need to be on our toes!" "Speaking of toes, are you up on your tippies or what? You are not this much taller than me." "You can thank the quasars who invented heels." The retainer at the entrance checked her holodisplay for "Koro and Guest". She gave a curt nod, which Koro knew she would. Bonnie The Mechanic gave a small sigh of relief. "Wait... Bonnie. Is this your first time infiltrating a party or something?" "Ugh. Your hair looks stupid." "Don't change the subject. Also, I look suave." "It is not my first party, Koro!" "That's not what I asked." "Ummmm... I don't have to answer your dumb questions. Let's just go and catch spies or whatever!" "Okay but Bonnie?" "What?" "Stop squeezing my hand so hard. They're made of titanium and that still stings." "Oops. Sorry." Builder's Notes: -Just a quick one from me this week, but I'm satisfied with the fact that it continues to show more sides of Koro and what can constitute spying. -Some may question whether this is a "spying" build in a strict sense of the word, but I feel like being too narrow about that will let all spying builds be too similar. If you've seen a spy movie, let alone James Bond, then this sort of scenario should be familiar and definitely fits into the general context of spying as a result of story accompanying the MOC. -Thanks for looking!
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Oakley Canyon Mynderis - 3185 TAGS: Military, Special Operations Wilhelm, still helping MANTIS yet still wearing Kawashita colors in case anyone was watching, argued dryly with the MANTIS scouts. They didn't want to believe that the Awesomnium vein was where he said it was, so he brandished the E-paper map he'd stolen when he'd defected. He pointed to a spot in the complex series of canyons, passes, ridges, and valleys. The scouts were sceptical anyway, and insisted on checking and rechecking it. Wilhelm was already impatient, but now he was getting angry. He didn't like being out here in the open. Oakley Canyon did not have as much cover as he would have liked. And he was right to be worried. Kawashita colors or not, Wilhelm's defection was well known among Kawashita Operators. Koro should know, since he was the one who'd discovered it for himself back on Aeristus. Koro leaned back on the rocks of his perch. He dug in his sidepouch for a special round, but he held off from loading it into his rifle. "The intel was good, Narbilu-sama. It looks like he's trying to help some scouts find something. My guess is mineral deposit." "Good work, Koro. You're sure it's Wilhelm?" "It's his armor. No one else in Andromeda dresses quite like that, right? All that paint..." "Obviously we need more than that to go on." "I pinged his helmet, which has a heavily modified friend-or-foe system. One of a kind in Andromeda. It's him, sir." "And I have a shot..." BUILDER'S NOTES: -I understand the sensitivity of potentially killing off another player's character, even if the character has been replaced with a new one. Because of this, I am leaving Wilhelm's ultimate fate (for now) a mystery until or unless Goliath reappears and clarifies his plans for the character. It could be some kind of tracker bullet Koro is about to load, and anyway he doesn't take the shot that we see and I made this choice because I think it would be mean for me or anyone to decide what happens to Wilhelm beyond a certain point. At the same time, I made the decision to contextualize Goliath's change of companies and characters as at least partially a defection from Wilhelm (because that makes interesting story possibilities, as you can see in the two builds I've made in reaction to it). Basically, I'm making this note to make sure everyone understands that I'm just trying to tell an interesting story and not looking to hand out ultimate fates to anyone's characters without their permission or anything like that!
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Mastiff Valley Terrial Minor - 3185 Tags: Spying, Special Operations, Military, Vehicle Jackson knew his grin probably made him look foolish, but he didn't care. He'd gotten away with it. No one had noticed his gambit at KD-11. Even the bomber pilot hadn't suspected that the orders were fabricated. He'd been paid to remove all traces of the Dust Demons from the sector, now that Kawashita was getting close to discovering the truth behind all the shell corps and proxy agents. Jackson had no problems betraying Kawashita when the money was good. All he needed now was to reach the rendezvous point in his Series 7 Skip-Speeder. A gift to himself that he'd been able to afford after the MANTIS money came through the network. They were paying well these days for any advantage over Kawashita, but Jackson didn't care about the politics now that he could also afford to get out of the galaxy back to somewhere more civilized. He thought about all his future plans while taking a few moments here and there to enjoy the smooth glide of the Skip-Speeder. What Jackson didn't know was that it was exactly the purchase of the ostentatious all-terrain vehicle that attracted the notice of the one individual in all of Kawashita that you absolutely did not want to notice you, and certainly not if you were selling secrets to MANTIS or helping them cover up their connections to the various pirates and mercenaries that operated on the fringes of Andromeda's escalating tensions. "Koro. I don't have long, but I was hoping you'd have a report on the integrity of KD-11." "Way ahead of you, Raven. I'm pretty sure I found the mole." "That's good news. Are you close to him?" "You might say that." BUILDER'S NOTE: This was my attempt at doing some of the cool colors for vegetation. I like these dark blue cactuses but wish I had more pieces of this color in a wider variety. I'm not 100% happy with the effect, but I'm actually pretty pleased with the speeder and the angle of the shots on this one. C&C always welcome, of course.
