Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'rodiziorobs'.
-
Shobuda entered the building slowly, brushing past the creepers and vines near the garden entrance. "Otousama," he called. "Otousama, are you at home?" "Yes," came the reply, "I am over here, tending to the anthynia. I found some kuwagata larvae destroying the roots, and I..." The older man broke off as he stood and saw the young officer before him. "Why, Shobu-kun, have you been promoted?" Shobuda beamed. "Yes, father. I am a captain now." The older man smiled as the young man continued, "and we are going back! At long last!" The older man's smile faded instantly. "Going back? But...why? W-w-when?" "Reports have come in saying the zone is safe. Our departure date has not been announced, but Octan is already preparing. Our forces have been commanded to be ready at a moment's notice. Your presence in Kawashita's science branch would mean much toward discovering new species and..." He trailed off, as the older man turned away wordlessly, squatting to perch himself at the edge of the small fountain in the center of the greenhouse. "Are you not proud?" Shobuda asked. "I am proud, but my pride is overshadowed by worry." "You need not worry! The Kawashita High Command has assured us..." "And that is my worry!" The younger man stood in surprised silence, interrupted only when the older man asked, "for what noble deed did they advance your rank, musuko? For bravery and honor in conflict and battle?" "...Yes," Shobuda started, beaming again despite himself. "What conflict? What battle?" Came the retort. His question answered by his son's resumed silence, the old man continued. "There has been no conflict since the Gates were locked, and armed competition has been outlawed in this solar system. Why reward you now when the conflict has been over for months?" Again, the younger man remained silent, his proud grin becoming replaced with an angry scowl. "I presume many of your compatriots have also been promoted?" Shobuda gave a sharp nod. "The danger is real my son. Not danger of war, of sabotage, or of any human creation, but of greed. I believe you worthy of your promotion, Shobu-kun, but I do not believe your superiors would grant it to you upon merit. I see that they would rather buy your allegiance, that they may use you to enrich themselves." Incensed, Shobuda stood unflinching. His father slowly turned to face him, and when their eyes met, Shobuda could take it no longer. "You are an old man, and know nothing!" he cried. "The world has changed much since your time! You will sit idly by and watch, with your old ways, while I will inherit a new future!" "My son, please reconsider..." "No. I am going. I will prove myself and you will see! You stay here and waste away, I have worlds and riches before me!" Cursing under his breath, Shobuda turned and stormed out through the arbor. The older man sat silently, sadly, for several minutes. When he came to himself, he stood up wearily and returned to his work, collecting the kuwagata grubs in a basket. He had a game of Go in the afternoon, against an old ex-marine friend from Mantis. He would be delighted at the gift. C&C always welcome. Here are a few fig-less shots:
-
Location: F03 (Forring) Tags: Military Building An epic sword fight had ensued in the corridors of the M.S.S. Strata. At least three prisoners had escaped: two slavers posing as Zoids, and a Kawa who Jex was hoping could help her find a missing person. The Kawa had some kind of history with the slavers and had already killed one in his attempted escape, and her prolonged battle with the other had led them away from the prison sector to the ship bay. Jex and the prison guard had raced to keep up, the guard radioing in for support as they ran. As they came around the corner to the bay--the dueling prisoners, followed by Jex with the guard--there was a sudden eruption of sirens and the sounds of clanging metal, and a voice called out, "FREEZE! Drop your weapons!" Turning and seeing the MANTIS squad already assembled, weapons primed, the duelers immediately came to a halt, and the slaver dropped his sword. The Kawa saw the opportunity and in a flash, brought her blade around at the slaver. He moved to dodge, but the blow caught him across the shoulder. Blood spattered, and he called out in pain. "DROP IT I SAID!" called the MANTIS commander, and the MANTIS soldiers rounded on the Kawa. The slaver slumped away, clutching his shoulder, but all the soldiers' eyes were on the Kawa. Sensing the soldiers' hesitation, she swirled around, grabbing Jex by the arm and sliding her blade against her throat. To Jex she intoned, "look, despite the way this looks I actually don't want to hurt you, so don't make me. No sudden moves, got it?" Jex nodded as best she could against the blade. "Listen up! I don't want any trouble and I mean MANTIS no harm, but if you charge me or get in my way from avenging myself against that slaver, I will show no mercy and your girl here gets it!" "Keep your weapons trained on her, But wait on my word!" the commander called to her troops. "I'm warning you!" AG week 62 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr "What is the value of your hostage? A mere pilot in the balance of us catching a deadly prisoner?" The standoff was momentarily interrupted by the sound of a ship taking off; the slaver, unchallenged, had escaped. "Deadly prisoner is the one you just let get away!" The Kawa spat. "This is your last chance!" The commander was about to give the order when another voice sounded over the bay. "Lower your weapons, this is general Teague!" Obediently, the soldiers backed away. The general approached the commander and in a low voice said, "Seliman, I admire your tenacity, and under normal circumstances your decision would have been correct. However, this pilot is Jessica DuBois, she is the one who survived the space/time anomaly on Jurin II. She is valuable to us, and we must tread lightly here." "You want to negotiate with a prisoner, sir?!" Commander Seliman retorted incredulously. "We are still trying to learn what happened, and she is our biggest clue. We cannot afford to lose her. And it seems..." the general nodded toward the bay, "that you already let one prisoner slip through your fingers. We'll have words on that later. Understood?" "Understood, sir," came the reply. The Kawa had not heard the discussion, but she could tell that the hostage she held was more than she seemed, if a general had come down to intervene--suddenly there was an ace in her hand. If she acted quickly, there might still be time to catch up with the slaver before he got too far. She whispered to Jex, "you said earlier that you could help release me. Maybe this isn't what you had in mind, but it's time for you to make good on that promise..."
-
Location: F02, Lesser Drigo Tags: Spying *This week is PAB week, see note at the end!* After Scorpio's failed attempt at escape the previous week, he had tried a number of other things, each of them ending in similar failure. The time came for him to be transferred from Lesser Drigo. Where to? He wasn't sure. Over the sound of more kicking and grumbling, he had heard Dr. Long again in the laundry room, but only learned a few details of the reason for his transfer: he was supposed to meet someone very important, somewhere, and after that Octan would decide his fate. Probably, they would send him somewhere to interrogate him, and then barter with M.A.N.T.I.S. for a prisoner exchange or something. Or he would be executed. Guards escorted him onto a small modified transport ship, once again in chains, and secured him on board. From his position, he could see the pilot on board, and was alarmed to see that it was the woman with the scar--the one who had caught him weeks ago. Scorpio had been looking for a new chance to escape; he knew if they went toward their projected destination, he would still be in Octan custody. However, if he could change their course somewhere else, his fate might be different. The gate opening up The ship was sealed, began its ascent from the planet's surface, and headed toward the gate site in the atmosphere. The ship moved into position, and the woman activated the portal system to open the gate. At once the ship began to experience very heavy turbulence, and everything began shaking uncontrollably. "Hold steady, you bucket of bolts!" the pilot said to herself. "Almost there!" The shaking became so violent that the post Scorpio had been chained to started coming loose from its position. Trying to steady himself, he put all his weight behind the post and lunged--it wrenched free! sending him spiraling into the cabin. "What the!? Get down!" the woman shouted, turning her attention from the gate to Scorpio. The gate began to quiver and change color, and the ship shook even more. This was the moment Scorpio had waited for--stumbling forward, he pushed down on the controls. The little craft surged down and forward, headed toward the unstable gate. The ship diving into the gate "What have you done?!" He heard the woman shouting. The ship was coming apart at the seams: alarms were sounding, lights flashing, and then the gravity stabilizers stopped working, sending both Scorpio and the woman into freefall as the ship hurtled into the unknown... More pics The ship on its own View of the Gate Behind the scenes ******** This week's build is...unique, let's say. I still wanted to contribute this week, but I am in the middle of moving, so my entire collection is packed away in boxes, except for what I picked up at my local store this week--two PAB cups, the July GWP, and a clearance-priced Mixel I threw in to qualify for the GWP. So, everything you see here is from that! I discovered that while the PAB's current selection of green parts is really great , it is hard to work with exclusively (although I am proud of how the Gate turned out!), not to mention that I wasn’t able to do any decent editing on the photos (not that my editing could normally be called “decent” ) Can't wait until this move is over... As a result, I wasn’t able to build out as much of the story as I wanted to, like the ship interior or Scorpio's latest attempt at a daring escape. He really isn't that great of a spy, no matter how hard he tries.
-
Location: A06 (Guinevere) Tags: Piracy Science Land Vehicle It had been a pretty busy week on Guinevere for Scorpio and Elbow and Pitt, his two assigned SPIT (Special Police in Training). After dispatching the Octan spy, they discovered a few more Octan agents nearby—which with some efficient work from the SPIT quickly became a few less. They may be a bit dim-witted, but the SPIT sure knew their way around an assault blaster. Scorpio was still a bit bummed about that having given his grubs to them. Even more so because today—larvae Friday, course—he had missed lunch, due to an over-long briefing with his superiors. When he got back, the SPIT had seen to it there were no leftovers, except salad. Meh. The brief had been long because Kawashita troops had touched down on the other side of Guinevere a few days previous. The council was deliberating the best course of action, and had orders for Scorpio to not engage in a violent encounter. In the SPITs’ mind, that took all the fun out of it, and Scorpio had to agree. He had decided that even though being a scientist wasn’t bad, he enjoyed these more exciting kinds of missions. Scorpio and the SPIT went to the Kawas’ landing site. Although there weren’t many of them, clearly they had gotten right to work right after landing, as there were several crates already filled with gold. As the M.A.N.T.I.S craft was approaching, Scorpio saw them all stop to watch. He could see that although a few of them were carrying arms, they didn’t seem to be in any hurry to shoot. He imagined they had similar orders from their higher-ups to avoid armed conflict, which was somewhat reassuring. One of the Kawas, clearly their leader, emerged from the back and advanced toward Scorpio. “This is our claim,” he insisted. “You Mantite scum better get on outta here.” “Sorry, M.A.N.T.I.S. already claimed all of Guinevere. So, you’re the ones on our turf.” As he spoke, Scorpio suddenly realized that he had underestimated their numbers, and hoped his hunch about their orders was correct. “Ha!” the Kawa leader laughed. “It doesn’t matter. We have already extracted almost everything here, as you can see—” he motioned towards the crates. “But I’d like to see you try and make us leave, anyway.” “I’ll tell you what,” Scorpio replied. “Let’s make a deal, you and I, to see who leaves this spot, and who can stay.” The Kawa leader laughed again, followed by the rest of his team. “What kind of a deal? You can see, I have more men, more arms, and more gold! And I have my orders. What could you offer me?” “Oh, this is not an offer. This is a challenge. We challenge you to a contest—you win, we will leave you in peace to do whatever you please in this place. We win—” Scorpio paused to look around at all the Kawashita troops, “and you leave forever. Not just this spot—but the planet. You leave Guinevere for good.” “Ha ha! This insect is a joker! I will indulge you, what kind of contest did you have in mind?” “How about a race? Ah never mind, you wouldn’t stand a chance against us. Let’s pick something more fair…” In his mind, Scorpio counted to three. He only got as far as two. “You boast, Mantite! Kawashita engines are the fastest, and our drivers the most skilled! I accept your challenge, if only to teach you humility!” “Very well, then. Your fastest land craft against ours. You pick your racer, and Pitt here,” Scorpio motioned toward the more dim-witted of the SPIT, “will drive for M.A.N.T.I.S.” As Scorpio and the Kawa leader shook hands, Pitt leaned over toward Scorpio and whispered, “I don’t think I can. I’m not that good a driver—not as good as these Kawas, for sure—and I’m starting to feel a little sick. Like I’m going to…” but he never finished his sentence; the words were drowned out by awful wretching noises, and drowned in a pool of sick. “I feel sick, too, sir.” the SPIT leader, Elbow, intuned. Then, looking over at Pitt, said, “but I think I’ll be fine.” “Well good, because I need you to come with me.” “What about me, sir?” Pitt inquired. “You still have to drive,” Scorpio answered. “But don’t worry; it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, just as long as you drive for at least five minutes or so.” “Why doesn’t it matter?” Elbow asked. “Because,” Scorpio began, “while all these fools are cheering on the race, you and I are going to steal them blind and make a quick escape. Don’t worry, Pitt, we’ll pick you up in the ship. Elbow, come and help me set up some telesponders over here.” While the Kawa leader was explaining the course and rules to Pitt and the Kawa driver, Scorpio and Elbow set up the antenna-like devices around the crates of gold. As the start pistol fired, Scorpio summoned the teleporter crate and quickly rerouted it to the telesponders; before the dust had even settled, Scorpio, Elbow, and the gold were all gone. ********* Other weeks I have incorporated the story with the build, but this week the story is really just to build-up the, uh, build. With both teams landing on the same planet, it was fun to think up some way to bring conflict into the mix without any actual conflict. C&C welcome, as always! More pictures under the spoiler: See more on my Flickr page
-
Shibboleth Location: A06 (Guinevere) Tags: spying science After Scorpio's brief adventure on Barnius, the council had decided that--despite the sustainability of the planet--M.A.N.T.I.S. resources were needed more urgently elsewhere. His discovery of foodstuffs had earned him an impressive commendation from the Council (“such an excellent variety of mushrooms! And the Barnian grubs are the finest we have tasted in Andromeda!”), so he imagined he would be sent on yet another food-finding mission. Yet the brief Scorpio received was nothing he had ever expected. “We need you to go to Guinevere. On a spying mission.” “What? But I’m not a spy!” “Not important now. We need you to go because you’re resourceful…” “But…” “…dependable…” “But…” “…and most importantly…” “…Yes?” “You’ve got a bribe bag.” “Ah, well then, fair enough.” “Your dossier will contain further instruction. Any questions?” “Yeah, do I get a cool special suit or something?” “<sigh> Yes, I suppose you’ll need one.” Scorpio was to be accompanied by a small detail of special forces, as M.A.N.T.I.S. had gathered that there were be hostile forces starting to build on the planet’s surface. Further investigation had confirmed these reports, also adding the reason for their suspected colonization: gold was found in tremendous supply. Scorpio’s mission was to (1) determine the strength of any enemy forces on Guinevere. Once that was accomplished, he was to (2) obtain a sample of the gold for analysis, and make observations considering large-scale mining and extraction. The rest of the unit’s mission was to guard the gold Scorpio the gold. If the team’s presence were discovered, the special agents were to terminate any enemy threats, with interrogation and torture optional. Scorpio almost laughed when he was introduced to his team—they were not full-fledged agents, but Special Police in Training—SPIT, as they called them back on Torresta. It was actually a term of endearment, and was no way a knock on their abilities. The brief had just made this sound like such an important, high-profile mission, and here he was, a non-spy, being sent out with two—yes, only two—rookie guards. Oh well, at least he got a special suit. As a scientist, he outranked the SPIT, but this essentially just meant they called him "sir" all the time and then did whatever they wanted. Not that Scorpio minded; it seemed like they knew their job pretty well. They touched down on Guinevere, and the heat was overwhelming. The air, despite the sulfuric odor, was safely breathable, so long as you had a filter against the volcanic ash. Scorpio took off his helmet in an attempt to cool off, but the SPIT left theirs on (“combat gear, sir”). They ambled around until coming to a low, bubbling volcano. Scorpio’s scanner was picking up a weak signal nearby, when suddenly he was distracted by the sight of gold. Right on the surface. Sure, it was surrounded by molten, bubbling lava, but this was no different than back on Torresta! Mining and extraction would be a cinch. First to procure a sample for analysis... He took his pick and extracted a nugget, then summoned the teleportation crate. The gold secured inside, he punched an auto-analysis formula, and the code to return the crate to the ship. One thing he liked about this mission already was that he got cooler toys. Scorpio then had to turn his attention away back to his primary task: spying. “Why couldn’t they have sent an actual spy?” he muttered to himself as he fiddled with the calibration. They could see no signs of activity, so why was there a signal? Suddenly, one of the SPIT broke the silence. “FREEZE!” Scorpio spun around and saw a man in an Octan uniform just a short distance ahead, hands up. He dropped his instrument. "Found an Octan agent, sir!" The lead SPIT reported. "No, no, guys, you've got it all wrong! I'm here with you guys!" "They why you wearin' that Octan gitup?" The lesser SPIT spat. "Well, uh, we heard reports there might be Octan personnel in the vicinity, so the, uh, Lady K sent me in disguise, just in case." Scorpio thought the scenario sounded fishy. "The Lady K, huh?" he asked. The stranger nodded. "Then where is the rest of your unit?" "We crashed on entry to the planet. I have been wandering for hours—good news, I haven’t seen anyone else. I reckon Octan is light years away from this place. The real Octan, that is. You know. Not me. ‘Cause I’m not Octan. I’m with you fellers.” "Do you want me to blast this liar?" The SPIT interjected. “Well, you see, I would have radioed in, but my coms broke," the stranger explained. Scorpio ignored him; his patience with this Octan spy had worn thin. "Who was your unit leader?" Scorpio asked. "Uh, Dave. I was a part of Dave’s team," came the reply. Suddenly Scorpio's expression changed. There had been two missions sent to spy on Guinevere--Daring Dave had been the one leading the team on the opposite side of the globe. They had supposed to have contacted each other shortly after landing, but Scorpio had been unable to reach him. What if this guy wasn’t actually a spy? Perhaps he was telling the truth. "Did anyone else survive the crash?" "I don't believe so. I was unable to survey the wreckage because of the flames." Still, Scorpio couldn’t tell if he was for real. They hadn’t noticed any smoke from wreckage, yet given the planet’s volcanic activity, how could they? He needed a test, to make sure. Then, an idea came to mind. He whispered to the SPIT, “Private--keep your guns trained on him for just a second." Then to the stranger: “Well, we’re sorry to hear about the crash. I had better send a report to the Lady K immediately, and see what she would have us do. In the meantime, I am sure you are quite hungry..." "Oh yes, do you have any food?" came the earnest reply. "Why, of course.” Scorpio pulled out a jar, which he had kept from his trip to Barnius, and it pulled from it two fat, wriggly grubs. He could practically feel the anticipation in the air as the two SPIT licked their lips. "Well, here you go. A real tasty morsel, to help calm your nerves after all that you've been through." The stranger stood motionless. Week 4 of Andromeda's Gates by rodiziorobs, on Flickr Week 4 of Andromeda's Gates by rodiziorobs, on Flickr Week 4 of Andromeda's Gates by rodiziorobs, on Flickr "Boys, he's all yours!" Two quick pulse blasts later, the lesser of the SPIT inquired, "Do you think he really was an Octan, sir?" "Certainly; he wasn’t one of us, I can promise you that. He was probably sent up here to investigate our arrival, and the rest of his buddies are down there over that ridge setting up their own mining encampment. We had best proceed carefully.” This encounter raised a lot of questions: how did this spy know about the Lady K? and Dave? Was it a just lucky guess? or had Octan cracked their encoded communications? Or worse, yet, was there a mole in M.A.N.T.I.S.' operations? Surely the answers would not come easy. But in the meantime... Week 4 of Andromeda's Gates by rodiziorobs, on Flickr "Looks like Friday came early this week, boys, but I think you've earned it. Eat up, and let’s go see what we can see."
-
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.
-
Location: Lesser Drigo Tags: Spying, Science Things were not looking so good for Scorpio. His mission last week had been a complete success, other than that well, you know, he got caught. When he came to, his equipment had all been taken, and he had been put into a bright red jumpsuit. With no further ado, he had been transported to the prison compound. He assumed they intended to interrogate him later. In the meantime, he was stuck in a bare cell, under the watch of a continual guard, with food that smelled of coffee, and not even a bench to sleep on. The prison area was also on a very busy corridor, where sneering Octan would come by constantly. At least there were no rats. In place of rats, however, there were other pests. Specifically, scorpions. He wasn’t sure if they were indigenous to the planet, or if they just happened to be wherever Octan was. Whatever the cause, the hallways seemed to be teeming with them at all hours of the day. It comforted Scorpio to know that the Octans were afraid of them. Some more so than others. Scorpio had always liked scorpions—it was actually where he had gotten his nickname. Once, when he was just a little boy, his father had found him playing with one as if it were a puppy, completely unhurt. When his father had reached down to get it away, it struck at and nearly stung him. Amazed at this, his father called him a scorpion trainer. His little sister Arsenica had been unable to pronounce it and so called him ‘Scorpio’ and the name had stuck. No time to dwell on old memories, though… One nice thing about being on the busy corridor was that his cell was right next to the laundry, where he overheard a lot of juicy gossip from the Octans. Some of it was the regular workplace drama, but a lot of sensitive information was being passed around in there. That was where he had learned that while Octan had recognized his data transfer of the beryllium sphere specs, they still did not suspect that their robotics program had been hacked. As he passed yet another dull day to himself, he heard a familiar voice from the laundry room. It was Dr. Long’s voice. She was clearly talking on her phone to someone, probably some Octan bigwig somewhere. He was barely paying attention when suddenly he heard: “hrgrngrngnrgnrnStarstrikergrngrngrrrnhrgrn” Scorpio pressed his ear against the wall to hear better. “Yes, we are sure it’s him. Well, not him, but, you know, another one. Blasted door, open! No, sorry. Look, he had identification on him as Scorpio Starstriker, M.A.N.T.I.S. scientist 1st class. Yes. Yes. Uh…I’m not sure, how should I know why they would sent a scientist on a spying mission?! Okay, why don’t I just ask him, then? stupid bloody…rrrrrr! No. Okay. Yes, that would probably be the best way to do it. come on, No! I didn’t want a pre-wash! Oh, okay. I’ll put together the requisition forms and he should be ready to be released into your custody tomorrow. Fine, next week, whenever you want. Yeah. Sounds good. <click>. You cursed little..! Isn’t someone supposed to be doing this for me? As Scorpio heard Dr. Long’s footsteps he wasn’t sure if this was good news or not. Apparently he was going to be shipped off to somewhere else, but where? And what did Dr. Long mean, “another one?” Had one of his comrades been captured as well? Surely he would have known by now. Perhaps she meant another scientist? Or…another Starstriker? That wasn’t possible, as much as Scorpio wished it could be. Still, there was no time to waste, and Scorpio wasn’t going to be hanging out here any longer. He knew there were still M.A.N.T.I.S. agents operating on Lesser Drigo, but if he was shipped off somewhere else his chance of making it home was gone. He had to escape. He waited until a large swarm of scorpions entered the hall, then he would hack the electronic lock and escape in the confusion. Here they came! Now was the time! Waauuuughh! Scorpio decided that it must have been the faulty Octan wiring that had shocked him. Yeah, that was it. Meanwhile, Octan assigned him a robotic guard that was not afraid of scorpion attacks, and he had to endure more of Dr. Long’s cursing and kicking the machines. He would have to escape some other way…
-
Location: C04, Aeristus Tags: N/A Kawa 1: "Sir, there is a small unidentified craft approaching the planet's surface. Coming in hot." Kawa 2: "Curse these Mantites! I assume this is another of their light attack cruisers?" Kawa 1: "Not this one, sir. Initial energy and design specifications do not correspond with any known or typical M.A.N.T.I.S. technology. Full specs should be coming in shortly." Kawa 2: "Where is it headed?" Kawa 1: "Toward our military reserve base on the Western Peninsula, but it's not coming in directly..." Kawa 2: "What could it be, then? Alien? Maybe M.A.N.T.I.S. has something new. Get me Lt. Malvado on air, this is urgent..." Kawa 1: "Wait, commander. Details online now...looks like an Octan transport, a small one. There doesn't seem to be anyone on board, or at least no one is controlling it. Impact in planet surface in T minus..28 seconds." Kawa 2: "Figures. Octan trusts their robots to do everything for them, and then they fail. Besides, robots have no honor. How long until..." Kawa 1: "21 seconds, sir. Looks like it will land about a half mile wide of our base." Kawa 2: "Well, that's good. I'm still relieved we sent all our forces away from there to attack M.A.N.T.I.S. on the northern front, just in case there had been a catastrophe. Octan will hear of this, mark me--sending all their junk everywhere..." Kawa 1: "Eight seconds..." Both: ... Kawa 2: "What does that blue and purple mean on that screen there?" Kawa 1: That's the thermal scanner, sir. Blue indicates cool to normal temps, probably from the nighttime air. Cool temps means that the ship did not explode on impact, otherwise it would be red." Kawa 2: "Ah rats. I would rather it were red. I do love a good explosion, and red reminds me of the Honorable emblem of Kawashita. Oh well. Looks like there are tiny patches of red, so perhaps some parts caught fire, at least." Kawa 1: "Would you like me to send a recovery unit out, sir?" Kawa 2: "That won't be necessary. Let Octan's garbage stand as a testament to the incompetence that has emerged from their once fine glory. They have faded. And after we wipe those bugs from this planet, Kawashita will stand supreme in Andromeda! Honorably supreme, of course." Kawa 1: "Of course, sir." Kawa 2: "Keep me posted of any further incident..." ******** Scorpio gasped for air--he was alive! He struggled free from the twisted wreckage, vaguely thinking that the woman was probably still trapped. She could fend for herself, if she was still alive. He wondered where he was. Had they arrived on the planet Octan had destined him for, or had his actions at the Gate diverted their course? On the horizon he saw a cluster of red and grey buildings; he was definitely in Kawashita territory. With the red and white Octan space travel suit he had been given, he would probably stick out and get captured instantly, but he had to chance it. Besides, there didn't seem to be anyone around. The building was deserted, evidently in a hurry as tools were scattered everywhere. He had to find a clue to where he was, and find out if there were any M.A.N.T.I.S. operatives nearby. He reached for the radio controls, and sent out an SOS. He could not access a M.A.N.T.I.S. secure line from the Kawashita base, so he would have to use a public channel. If there were any Kawas around, they would lock on to his signal and find him in a heartbeat. But there was no other way. :::Open channel::Freq.786DF::<unencrypted>::Message[begin]Request for immediate extraction from unknown location, please confirm coordinates with positive ID__Agent: Starstriker, S.__Enemy units nearby, discovery imminent,extraction urgent[end]Close channel::: ******** Kawa 1: "Sir, we just picked up a strange transmission requesting an extraction." Kawa 2: "One of our operatives in the field? Get them out!" Kawa 1: "No sir, this was sent from our training facility on the Western Peninsula, nearby that crash from a few hours ago. An agent named "Starstriker"--nothing pulls up on our records; might be an Octan from that crashed transport." Kawa 2: "Drat! Send a unit back there to investigate, and if needs be, terminate. Those dishonorable Octans! Let me know immediately of any progress!" ********* Scorpio waited for a response. No doubt the Kawas would be closing in soon, and he might never get a response. He had to keep moving. Suddenly a response came in: :::Open channel::Freq.786DF::<unencrypted>::Message[begin]Scorpio! Long time no see. Got your location, I'm headed there once I teach these Kawas a little lesson. Don't get yourself caught again, okay? -SpacerSteve[end]Close channel::: Ha ha! Scorpio was saved! As long as SpacerSteve could reach him in time... **************** Another PAB build this week, if you couldn't tell. Hopefully next week I'll have access to all my bricks. Microscale of the crash site, near the Kawa facility: Andromeda's Gates week 9 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr C&C welcome!
-
Location: F02, Lesser Drigo Tags: Spying, M.A.N.T.I.S, Scorpio Starstriker "At last," Scorpio grunted as he scraped along the narrow cave floor. He had been crawling over an hour, but now he had arrived at his goal, the lower utility corridor of the engineering wing of Octan's water extraction facility on F02. Operation OMEGA had begun. He had been sent to infiltrate the facility along with Double D and Isaac Redsyn. Scorpio's specific mission was to break in and steal the software to their robotics program. They knew they could persuade the robots to pledge allegiance to an opposing corporation--this had been Isaac's mission--but worried they may still continue to work for Octan. With the raw code, however, M.A.N.T.I.S. would be able to override this protocol in order to reveal all of Octan's secrets. There were also rumours Octan had discovered an incredible energy source, so Scorpio was to gather intelligence to confirm this as fact. Conveniently, satellite readings had shown high energy signatures from the same labs where the code was kept secure. Secure, hah! Having drilled an entrance into the utility corridor, Scorpio pulled his Octan disguise on over his spying outfit, and headed up into the engineering bay. What he saw he couldn't believe. First of all, the number of coffee stains on the floor. (Ugh! and they thought larvae were gross!) Second, Octan had indeed discovered a tremendous energy source. Scorpio recognized it from some historical documents--it was a beryllium sphere! Scientists in radiation gear were scanning it, while the others stayed a minimum safe distance; Scorpio guessed from the awesomnium-tipped rods that they were attempting to increase its generation potential even further. "Hold it right there!" a woman's voice commanded. Looking up, Scorpio saw a woman up on an extendable platform, staring straight at him. She seemed familiar from somewhere, but Scorpio couldn't place where. All the scientists stopped, and turned to see Scorpio. "Who are you?" she asked. Scorpio had practiced this part. "Dane Fleegman, ma'am, Octan PR. President Business heard about the great work you folks are doing, so had me sent down here to take some photos, you know, for good publicity back on Terra, show the folks how much Octan is innovating the future and all that. Would you consent to doing an interview?" Her scowl in return answered his question, although she said nothing. Not to him anyway. Instead, she turned aside and called some instructions to the radiation-suit guys. "I'll just snap a few photos of the..what is it called again?...Never mind, of your work here, and try and stay out of your way." Scorpio advanced up the spiral staircase, up high to get a better view. So far his plan was working, and within minutes M.A.N.T.I.S. would have all the info it needed. But he still had to find the secure terminal where the robotics code was kept. Then he saw, up on the platform next to the woman, a lone server. That had to be it. "Mind if I, uh, come out there? You know, to get a bird's-eye view?" She remained motionless. Just then, a call box down the catwalk rang and the woman, even more upset (if such a thing were possible) left to answer it. Perfect. It would only take a few seconds to locate and remove the proper chip, and he could then complete the data transfer to HQ en route to the rendezvous point with Isaac and Double D. Luckily enough, there was the chip inside, clearly marked. He hurriedly inserted it to his hidden radio and hit send, then began his way back down the stairs. The woman, finished with her call, came up right on his heels, grabbed the megaphone and called out, "Intruder alert! Our lab has been breached! All staff on alert!" Scorpio froze. Did they suspect him? Or had one of his comrades been discovered? The answer came quickly enough as he was suddenly heard running the woman running toward him from behind. He dodged, and raced towards the stairs. The radiation suit guys were already blocking his way. "Give it up, spy!" The woman called. "Never! I never give up, never surrender!" came Scorpio's retort. He quickly checked his radio: "File Transfer: Code name OMEGA: 13% remaining." Hopefully it would finish in time. He looked up just as he was struck from behind. He must have only blacked out for a second, because when he came to there were guards on all sides and then the woman, standing above him saying "take him away. I'll deal with him later." As she spoke, he noticed a familiar scar he hadn't seen before. The last thing he saw was the end of one of the guard's stunners. To Be Continued... ************ More pictures: M.A.N.T.I.S logo (along base) in focus, and edge of cavern area Octan logo (along base) in focus (fuzzy) overview of the whole lab Spiral staircase, upper control panel, with view of lower personnel doors Spiral staircase in focus, view of cavern area Bay doors and emergency hydrant Coffee, heads-up display, and far console Octan crew, including radiation suits and a guy who has clearly forgotten his a time or two. Beryllium sphere and robot
-
This is a vignette I built from Thor, the scene where Thor has to destroy the Bifrost bridge in order to thwart Loki. The scene is inspired by the movie, but I built the details how I wanted, rather than try to be 100% faithful to the movie. I think it captures the look of it pretty well. I know some people don't like the stiff capes, but I do--they help hold the figure up in a way that allows for some pretty dynamic posing. C&C welcome! See the rest on my Flickr page
-
Of all of the pirate vessels roaming the Caribbean galaxy, perhaps none is more notorious or feared than the Flying Fist. Flying Fist - polling image by rodiziorobs, on Flickr Captained by the merciless Capt. Fist and his bloody band, the Flying Fist has defeated the Imperial police on countless attempts. The most notable episode (the one most retold in drunken song in taverns 'round the galaxy) involves twenty Nova-class Imperial cruisers, an asteroid field, a well-timed disruptor blast and a very angry Terrillian Ape. The Flying Fist is a small craft and very swift. Its main engines are three medium-weight Magellan thrusters, which have been modified to withstand extreme energy capacities. The reason for this modification is the custom da Gama suprasorb energy sails; originally developed for power generation from solar energy, they have been specially treated with ionic tetraflutamine to increase their energy absorption from all spectra. While this process also strengthened the normally fragile sails against physical blasts, it means that rather than doing damage, energy or laser shots--especially direct hits--actually supercharge the fuel cells, to then be used to power any of the ship's systems--the engines, the cannons, the shields, etc. The ship actually gets stronger the more hits it takes. Armaments include small rockets, countermeasures, targeting missile systems, and of course each crew member's own personal arsenal. But the big guns are the three heavy phase disruptors on either side of the ship. They fire concentrated alternating energy beams that can rip right through even armored ship hulls, and can usually weaken shields sufficiently enough to let the other weapons do the rest of the work. Other ship features include two flight decks, on-board controls for energy and weapons management, nav center, lower positional thrusters, and that sweet alien skull on the stern to strike fear into the hearts of those lily-livered Imperials! See the crew, Capt. Fist's Bloody Band, my entry for Category A. See more photos of the Flying Fiston my Flickr page. There are also more further below. Check out the rest of my creations on Flickr ****** A couple of notes and a few pictures With this ship, I wanted to give it a feeling of a Chinese junk, with the square decks and battened sails, and also use a non-traditional color scheme. It does not feature a full interior (that's taken up by the cannons), but the front of the lower half of the ship holds the navigation center, and the top half is easily removed, being attached by only a few studs (yet it is still pretty strong and swooshable!) The entire lower half of the ship is built upside-down. I wanted to avoid treating the underside as an afterthought, so I tried to include some good detail on there as well, but this meant I had to build a base for it to stand on.
-
Presenting Capt. Fist and his hearty crew of cosmic corsairs! Their infamy as ruthless scallawags is spread all across the galaxy, and while it has earned them the ire of the Imperial police, it has also earned their fear--few be they who dare to tangle with this motley crew. Many a ship there be that has surrendered at the first sound of even so much as a warning shot from Capt. Fist...Which is exactly how he and his crew like it. After all, the best fight is the one you win just by having a scary reputation. Of course, they still fight when they have to, committing a massacre here or there and leaving only a few survivors--to tell the stories of course. What's the use of being fearsome if you kill off everyone who might spread the word of fear for you? Besides, once word has got out that a pirate has gone soft, it's nothing but work, work, work all the time. Truth be told, however, they like quick surrenders because that leaves more time for their favorite game, pirate's dice. On to the crew! Sloroth the Savage First mate Sloroth was always scary: his scaly skin, red eyes, and scraggly mustache were menacing enough, let alone the two pulse pistols he wields with deadly accuracy. But the problem was, he was just...Sloroth. That is, until Capt. Fist suggested adding "the Savage" to his name, after which his fame as a bloodthirsty blackheart spread like wildfire. Speaking of wildfire... Fogo Chen Chen is a bit of a gearhead, which is a good thing as he has had to build himself prosthetics after burning off so many of his actual limbs. He is also, as is probably evident, obsessed with fire, which occasionally leads to mixed results. He helped design and build Capt. Fist's ship, the Flying Fist; fireproofing was high on the list of necessary design features. Arsenica Starstriker Arsenica never leads anything to chance; she is a meticulous planner, and is stubborn enough and determined enough to see that everything goes according to that plan. She is the crew's navigator, and is also tough as nails. No one is quite sure how she, being human, is able to breathe in space without a helmet, but she isn't about to let something like asphyxiation get in her way, is she? While her weapon of choice is a light phase cannon, she also loves tossing tetra bombs as well. Gnaark the Unhinged When it comes to reputation, Gnaark's name says it all--and those blades back it up. Slightly Generally unstable, it is the one no one wants to sit next to during a round of dice, and everyone makes sure the rum is on the opposite side of the table from it at all times. Manahu Not a member of the crew, but a loyal ally to Capt. Fist, Manahu is the leader and shaman of his people. He and Capt. Fist were first allied fighting a common enemy, and soon became friends. He can summon spirits and other cosmic forces through the oracle he carries in a glass sphere. In return for Capt. Fist's assistance to his people, he granted unto the captain a special gift. And last of all, Capt. Abraham J. Fist Capt. Fist is a merciless villain who will stop at nothing in the pursuit of gold and other valuables. Before he met Manahu, he was a decent enough pirate, save for his poor eyesight--one of the problems that come with having a head less than one stud tall, you know? But Manahu gifted him with a companion from the spirits--a crow. Once summoned, the bird leapt to Capt. Fist's chest and immediately began to peck out his tiny eyes. After a moment of panic, the captain realized the sensation he felt was not pain, but clarity: his eyes gone, his vision was the bird's own. Now he can not only gain a greater perspective of the scene during the heat of battle, but he is even better at picking out gold and other shiny objects. Other photos: The crew at their favorite pastime These pirates really are a scurvy band! Yo-Ho Yo-Ho a Pirate's Life for Me! Most importantly, their vessel, the Flying Fist, my entry for Category C. See the rest of my Flickr page
-
Challenge 4: Cat B Location: C03 (Torresta) At the outskirts of The Core lies a poor, neglected district. Not so neglected that the crime is rampant or out of control, simply neglected to the point where nobody bothers to go there anymore. Like this building, which most recently was rented out to the Torresta chapter of a charity, but is now boarded up. The only part of this area which sees any life at all is, ironically, the local cemetery. No one of great renown is buried here, nor probably ever will be. Although is looks like there is a freshly dug grave. I wonder who it's for? **************** I wanted to do some of the lesser-seen city elements here, hence the shack and the cemetery. I had planned to build them together on a common base with some landscape to connect them, but didn't leave myself enough time to finish, so you'll have to settle for them merely sharing the same sidewalk out front.
-
Challenge 4 (No Place Like Home) Location: C03 (Torresta) ****** Forgot to put Cat A in the topic title ****** Admitting his own guilt of his crimes against humanity at the MANTIS High Court, former Supervising Accountant Laszlowe had to stand and face his sentencing. Agent Raven of the Kawashita delegation offered several...unique...suggestions for the sentence, but the MANTIS judge insisted that the punishment fit the crime. The nature of Laszlowe's crimes had not been to inflict death, but suffering and enslavement. Therefore, he would not be sentenced to death, but rather a lifetime of hard labor. He was transferred to a remote outpost in the Torrestan deserts, and set to work in the Awesomnium mines with an armed guard around the clock. **************** "Hey down there, Laszy, heard some rumors you've been up to more criminal activity. They say you even sold a secret pain formula to some terrorists." "I have already been committed to my sentence, Private Rannen, and confessed all my guilt! Why do you..." "Eh, as for me I figure that's just giving you way too much credit. You ain't clever enough for anything like that." "..." **************** While MANTIS believes in uncompromised justice, it also believes in the supremacy of mercy; as such, Laszlowe's punishment was not merciless. Upon his arrival at the mines, Laszlowe was given a small syringe with a potent toxin specially formulated to his own DNA but inert to any other being. If he tires of the work, or of Private Rannen's particular brand of humor, Laszlowe holds his own life in his hands. Such an escape--a quick death--his victims would probably be grateful for if it were offered them. It was agreed that this sentence was fair and just, while still offering a measure of mercy, even if the guilty scum deserved none. 50% of the proceeds from the Awesomnium mined by Laszlowe will be donated to Andy's Orphans, a non-profit charity in Andromeda which assists in the rehabilitation of former slaves or the otherwise oppressed, and to defray the costs of relocation and counseling services of the same. Laszlowe's tiny cell is sparsely furnished, with only a bed and a sink inside. The sink is supplied by an external water tank. There also is space outside to hang his tools. The guard station towers over the small prison and surrounding dunes.
-
Location: E01 (Donwarr) Tags: Spying, Land vehicle **** Advance apologies for the quality of some of the photos below. I'll see if I can get some better shots up later in the week. **** Aboard the MANTIS flagship Petticoat: "Look General, I know the paint job isn't regulation, but there isn't anything we can do about it until we return to the docks in Torresta in a few weeks when we deliver Laszlowe to begin his sentence." Well look into it immediately! It's a complete disgrace! **************** Shortly thereafter, the Petticoat picked up an uncommon transmission--one from a black box. MANTIS engineers had managed to reduce the size of this technology, meaning virtually every MANTIS craft could be equipped with it. This enabled the location and recovery of practically every ship, to help engineers better equip the rest of the fleet against future malfunction or mishap. Also built in was a switch that would only turn on after most or all other systems were unresponsive for a determined length of time. Normally, MANTIS black boxes sent tracking emissions only intermittently, so as to conserve battery life. However, this meant that such a signal was unlikely to be picked up by scanners unless they were specifically looking for it, as was often the case when rescuers were searching for a downed ship. This particular emission was even more of a rare case--the black box code identified it as belonging to a small speedboat, the last ship assigned to Scorpio Starstriker and Jessica DuBois, who had vanished on a spying mission nearly two months prior. This was not the most intriguing part, however: the boat had been dispatched to Jurin II, not Donwarr. Although there had been mishaps with the gates before, they were not yet understood. Therefore, a recovery team was dispatched immediately to go down to the surface and bring the black box back for analysis. **************** Later, on Donwarr's surface... Ick, you know Williams I don't usually mind tough conditions, but the smell here is horrible. That's just the Octan you smell, Private. Figures that this mysterious signal would come from an unrecoverable swamp--probably the only one on Donwarr--that also happens to be crawling with Octan speeders. I hear one coming our way, now! Stay low, and keep your blaster ready. I'll see if I can spy it... Should I take it out? No, it would only reveal our location to the rest of Octan. Only shoot if we're already caught. Looks like he's moved on... Well, which way do we go? North, we're already pretty close. **************** Last known location is right here, and look, there's some wreckage. And what appears to be human remains. Climb in there and get the box, and a bit of the body. See if the lab guys can match the DNA. Yuck. Shut up, Private. **************** Suddenly, there was a soft woooooosh sound, as Private took a dart to the neck. Captain Williams spun around to face the assault, but too late; in a flash, the assailant was on top of her, knife in hand. In the swampy marsh, she could get no footing, and found herself completely disarmed and vulnerable. Who are you? Why do you come to this place? ... Answer! Captain April Williams, MANTIS Marine Corps North. ...MANTIS! After all this time! The attacker relaxed her grip on Williams, who slipped in the mud, from surprise as much as anything else. You've finally come for us. It's been two years! Two years, do you hear me! Where have you been!? Do I...Should I know you? Here my name is only Jex, but before I was Jessica DuBois, MANTIS pilot Second Class. This here is Scorpio Starstriker. Please take us home. ****************
-
Location: F03 (Forring) Tags: Military Building, Spying **************** MANTIS military academy, Forring ...and so, cadets, that is how fleet maneuvering works, leading us to MANTIS' current position in northern Andromeda. Given the tenuous relationships between our corporations lately, MANTIS has not been able to perform full-scale military incursions. However, we must maintain our fleet ever-ready, even anticipating-- General Teague, I hate to interrupt you but this is urgent. What is it, Maynes? It's Blond. Agent Blond? Yes Sir. I'm on my way. Students, please read sections 10.2-10.5 while I am gone, Shearer you lead the discussion questions. I'll be back shortly. Colter are you texting in class?! **************** [ Well, sir, we've got the tracer back online, after Blond's signal blinked out. Looks like the Zoid ship made a gate jump, that's what caused the malfunction. So where are they? Do we know what has become of Blond? Still gathering that intel, General. But, I was analyzing the last bit of thermal imaging from Blond's report--the one that convinced the court to sentence Laszlowe--and things don't add up. How so? Well, the scanner picked up five signatures, all of them human. So? We know the Zoids had slaves aboard the ship at that moment, maybe there were more, and that's where the extra signatures came from. Except there were no Zoid signatures at all. Only human ones. Look for yourself. Well, I'll be. That certainly is odd. Yet even in his testimony, Laszlowe confessed he had been meeting with Zoid agents, so how can this be? I think someone has been trying to hoodwink all of Andromeda, Sir. Is Blond's signal live? Yes, Sir, but I have yet to completely decode the data packets. Well, keep on it, and let me know what you find. Good work, Maynes. Thank you Sir. **************** Class dismissed ***************** C&C welcome!
-
Location: F02 (Lesser Drigo) Tags: Spying, Land Vehicle I’ll be at my destination in about 3 minutes, Scroggins. How you comin’ up there? Easy, Anders, I just got my tether secured. You’ve got 3 minutes then, to get those updates installed so we can start the calibration. MANTIS isn’t going to give us all day, you know. Besides, I’m dying down here, it’s so hot! No problem, Anders, I’ve already got the new filters in, now I just have to wait for it to reboot. Who knew that the atmospheric conditions around Lesser Drigo would mess with the algorithms Starstriker built into the Amplified Radar? Once we get this calibrated to the planet’s conditions, we should be able to keep tabs on Octan’s every move. Yeah, yeah, whatever. I didn’t sign up for a science lecture, okay? I wanted to learn to be a spy, that’s why I signed up for the Spydar™ program. Instead they got me drivin’ around in the friggin’ desert listening to Mr. Wizard here. Didn’t they tell you the Spydar™ program was maintenance of the radar programs we’ve put up all over Andromeda? Besides, work for MANTIS long enough, and you’ll be a spy yet. Seems like everybody lately has been… Save it, Scroggins. Geesh. I’m here, just let me put up the dish and we can get this calibration over with. Gaaah, it’s so hot… Ready when you are. Okay, calibration starting…got infrared online, thermal coming on…Hang on. It says it’s waiting. Yeah, just push through all the prompts, it should resume. Got it. All righty, Scroggins, looks like we’re through here, I’ve got visuals on everything…Wow who knew Octan had so much going on down here. And why? It’s so friggin’ hot on this blasted planet. They better have a Maggot-rita© ready for me when I get back to base… Good work, Anders, good work. Hey did I tell you I met Starstriker once? I wonder what sort of daring mission he is up to now... Enough already about your hero Starstinker, Scroggins. Or whatever his name is. See you ship-side. ***************** C&C Welcome!
-
Location: F03 (Forring) Tags: Land Vehicle, Military Building When Supervising Accountant Laszlowe returned to M.A.N.T.I.S. HQ after making a deal with the Zoid slavers, he was met by a special task force who immediately clapped him in irons. Agent Blond had been sent out to apprehend the data from the Zoids and put a tracer on their ship to follow them. Not returning from the mission, Blond had nevertheless been able to transfer a copy of the data Laszlowe had sold, as well as photographic proof that the Zoid ship was carrying slaves. The data in question turned out to be a detailed description of all Octan movements and known civilian locations across most of northern Andromeda. In exchange for this information--which the slavers had used to prey on helpless merchants and other civilians in those sectors, as corroborated in Octan documents--the Zoids had been paying Laszlowe handsomely. Unbeknownst to Laszlowe, his rendezvous with the Zoids had all been recorded by a D.O.R.I.S. (Drone of Really Irritating Surveillance), video evidence which will be shown in court today along with Agent Blond's revelation, on the illuminated panels seen below next to the guard station. With the overwhelming amount of evidence against Laszlowe--in addition to months of records uncovered this week by M.A.N.T.I.S. auditors--formal charges were brought against Laszlowe for his crimes against humanity, including 18 counts of human trafficking. It will be the Court Recorder's duty to keep minutes of the proceedings. He has not arrived yet, but his booth is shown below, next to the guard station. The trial has been scheduled for this evening the 20th of Marzn, 3816, at the M.A.N.T.I.S. High Court on Forring. Delegates from both Octan and Kawashita were invited to be present to witness justice carried out. After all, even if the three corporations squabble or even occasionally fight an all-out war over control of the resources the galaxy holds, no one wants there to be civilian casualties. Also, M.A.N.T.I.S. wants it known that it will not tolerate such atrocities committed under its roof, and will punish to the fullest extent those who perpetrate such crimes. The judge today will be a member of the Council of Five, and the case would be decided by a nine-member jury. All of the jurors and the judge have yet to arrive. Jurors' booth And here are the Octan and Kawashita representatives arriving on their speeders. The attendants will escort them up to the observation deck, where the respective corporations' colors are hung. The representatives arrive Octan representatives in their booth Kawashita representatives in their booth Here is the accused being led into the chamber as we speak. The military police maintains a presence on the ground level of the courtroom, should there be any need to enforce order during the course of the trial. In addition to the human trafficking charges brought against Laszlowe, internal audits revealed he had also embezzled funds from multiple employees of M.A.N.T.I.S., including Scorpio Starstriker, Scientist First Class. M.A.N.T.I.S. agents were trying to decide if there was any connection between these crimes and Starstriker's mysterious disappearance nearly two months earlier. However, at the present time these events appear to be unrelated. **************** This week's build is based on set 10223, the Kingdoms Joust, a set I wasn't quick enough to get when I came out of my Dark Ages, but I thought would be interesting to adapt into a courtroom. All of the smaller pieces of the MOC correspond to a part of the actual set, except that I couldn't think of any kind of parallel for the jousting list so I omitted it. Waiting for the judge and jury More pictures below, C&C welcome! Defendant's chair High Court judgement seat Jurors' booth Representatives from Kawashita Representatives from Octan Money shot of the M.A.N.T.I.S. logo--my best one yet!
-
Location: E02 (Jurin II) Tags: Water vehicle Entries from the last two weeks: The End, Pt. II: Hunted The End, Pt. I: Spying **************** Made it, and in one piece! But...now where are we? Nav system is recalibrating...hmmm. That's odd... What? I'm picking up a lot signals on the scanner, but I don't see anything out here...not a ship in sight. They're not submarines, are they..?! No, the signals are too weak to be any kind of a ship...it must be... Oh no! Kill the engines! What's wrong? We're in the middle of a minefield. That's what all these signals are! AG week 34 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr That explains why Octan stopped chasing us. I'll try to raise HQ on the radio, see if they can redirect the rendezvous to airlift us directly from here. Sounds good. Meanwhile I'll take the controls and see if I can steer us around these things. No Scorpio don't touch that! AG week 34 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr **************** All builds this week are new, C&C welcome!
-
Location: G02 (Freegate) Tags: Spying, Land Vehicle TL;DR (in the spoiler): Well let's see what's on the repair backlog today...hmmm...well I finished the Jurin II satellite calibration, I can check that one off..and that one... Hey, Scroggins, you up to much right now? Oh, it's you Anders. Nah, I've already fixed this broken D.O.R.I.S. (Drone of Really Irritating Supervision). I might try and see if I can get that new modulator to work in it, but that's all I have. All you had, you mean. Laszlowe's got a job for us, 'n it sounds like actual spy woik dis time! **************** Thank you both for being available. I know interrogations aren't something you normally do, but since that idiot Starstriker is missing-- Scorpio is missing?! --Ahem. Since know one seems to know where he is, we'll have to do with you. Frankly, I think we're better off without him... But I'm just a mechanic! When can we start? Are dey savage killas?! I hope dey'ah savage killas! I'm gonna grill dose suckas right outta Andromeda if I hafta! --or maybe not...Ahem. You will be interrogating three Merchant Confederacy pilots from ship that Hawk apprehended last week. They may have important knowledge about Octan's movements, but certainly aren't hostile. ... ... This way, please. We'll use interrogation room 18. We believe they will comply with the interrogation, but they may take awhile to feel comfortable sharing any information. It is believed that average people like yourselves will help them feel better at ease than professional interrogators. However, if you have any problems, I will be in my office for the next hour or so. Alert me of anything urgent. **************** Aw right, you goons! Start spillin' youh guts or I'll cut ya! ... I said start blabbin'! I don't wananny funny bizniss from you guys! Anders, maybe we should try another approach? ... You guys are merchants, huh? Where were you headed? ... What kind of freight were you carrying? ... ...uh, You guys seen the new prototype Gemini engines? I was just reading in Andromeda Today about it, but personally I don't think it'll provide the thrust the makers are claiming it will... What? What, did I say something wrong? ... How yoou think Gimini weel not provide soofficient throost? It is designed foor freighters like the kind we fly. What, you think they are for real, then? Ceartainly, yoong man. My coousin was one of the testers for theece neew engine, and he says they have made major breakthroough. Well, but you have to agree that given the conversion capabilities of the fuel system... ... **************** 3 hours later... **************** Soo I says too Mabel, I says... ...Can we get on wit it already?! What is prooblem? We've been heah all day and if I have to sit through one more story or joke I'm gonna cut ya! Alluhya! EVERYLASTONEUHYA! I'm afraid she means it this time, guys. What woould you like to knoow? We were under the impression you had some information about Octan's activity in the sector. Perhaps their fleet movements or something? Why shoould we have sooch informatioon? Well because...ww thought with your encounters with the Zoids you would have... Everyboody knoows the Zooids get their informatioon froom MANTIS. WHAT?! Yoou doo not sell your secrets to them? Of course not! We may be Mean and Nasty but we still have a moral code! But aren't you all drapers? Nonsense! Why should we all be drapers? I myself prefer upholstery... ... It's true, he does. ... ... Anyway, I can assure you we would not be selling information to a ragged group of slavers like the Zoids. Then it is yoou whoo dooes not knoow. Foorst, not all Zooids are slavers. Also, we knoow that Zooids get informatioon from MANTIS. Poorhaps there is insider? You think? Anders, this is big; we need to let Laszlowe know at once. Oh, wait wait wait! Would you happen to know the whereabouts of Scorpio Starstriker? Whoo? I have never heaard this name befoore. Soorry. Well, thanks anyway. Let's go, Anders. **************** Laszlowe? Laszlowe! He ain't here, Scroggins. Maybe he's back with youh new best friends... Come on, they were perfectly nice guys, and their information might be valuable. Laszlowe! Where could he be? Yeah, well three hours of my life back without havin' to listen to those borin' stories would be moah valuable to me! Didya heah dat crap about the Terrilian ape? I mean... The D.O.R.I.S.! What? I'll send the D.O.R.I.S. I just fixed to find Laszlowe, and then we can open a secure channel to inform him. **************** Ok, it's all programmed in, it should get a lock on him within a few minutes. I'll monitah da video from heah, so we'll know when we've found him. Ya know what, even though we'ah trackin' one of our own, it finally feels like we'ah doin' some actual spy woik! 2016-03-07_01-19-21 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr ...and there he is! Move in closer... But...wheah is he? He ain't even in da buildin' no moah. Yeah, that's strange. He's outside the complex in the cold. And why? 2016-03-07_01-16-43 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr Waitasecond! Didya see dat briefcase? Do ya suppose them pilots was tellin' da truth about an insidah in MANTIS? What if Laszlowe...? Anders, have the D.O.R.I.S. drop back but stay on him. Try and keep it out of sight! I'll go inform the CEO... Aw right, I'll start recording and letcha know in case it was all a false alahm. Now dis is moah like it! 2016-03-07_01-17-39 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr
-
Location: G02, Freegate Tags: Spying, Land Vehicle In order to thwart a dangerous enemy working from within the corporation itself, MANTIS calls upon one of its best spies, Agent Blond. **************** Agent Blond, let's get right to it, shall we? General Teague, this mission had better be important. It is, I assure you. Important enough to delay my vacation? I had the condo already booked on the Torresta Riviera, with a stellar view of the lava fields. If I lose my reservation because of some daft mission on this ice ball... Relax, Blond. This mission should not detain you more than a few hours. Moments ago a few of our Spydar technicians discovered a serious threat to MANTIS integrity. Evidence indicates that Supervising Accountant Laszlowe has been selling secrets to a third party. Given our already uphill battle with PR in Andromeda, we need to make sure this is handled discreetly. He's been selling info to the Zoids, huh? We weren't sure, but as we look at the evidence we are convinced something is at work here. Additionally, our scanners picked up a signal from an unknown ship entering Freegate's atmosphere only an hour ago. Laszlowe is allegedly en route to a rendezvous with them at this very moment, and we have a D.O.R.I.S. tailing him and recording his every move. NB: Laszlowe's speeder is carried over from last week and should not be judged More pics of the ship in the spoiler: Well if you've already got surveillance, why do you need me? Just wait 'til he returns to the compound and bust him then. That is part of the plan. However, there is more to it: First, we need to verify the nature of the information Laszlowe has been peddling to determine the severity of his crimes. You know the Zoids have been called, among other things,slavers. If Laszlowe has been an accomplice to this he must be tried as a war criminal, for justice's sake and to let Andromeda know that we condemn such atrocities. You must retrieve that information. Second, apprehend Laszlowe. Our team here will do that when he returns, so your job is to simply stay out of his sight so that he suspects nothing. Third, identify the information's intended recipient with a dummy tracer. If we can find out who this information is destined for... ...it will let us know if the Zoids at large are really slavers... ...or if there are just some rogues among them committing these crimes. Precisely. So: infiltrate, transmit the data back here for verification, replace the files with a tracer, and stay out of sight. Any questions? Yeah, if things go pear-shaped with me and the Zoids...? You must not engage them if at all possible. Until we at sure who it is we are actually dealing with, we cannot afford to take such bold action. However, you are authorized the use of force if necessary for you make it back. Good luck, Agent Blond. **************** And so Agent Blond set out on a daring quest to put a stop to Laszlowe's nefarious dealings. Speeding across the tundra to the rendezvous, Blond whirled the speeder around, and dashed aboard the mysterious ship just in time... **************** First things first: I have to retrieve that data. Establishing uplink to MANTIS secure channel...transmitting...replacing files with tracer...done! And now I've got to get off of this ship undetected, and get back to my Torrestan cruise.!..what the...?! But what Agent Blond saw on the ship was beyond anything imagined... Good heavens! It's true, these guys are slavers. Running their operation right under our noses! The Zoids can't be allowed to take them back to their wicked abode! I must hurry before the ship takes off! And so Agent Blond set about quickly trying to free the Zoids' victims from their cruel captors, when suddenly... ...where did you come from? *ZHWOOP* **************** To be continued...
-
Location: E02 (Jurin II) Tags: Spying, Water Vehicle Previously, Supervising Accountant Laszlowe and Scorpio were interrogating a prisoner taken by MANTIS long ago, when Scorpio made a startling discovery. **************** Lots of story below, build at the very bottom **************** Onboard the MANTIS ship, still in Ertauq's atmosphere... Arsenica?! How...? Where...? I thought you were dead. Dead, huh? Would that have helped you sleep better at night? All those years I looked up to you, relied on you, and then... ...I'm going to, uh...get a bite to eat...yeah, some larvae. Anyone else? No. Great, I'll just uh...see myself out... You left. Of course I left! You know how I couldn't stand it at home, with the drunken rage and all that. The academy was the only chance I had to escape. Yet you left me there! Do you think I wanted to stay? I hated living with him as much as you did! Whatever. If he ever happened to be sober all he could do was go on and on about how perfect you were! I don't think he ever even hit you... Shut up! You have no idea how much hell I had to endure after you left! ... No idea... That scar...you never had that before. He did that, didn't he. Yeah. ... The academy may have been your ticket out, but you were supposed to be mine. You told me so! We made plans of getting out, of getting on without him looming over us! You would go off to school and take me with you. And then you left... Arsenica... look, I'm really... You know what, Scorpio, I don't even care any more. I don't even care. I don't need your apology. ... I'm not the same little girl you grew up with. I've had to grow up myself. In fact I don't blame you for not recognizing me sooner. The night he gave me this I ran away. Ran away and never looked back. I had to learn to take care of myself the best I could. To lie, cheat, and steal, I even joined a band of pirates for awhile, but you know what? When it comes right down to it I'm glad for it. I just wish you hadn't abandoned me. I suppose that's one thing I picked up from training with Kawashita: even though the glory and honor crap never meant much to me, Raven helped me learn the value of loyalty. Look Arsenica, I never... **************** Scorpio, you have an urgent message from CEO SpacerSteve. Leave this to me, I'll handle the interrogation from here. Right now? But I can't leave! You have to--apparently this is another one of those missions that just can't wait. Don't worry, she'll be locked safely behind these same bars when you get back. You're not going to let her out?! Of course not. She is a dangerous prisoner! She is my sister! And, must I remind you, a Kawa spy! But... No more protests! Just go do this stupid mission and try not to get yourself killed! **************** You are clever, I'll give you that. You almost had me convinced to set you free. ...what? how did you..? You don't think I would actually leave this whole interrogation up to that incompetent ninny, did you? I have been listening the whole time. Don't think I missed that bit about your loyalty! Raven invests a lot in her agents, and I highly doubt you would turn your back on her so easily! ... I know I am right. You think so, but you're wrong. Even though I have spent years hating him, we are still family. Besides, Kawashita tried to have me killed, remember? But he did leave you behind, so where does your loyalty lie? With him and M.A.N.T.I.S.? or with Raven and the Kawas? ... Tell me! ... Ha! You talk big about how much you don't believe in Honor, yet you can't bring yourself to speak even a word against your old master because of your loyalty. I give you credit for that. Guards, take her back to cellblock B! **************** You have an urgent mission for me, sir? Uh...what, no. Oh. Laszlowe said... Oh well, since you're already here I guess we could use you for phase one of the operation down on Jurin II. Ok. Just tell me what to do...and exactly how to do it. We need you to do something involving gathering information about another faction, hacking their computers, or sabotaging their equipment. Oh, and if you could use a land vehicle in a significant way that would be a huge plus. Can do. Oh, and Scorpio? Sir? Try not to get killed out there, okay? **************** Later, on Jurin II... So what are we supposed to do, again? Use this water vehicle to spy on Octan. They have a refueling station built on a platform out here in the ocean, and SpacerSteve has been tracking two Penetrator-class vessels, but they dropped out of orbit. We figure they are coming to refuel here, so we wait for them until they take off and then give him the signal. That should give him just enough time to intercept them as they break free of Jurin II's atmosphere. Coordinates up ahead, we should be getting close. There it is! So now we just wait here for these ships to show up? What if someone spots us and tries to attack us? This boat doesn't have much firepower... We'll be fine. In a few minutes the ships will show up, take off, and we'll be on our way back to base. What are you doing? Texting? I thought I'd write a message while we're waiting. Message? Message for what? A message for...oh wait! There they are! We have visual on the Penetrators, they should be docking soon. The ships are docked and refueling now. Only another couple of minutes... The Octan ships are away, and headed back up to orbit. They are all yours, SpacerSteve! **************** C&C Welcome, more photos below. 2016-01-31_02-57-16 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr AG week 32 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr AG week 32 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr AG week 32 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr AG week 32 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr AG week 32 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr AG week 32 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr
-
Location: Jurin II Tags: Spying, Water vehicle (skimmer) Scorpio and Jex had just finished a mission on Jurin II when suddenly... Uh oh, Scorpio! Looks like we've been found! There is a signature locked on us and it's closing in fast! Rats! Get us out of here! Are they jamming our signals? CAM02024 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr No! Then I'll jam theirs. Just let me hack into their system... CAM02025 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr Control, this is Skimmer One. I have a lock on the MANTIS boat, preparing to engage AG week 33 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr Oh no! My controls are jammed! I can't fire any more, but I'll keep a close distance, see if I can't scare them away! AG week 33 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr That should do it! Looks like we lost them... Control, I am disengaging. Looks like I chased them into the minefield, they'll never survive in there... AG week 33 by rodiziorobs, on Flickr Short story this week! C&C welcome! EDIT: I should clarify that the MANTIS boat is recycled from last week (with a few minor tweaks), just the Octan skimmer is new. The skimmer is loosely based off of set 6562. It started out a little closer in design than the final product might suggest...
-
Location: E03 (Ertauq) Tags: Spying After scouting for the secret Octan base on Jurin II, Scorpio made a rendezvous with the MANTIS fleet in the neighboring planet's sector, Ertauq. He was finally going to close the chapter on that mysterious prisoner from months before. **************** It's about time Starstriker. Come on, let's go. We'll use the secure interrogation room. Since she managed to completely disarm one of our own agents, we have classified her as dangerous. Dangerous? I thought it turned out that the operative she took down was actually a Kawashita spy, something none of our own agents had discovered! That is immaterial, Starstriker. She is a threat and we must treat her accordingly. If I recall, your report stated that you thought she seemed familiar to you. She did seem familiar, but in a very distant way. I am not sure I have ever actually seen her before. I have tried since then to figure out where I might know her from, but I don't know. Well, have you thought that maybe you are familiar to her as well? Perhaps she has a grudge against you, and only wanted you here to try and find a way to kill you! As happy as that would make me, we can't have that kind of situation on our hands. Ah, here we are. **************** Prisoner No. 108457, in exchange for your cooperation in this interrogation, we have complied with your request and brought your original captor, S. Starstriker, to be present here today. Finally. Let's get on with your stupid interrogation. Urm, uh, right then. We will begin. What was your position at Octan? I never worked for Octan. I was on a long-term assignment from Kawashita to infiltrate Octan. Kawashita? So that's how you recognized and apprehended the spy in our midst. What was the nature of your mission there at Octan? My job was to go undercover and try and learn the secrets of Octan's high security coffee machine production. I broke into the Octan facility on Ertauq... ...swiped a key card... ...stole an operative's identity... ...and attempted to get myself promoted to upper-level permissions. However, I wasn't able to gain sufficient clearance for the coffee machine project, so Kawashita assigned me to infiltrate the missile defense and WMD research programs instead. ... ... What? Uh nothing. We'll follow up on the specifics of your mission later. The Kawashita spy you exposed here at MANTIS? I assume you had to stop her before she killed you, Kawashita didn't want you divulging any secrets? Yeah, Agent Sega was afraid I was going to spill my guts. Glory and honor and all that nonsense. She and I had trained under Agent Raven. Sega always bought into that kind of crap more than I did. For her, Kawashita was a way of life. And you? For me it was a paycheck. I have seen enough dishonor that it's hard for me to believe in any of it any more. Your boy Scorpio could probably tell you more about that, though. Huh? You still can't tell who I am? Figures. You always were dumb like that. You must have got that from dad, he was a moron, too. What the..? Arsenica? **************** Arsenica is a character I had been meaning to properly introduce since way back before I even officially joined AG, but for one reason or another it just never happened until now. Sorry for the lack of balance between story and build this week--lots to read, less to see. Sometimes that's just how it goes.
-
Big Sal calls Scorpio for a meeting... I've got a bad feeling about this... Starstriker! Come in! Am I in trouble? My last spying mission went pretty good! I mean, I forgot to add the vehicle tag, but... No Scorpio, you're not in trouble. Well, you might be. You'd have to talk to one of MANTIS' accountants to find out how badly you've screwed stuff up. No, I called you in to give you a science mission. Oh. Not in trouble, then. Well that's good. It gets better. We even have a budget approved for it! Great! So what is it? We need you to research and build an Amplified Radar station. Oh, ok. I think I can do that. Well good, because I don't! I mean, I don't want to keep you any longer. Run along! Whew. I'll keep my fingers crossed on that one. Good thing we have double the budget needed, so we can fix everything after Starstriker screws it all up. Later.... Status report from Starstriker, S. Do you wish to download? YES NO Work completed, Amplified Radar achieved! Well, looks like Starstriker finished something! And in record time! View attached images? YES NO Wonderful! It looks like a very large building! ...and if you look here, one of the features of this radar station is... What the #%!? It's tiny! What kind of lazy idiot is he? CLAPPIE, reply to Starstriker that we need an Amplified Radar that will actually amplify! Even later... Status report from Starstriker, S. Do you wish to download? YES NO YES NO YES NO YES! #%*$*! CLAPPIE! YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO #$&%*! Computer, download the latest status report from Starstriker, and shut down CLAPPIE. No, actually, uninstall CLAPPIE. Rebooting CLAPPIE. #%*&$! Downloading images. Now that's more like it! He actually did something right! Amplified Radar achieved! Out of Character:
