MassEditor

Welcome Exetrius, your arrival is not a second late. Although the Kaliphlin Civil War continues to catch all the headlines, there is a struggle going on in Nocturnus that could very well determine the fate of these Darklands, and possibly all of Historica. There will come a time when you are asked to choose an allegiance, and those of us in the Nocturnian resistance hope you will stand on the right side of history. Until then, carve our your rightful place in the Darklands and train yourself into a powerful sorcerer. We humbly welcome your presence in this difficult and dark times!

What a varied and interesting alien landscape, really creative stuff! The mother reptoslicer looks appropriately ferocious, and the speeder bike is nicely detailed. Way to go SpacerSteve, looks like our domination of Barnius is complete!

Sweet buggy and landscaping, mrcp6d! Great little details on the vehicle, like the weapon holster, fuel tanks and suspension. Most important thing to learn about those scorpions is, are they any good to eat? If so, send a few MANTIS' way. Looks like we're having to subsist off bananas for the time being...

Oh man, this was just too funny! What a hilarious episode in MANTIS' B04 saga. Though it does seem as if we take one step back for every step forward! I do have to wonder, what's that all over Kowalski's shirt? Excellent dialogue, the use of the little avatars is great and does a nice job of illustrating the story. The build itself is awesome and, like some of the other recent MANTIS builds, very inspiring for me. I'm really digging the color scheme of this vessel and all the nice little details inside and out. The choppy water is also flawlessly done. Really great stuff Big Sal!

Incredibly imaginative build, much to appreciate here. I love the angled rock spike with the embedded awesomnium bits, as well as that superbly built mantis. That thing looks incredibly creepy, even in LEGO form! The story is quite entertaining too. Excellent stuff!

Really neat landscaping here LJ, I love how you also included an underwater portion. The pink water gives this an appropriately-alien feel, as does the googly-eyed wildlife down below. Neat speeder too!

Woah, glad I joined MANTIS! This build is awesome and really sets a nice standard for MANTIS technology and architecture. Love the raised platform and all the neat, little details on it. The stadium lights are great and give this build an impressive silhouette. Such an awesome looking group of personnel too, thanks for including my fig! I'm really digging those drones, I'd love to use those in some of my future builds. Looks like Barnius is ours for sure!

Thanks a lot guys! And hey, awesome to see all these GoH folks over here! Also, I finally got the images embedded in this post. Thanks to SK and CallMePie for the help!

(Because of some troubles I'm having with Flickr I've been unable to embed photos in this post. I hope it is ok to do so in the morning when this problem can hopefully be sorted out. Images embedded! Thanks to SoccerKid and CallMePie for their most excellent help in this matter!) Commander Lady K was wise to send MANTIS personnel to survey Barnius. As it turned out they weren't the first to establish a presence on the planet. The device Massi observed was certainly nothing of MANTIS origin. This needed to be reported, Massi told himself. He fumbled with his comm headset. As he mashed the buttons Massi remembered how much he disliked technology. If it was up to him he'd have tossed the headset away and proceeded to put a round straight threw that device up ahead. But he wasn't working for himself this time. He was fighting with MANTIS again and he had to follow orders. Finally he got the comm headset to work. "Commander Lady K, this is Massi reporting in. The Kawashitas have been busy, looks like I snuck up on one of their surveillance drones. Most likely they've seeded the whole galaxy with bugs. You want this thing destroyed? " Lady K's response came through the ever present and downright annoying static on his headset. "That's a negative. Good work locating the bug, but I think it'll be more useful to us in one piece. By hacking it we'll be able to cloak our activities on Barnius, or even make it look like an entire MANTIS invasion fleet is waiting off-planet. But make sure you don't approach it, most likely it's set to self destruct if disturbed. You should be able to deactivate it using your wrist computer. It features the latest in MANTIS countersurveillance and jamming technology. We'll send out a retrieval unit to recover the drone. Your next report is at 1600 hours. Let us know if you run across any other Kawashita or Octan strays, and be careful! Over and out." It had been a long time since Massi had served with MANTIS, and the training program to reapply had been gruelling and overwhelming. There was one session Massi paid special attention to however - the part dealing with that darn computer attached to his wrist. The comm headset was still beyond him, and again he fumbled with it. "Copy that Commander Lady K. I'll put this baby to sleep and continue scouting Barnius." Massi would deactivate the drone and make sure it didn't explode when the retrieval team arrived, though that comm set would continue to plague him throughout the mission. -------------------------- And some shots of the drone alone, deployed and undeployed:

Fantastic story and absolutely awesome builds! I had a lot of fun reading this one, the illustrations are perfect. The last scene, with the smoke effect, sandscaping and sinister looking worm, is just too cool. Wonderful work!

Awesome idea and perfectly executed! I like the details of the ventilation cyclers and the overall color scheme. And now I know where you've been hiding, mccoyed!

Great looking little ship! Your writing and the included poetry are quite entertaining as well.

Superb beast, very cleverly built. Looks absolutely ferocious. I'm really digging that speeder and sandscaping too, as well as the effect created by the 1x1 trans rounds. Great scene!

Special operative Massi Editoro signing in for M.A.N.T.I.S.!

Massi Editoro signing on for M.A.N.T.I.S. special operation forces! [begin audio log] What a night. Started off as normal as usual, a few hard drinks, a little spice from the Kush Galaxy, and I was ready to hit the nightclubs. Just as I was leaving my PDA buzzed. It showed a restricted number. Right then and there I had a feeling that things we're about to change, and that clubbing would be the last thing on my mind this evening. I answered. The voice on the other end was instantly recognizable. Little John, that old star dog. He and I went way back, fought a lot of battles and not always on the same side. But he was a fine man by any M.A.N.T.I.S. standard - that is, he'd do whatever it took to line his pocket with gold. If there was one man who knew anything about space exploration, it was this old scoundrel. Name a place and he'd probably been there. Except perhaps in Andromeda, and I knew that's exactly why he called. I'd told myself I'd never work for M.A.N.T.I.S. again, not after the incident on LV426. But Little John always had a way of persuading others to do something, even if it was against their better judgement. He needed a partner, someone who knew how to get in, do a lot of damage and get out without anyone knowing. Maybe it was the drinks, but I couldn't argue his point that I was the best man for the job. Besides, as Little John said, it would be better for Andromeda to fall into M.A.N.T.I.S. hands than those goody-two-shoe Octans or the arrogant Kawashitas. He and I might as well get rich in the process. I sure wasn't doing anything here, besides squandering the pitiful money I earned as a bouncer. I'd about sold everything I had, and the landlord would probably kick me out if he missed rent again. Little John was right, I didn't any option but to say yes. That was 12 hours ago, and I've sobered up. Now I'm on a ship rocketing off to some unknown planet in hopes that Octan or Kawashita forces haven't arrived first. God knows what's down there, but I guess we'll find out soon enough. Just glad I didn't pawn off this old rifle. [End transmission]

More beacons! Hopefully the southern Mitgardians will be able to rally in time to meet these glacial goblins of the North! If not, send them to Nocturnus and we will give them a up close tour of our beautiful lava fields! Fortunately, with Mitgarida once again united, these blizzardy beasts will not find a divided land to conquer piecemeal. True Nocturnus has not forgotten Mitgardia's assistance to the resistance, and we await your word to send aid in arms and supplies! OoC: Another sweet beacon! Like how its embedded into the rocks, which are done quite nicely especially with the SNOT/white elements.

Great entries everyone, but especially the HC! Best trapper for mrcp6d.

Excellent entry, the colors, details, photography and composition are fantastic. I am really digging your Kaliphlin style - considering all these bright, nicely detailed Kali builds from you lately, I have a feeling you will miss the end of this war! And man, that water fountain is a real eye-catcher. Great work!

Amazing creation! Excellent technique for the rockwork, especially for your first time building SNOT rocks on this scale. I've never seen a cenote in LEGO form before and you set a high standard for others to follow. I wonder, is the transition from light bley to dark bley to show how the light goes dark as you descend the cenote? It's a fantastic touch and works really well! The vegetation, water and varied rockwork on the cavern floor are excellent too. I've been doing a lot of snooping in this forum the last couple of weeks (been thinking lately about breaking out of the castle genre for a bit) and there is a ton of inspiration here. First and foremost this wonderful build!

LittleJohn, Tall Man.

Thanks! But you didn't have to bust me out like that! Thanks, as always, for your encouraging and well thought-out comment, Captain Dee. 38 was close, but unfortunately no cigar! I think you highly underestimate yourself Marcu, you have shown a wonderful penchant for historical building in your short time here. I always look forward to your builds, and much appreciate your comment and future-telling ability! I would get you a setup pic but the whole arrangement was rather crude and hasty. The only table in my house big enough to hold this thing is the dinner table so I could not use my regular setup. I hung white poster board from the ceiling on two edges of the table at a time, and had to move them and the lights several times to photograph the various angles. It wouldn't make for much of a pic I'm afraid. Thank you very much my friend. Means a lot coming from one of my absolute favorite builders. Our building styles do not cross often but I've learned more through your work about composition and getting the right "look" to a build than from any other source. Haha, thank you, I am very lucky! A wonderful comment, thanks very much! Hey, you're still alive! Thank you very much for this comment, which is obviously from someone with the eyes of an artist and an exquisite appreciation of detail.

Tsk tsk, you guys know better than that! In any case, sorry to leave you two out again. To those who've voted, please take a moment to check the entries out again and vote for the fifth place Desert King Entry.

Incredible detailing, I was unsure if this was even LEGO at first! I don't get dragged out of the historical forum too often, but when I saw this my jaw dropped. A masterpiece of technical and aesthetic talent. Congrats on this exquisite creation!

Exquisite build CB, I love how vibrant and detailed this is. The colors and photography are excellent.I feel like I can hear and see this impressive spectacle as it passes by. Truly stunning entry!

Such a great idea and beautifully executed. A guide to the flora of Historica in one build. Very nice entry!