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TAGS: Spying, Special Operations, Military (did I do this right?) Secret Meeting Site Aeristus - 3185 A meeting was underway, a secret meeting involving leaders of three regional powers. The Dust Demons had sent Richter Jones, an unpronounceable-named local alien species had sent an unpronounceable-named representative, and MANTIS's own disgraced General Silas Moxon had also appeared. MANTIS PR claimed that General Moxon's forces were "disavowed" but that just meant HQ had plausible deniability for anything they got up to. Whatever it was, with these characters all together in one place... it couldn't be good. All had brought bodyguards except the alien, to whom it never occurred. His was a trusting species. Earlier that week, Koro had received a call from another Kawashita Operator. These calls had long been pretty rare, but first Raven and now... Beltar? "Beltar, you miscreant, you owe me money." "I do not. Anyway, there's this meeting I think we should "attend" but it's a job for two. Interested? "When do we start?" Of course, Beltar didn't mention that they'd be traipsing through air-ducts for two hours trying to locate the right conference room. These luxury ships had a dozen of them, of course. And they were forced to check every one! "You know, this wouldn't take so long if you weren't lugging around all that stupid rope." "S-stupid... rope? Stupid rope? This is why we never do jobs together, Koro. You think just because you like falling off things that you don't need rope. Stupid people think rope is stupid." "I'm gonna hang you from your feet with that stupid rope. Give you something to think about. "You just try it!" "Oh now it's on, Beltar!" "You're getting your stupid white hair in my face! Ugh!" "Get this stupid rope out of my way! Where's your wallet at, Beltar? I'm gonna take that money you owe me." "Wait, wait.. you hear that?" "You're right... we're making too much noise. We better---!" Their scuffle had jostled the duct from its supports and sent them crashing through the ceiling of a conference room that just happened to be the right one. That's when the spying mission turned into a pretty one-sided shootout as Koro and Beltar rained unsuspecting, ridiculous death upon their unprepared enemies. "Ha! Stupid rope my butt, Koro!" "Okay, yes. That worked out pretty good." "Hey, hey... we're pretty good." "Yes we are." End. Builder's Note: This scene is an obvious homage to a famous "rope scene" in the cult classic film The Boondock Saints. If you haven't seen it, google the clip in all its glory. Fair warning, it's vulgar and violent!
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Meiji Belt The Fascini Cluster - 3185 Luckily for Koro, the mobile Logistics Station, Goshi Junction, happened to be in transit a relatively short distance from Arium Major. Even though it was a peaceful station, the privateer ships tasked to it for protection might be taken the wrong way if any other Company had people in the area. After recovering the data and getting too much of himself ripped off in the process, he could only hope that The Mechanic was on the station like she was supposed to be. Famous around Kawashita's Operators, The Mechanic was who you went to when any of your cybernetic prosthetics needed an upgrade, a retrofit, or a page one rewrite. Unlike most, Koro's body was mostly machine and that made The Mechanic his best pal. Well, he liked to think so anyway. He just hoped he was getting her on a good day... So he walked into her workshop, holding his old broken arm in his good hand and trying to look cheerful. He was not getting her on a good day. "What the quasar have you done to yourself?" Koro tried to focus on the soothing mechanical whir of the robot arm that held his... robot arm. Unfortunately, his eyes slid back to the whatever-it-was that The Mechanic was holding and pointing at him. It looked almost like a welding torch. He really hoped it wasn't that. Anything but that. "Hey, there's no need to use that kind of language. Besides, it wasn't my fault this time." "I suppose some giant creature from a wild planet just happened to come across your path." "Yes! That! How did you know!?" "Give me a break, Koro. Now hold still while I apply some of this softly glowing yellow fluid to that sorry excuse for a chassis." "You're not going to do any... any welding, are you?" "It would serve you right! But no. You might have noticed those yellowish tendons that came flying out of your body when your arm got ripped off? Well, that's conductive fluid. This is more conductive fluid." "So you're saying my blood is... yellow?" "Sigh... did you even read the manual I gave you? Your blood isn't quasaring yellow, you ninny. You don't even have blood. I swear, if I weren't around you'd come back just a sad little head one day." "I could survive being decapitated? Whoooooaaaa..." "What? No. What!? Uggggh. Let's get on with it. This won't hurt. Probably."
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Somewhere in the equatorial ocean... Arium Major - 3185 Having hit a dead-end on Lesser Direstan, Koro was called back to his safehouse on Orinshi to receive new instructions. The brass have issued a recall of all planetary probe memory chips from certain unclaimed planets such as Arium Major, [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. Some kind of IT slip-up had [REDACTED] and left the chips with a [REDACTED[ sensitive [REDACTED] , and are thus considered military [REDACTED] to be recovered by operators with extreme priority. Looked like the Dust Demons and their mysterious Commodore would have to wait. Of course, it wasn't like Koro was going to have it easy. His HUD pinged in the equatorial ocean and he piloted Less Than Zero to a safe place before navigating the treacherous rocks that may once have been some kind of island. Suddenly, the signal was moving rapidly toward him and he got a funny feeling. "This better not be another trap." And that's when he saw the giant water worm, rising up out of the ocean like, well, like a giant water worm. Koro crossed his fingers and said prayers to anyone listening, but it was useless because that pinging was definitely coming from the inside of the water worm. Of course. And of course, now is when Narbilu would message for a status update. "Koro. Please report." "Narbilu-sama. Are you aware that the memory chip has been ingested by one of the local fauna?" "That doesn't sound so bad. Can you retreive it?" "Uhhh... I can try?" "You'll do just fine, I'm sure. Narbilu out!" "Sure. What could go wrong?" Koro, being a loyal servant of Kawashita Group, did his best to attract the worm's attention. It must have been hungry, because he didn't have to try very hard. It dove at him, its tendrils tasting the air for the unfamiliar, but surely delicious new prey. Koro's last thought before it swallowed him was that he hoped he gave the beastie indigestion... ... ... ... ... ... ...some time later... Because Koro did in fact give the beastie indigestion, it thrashed around with a great deal of ferocity as he sliced up its innards, searching for the memory chip's signal. Finally, he got his hand around it just as the creature tore its flank open on the same spike of rock Koro had been standing on. This left him, rather worse for wear, deposited on the broken shards. He was assessing his line of work and life choices when he heard a familiar tone in his ear... "Koro. Please report." "Narbilu-sama. I'm here. More or less." "You recovered the chip?" "Yes. Remind me to tell you about it sometime. It was a lot of fun." "You sound... a bit strained. Everything okay?" "Everything's great. I lost some fabric, a sword, my dignity, and an arm." "Oh. Sounds like you'll need to see The Mechanic. I'll make him aware that you'll be visiting. Can you make it to your extraction vehicle?" "I guess I'll have to. But... Narbilu-sama?" "Yes, Koro?" "Please stop trying to kill me, Narbilu-sama." END. BUILDER'S NOTES: -The lengthier story and injection of more humor is definitely owed to MANTIS's team and their tendency for funny, story-heavy builds. You guys are stepping up everybody's game. -This is my first time making a "tire-beast" but I've seen a lot of them out there on Flickr and this is my take on one. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. -Had a lot of problems with light this time. Hopefully it didn't mar my photos too badly. -Oh look, first look at Koro's hair! -Can someone tell me why, on Eurobricks, hitting backspace after enabling bold or italics causes my cursor to bounce back a bunch of characters and otherwise behave oddly? Been an issue for a while. Getting sick of it.
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Dust Demon Base (Alleged) Lesser Direstan - 3185 Koro's infiltration of the base on Greater Direstan yielded plenty of actionable intel, and he was told that it was instrumental in foiling the interference of this mysterious "Dust Demon" force. However, there's no rest for the wicked and honor doesn't grow on trees. Not in Andromeda, anyway. So Koro barely had time to sneak back out of the base before he was tasked to pursue the Dust Demons to a secondary base on Lesser Direstan. Hopefully this would bring him closer to their leader, of whom all is known is his "Commodore" callsign. Still, it seemed easy enough to sneak into a second base. Why not? Well, it was a trap. That's why not. Just as Koro cleared a tunnel and emerged out onto a grassy plateau, he realized that he'd been lured here to this very spot... "Uh oh..." ...and awaiting him was a camouflaged gundrone. An extremely dangerous adversary. His pistol wouldn't do him any good against its armor, so Koro decided that the only school was the old school. BUILDER'S NOTES: You'll probably spot the BURPs used here. I've never experimented with BURPs in a MOC before and I actually think this turned out good. The mech is based off the Desert Runner drones from Appleseed Alpha, a really pretty but kind of shallow CG anime adaptation that came out last year. There's a bunch more pics of different angles for the build on Flickr. Thanks for looking!
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Desatoya Mountains Greater Direstan - 3185 Using the Less Than Zero, Koro managed to infiltrate Greater Direstan ahead of the main Kawashita expeditionary forces. He tracked the pirates he had encountered at Hamilton's Belt into a secure mountain bunker. Thanking those intrepid Kawashita engineers who invented it, he initialized his Active Camouflage and proceeded to gather as much intel as possible. Any information he acquired could be used to disrupt the pirates' plans for Greater Direstan, but more importantly he might find out who exactly is behind them... He stalks the corridors, waiting for pauses in the hum of the ventilation cyclers. He stays out of the light. He listens and tracks the patrol routes to areas of interest. He counts every minute without having to fire a shot as a significant victory. And he learns what he can: The pirates call themselves the Dust Demons. Their leader is a mean son-of-a-laser-gun that they call The Commodore. Koro files this away, along with the structural layout of the bunker and the best ways to completely devastate it before anyone even knows he's there. He imagines that after this, they'll have to call him Koro the Demonslayer or something suave like that.
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Sector 7 The Hamilton Belt - 3185 It was Koro's first time piloting his Zero in such tight conditions. The asteroids of the Belt flew past him, pinging his HUD with collision warnings. He manoeuvred through them, wishing repeatedly that Kawashita would get busy designing a single-pilot combat capable space-mech with better miniaturization. Some of the asteroids were the size of hail, and those were the dangerous ones. He was far from an ace pilot, and it was all he could do to keep the Zero intact as he closed in on the opportunist pirates that had taken up operations in the sector. He finally spotted a gun platform, its cleats lodged deep into the crust of a small asteroid. Most of the rocks in The Belt were the size of large boulders, and many of them had Awesomnium crystals visibly jutting from otherwise unremarkable balls of old rock and useless minerals. The pirates lacked the technology and know-how to extract the real wealth from those rocks, and waited to prey on mining expeditions or trade caravans just as pirates had done as far back as the nautical age. The gun platform spotted him and opened fire and, just like that, it was on. He blasted through dozens of asteroids, gun platforms, and highly-manoeuvrable spacewalker units. The Zero was more than a match for them, but Koro was troubled anyway. He noticed their discipline, the sophistication and uniformity of their equipment... something was wrong here. Very wrong. But he filed the information, and the feelings, away in some corner of his hardware. He focused on the mission, blasting the asteroids where the pirates had set up, dispersing them with judicious bursts of plasma from the Zero's triplicannons. He took on the aspect of an angry angel, delivering wrath to the darkest kind of space. Alternate Shots:
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Garden Path Orinshi - 3185 Dr. Markham knew what he was doing was dangerous. Especially now. But the money was too good... and the retirement package? Wow! Still, he would be lying if he didn't admit to a tiny twinge of regret when he realized what was following him. But maybe it's his imagination. Maybe he's just so afraid KG knows his plans that he is seeing things that aren't there. Yeah, that must be it... Koro kept pace easily, hopping from Torii to Torii. He even let Markham see him, just once, his neon blue cyborg's grin flashing like a jack-o-lantern. Scary stuff. But for disloyalty, Dr. Markham deserved to be frightened at the very least. A tingle in his ear warned him that Narbilu-sama was checking on his status. He reported, sending his thoughts through the interface to be translated as a voice in Narbilu-sama's ear, wherever he was in Andromeda. He requests direction... does Kawashita find the rumors of Markham's treachery to be compelling enough to demand he pay the ultimate price? Narbilu-sama confirms the Kill Order, and Koro stops playing with his prey. He drops down from the Torii to strike while Dr. Markham is trying to decide what kind of orbital yacht to buy with his ill-gotten gains. Kawashita accepts no traitors, and today, Koro is Kawashita's closed fist of swift reprisal. Alternate Shot:
