TakunuvaC01

Something that's puzzled me since 2009 is this idea of "pocket dimensions of the Matoran Universe".As I originally understood it, there are two types of alternate dimensions- parallel, which are similar to the "main universe" but diverged at some point and thus have a different timeline, and "alternate" or "pocket", which are not similar to the main universe. The Field of Shadows was some other strange dimension, but the Kingdom or Dark Mirror universes were parallel timelines.Now of course we know that the so-called Matoran Universe is really the insides of a giant robot. It's not a universe per se, it's a part of a larger universe. So... what exactly are these pocket dimensions? BS01 says: This makes it sound like they are, in some way, part of the MU- or, more accurately, Mata Nui.Is it possible they are actually separate components of Mata Nui? Created by the GBs (or Mata Nui himself?): perhaps they're just sealed-off components of Mata Nui's structure, or more satellite bodies such as the Red Star. Or maybe they are alternate dimensions, and Mata Nui actually extends into alternate universes and is more like a separate universe than we might think?Perhaps all this is already known or hypothesized, but I haven't read anything on the subject.

But what if an Av-Matoran chose to disguise themselves, as, say, a De-Matoran or a Ce-Matoran? There wouldn't be a clean matchup, would there?Unless there are corresponding Bohrok to these elements that we don't know about.

OOC: Victor Draven! Yes, that was him (or at least, the last version of him- he changed his username a lot). He was only around for a fraction of the RPG's lifetime, which was kind of sad.Frozeen survived as well, don't forget.Specs is probably either in HQ overseeing things there, or maybe he's relocated to the temporary base being set up in the airship?As this IC suggests, I'm really out of things to do with Reptile now... maybe he can be interviewed? Maybe someone needs to write a post involving a random DA Elite Agent? (Magma on the other hand I have a few more ICs planned for).IC: Reptile waved away the agent warning him not to enter the remains of their HQ and headed straight for his laboratory.He had joined Greybeard and the others who had been with them in that final moment for an initial celebration.He would then have joined his friends, but Tail had teleported to Antarctica and Coral was dead... so he decided it would be best to see what remained of his research here before joining any more post-battle celebrations.Once he got there, he was pleased to find that the reinforced walls had apparently done their job in, well, reinforcing the walls. He keyed himself into the room and looked around.Much equipment was damaged, but as he tapped the computer keys and began downloading a backup of all his data, he could see himself returning to work here in a few weeks or months. Dino Attack still had a purpose, after all- keeping tabs on the lesser Mutant Dinos, doing some research and publishing some of all the information they'd gathered on the Maelstrom, Creation Energy, Mutant Goo, indestructible metals, vehicle designs... and, well, with the death of Rex, he was one of the more senior Elite Agents they had left.On the other hand... while once he had been interested in herpetology and studying the properties of these Mutant Dinos (in fact, this interest is what had led him to sign up), he was now a lot more interested in some of the exotic high energy physics Dino Attack had been messing with lately.He couldn't help but wonder if maybe they would have been able to develop an alternative power source for the Einstein Device, had they had more time. Had he been more versed in the physics of the project. He had thrown himself into the role of tactician and battlefield commander, which was simply not who he was.He was a man who wanted to find out more about the universe he lived in.He decided he'd stay with Dino Attack for now. But maybe in a couple months time, he would return to the lab of his mentor, Dr. Formula.Maybe. For now, Reptile decided, he'd take life as it came.He exited the ruins of Dino Attack Headquarters and looked around for where he might be needed.

OOC: Airship, yes, although it's currently landed.Honestly, I have no idea what Kotua originally meant when he used the phrase "airship" to describe the Voltage. I think the term actually comes from Subzero (whose real BZP username I cannot recall!), the founder of Mission Deep Freeze, who wrote about a few airships in his time.So for years I've been writing about my characters' exploits in a smaller version of the Voltage... and I've never been quite sure what sort of vehicle that is.But I think "heavily armored futuristic zeppelin" might be the best way to think of it, except maybe with more advanced engine technology too. (Because I'm pretty sure we've written these things into space, like when we fought the LEGOLAND military, although I believe I tried to retcon some of this).

OOC: That's a shame... whenever I think of this multi-RPG world we've been writing for the last seven years, Kotua and the Voltage is quite possibly one of the most iconic images that comes to mind.IC: It was over.Nearly a year of total, global war against an apparently unstoppable menace, ended in a single stroke.No, not a single stroke- a long, hard, protracted battle that had culminated into a single sacrifice.Somehow, the Iron Hammer had survived the battle. It was badly damaged, and Magma suspected many of the AT agents who had volunteered for this mission were wounded. They were just managing to maintain positionBut they had won, despite the ridiculously stacked odds arrayed against them.Or had they?Magma stared down at the ruins of LEGO City. The corpses of thousands of Mutant Dinos. The wreckage of hundreds of vehicles, which he was sure contained hundreds of Minifig bodies.He looked at the smiling faces of the other Alpha Team agents on the bridge crew. Even Cee Dee was expressing as much happiness as his programming allowed.His brother had thrown away his life to achieve this moment, as had so many others. And he had been glad to see it achieved, but now, he realized for the first time that it would take years to clean up the mess Dr. Rex's madness had left on the world.He sighed, and stood up. I must be getting melancholy in my old age, he thought. Can't I enjoy a huge victory anymore?"Gentlemen, we have won the day, but there's still much work to be done. Sting, find a relatively unoccupied piece of ground and... take us down." Magma ordered. He pressed a key. "Magma to all Alpha Team forces! I'm sure you all already know this now, but I'm proud to be able to announce that we've won!"The volume of cheering that came back from this announcement nearly overloaded the damaged speaker system on the bridge. Magma laughed despite himself."We've won... but there's a lot left to do today. I'm bringing this airship down to the ground to establish a temporary auxiliary HQ. I'm all for letting you all enjoy yourself after this day, but it might be nice if we could make sure DA HQ doesn't fall over before we do. Magma out!'He turned to his friends, Alpha Team agents he had been fighting alongside for years now. He thought about his brother's sacrifice again. And he reached a decision.He smiled, and for the first time in a long time, it was a real smile, not simply a facial expression suggesting that nasty things were about to happen to someone. And he said, "But once that's done, we're going to enjoy ourselves as much as everyone else out there!"Shark and Sting looked at him, quite surprised at this sudden shift in Magma's personality. But then they grinned too, and set about landing the airship with renewed enthusiasm.

We were 48 minutes apart. That's "pretty new?" I feel shortchanged now! :PI jest, of course. It's just that, almost seven years later, I'm still amused that we joined the same day and both stayed to the very end.OOC: Me as well. :PTo be clear, though, I was referring to everyone else as being "pretty new"- you guys are my generation! Edited that for clarity.Well, you guys, CoKK, and Kotua. I recall reading that CoKK is still around- I hope he'll show up to at least read the ending.Kotua... do we have any way of getting touch with him? Maybe an email address?

OOC: No time for an IC at the moment, but there are a few I intend to post later.I joined this RPG around the same time I joined BZP, and honestly, back in those day my writing was terrible. But nevertheless, I enjoyed myself, and posted pretty frequently about the exploits of Alpha Team (turned Dino Attack) Agent Magma.Then... I just burned out. I had other things to do, I had tried joining other RPGs and found it difficult to stay interested in writing for all of them. I vanished for a few months.And then, I reappeared as Agent Reptile with vastly improved writing skills, and over time I ended up helping to shape the plot of the RPG- which was a great honor. It was also a great honor to collaborate with PeabodySam on the AT RPG, but, alas, that project fell through.I'd vanish a few more times, as I found myself trying to juggle priorities- pursuing my interests in computer programming, games, and an exponentially increasing workload. This last absence (which corresponded to my senior year and the beginning of college) was probably the worst, but I did come back for a few IC posts before the end.It's been a huge honor helping to shape the world of this RPG. PeabodySam: you're the first person who I could ever call a "friend" who I only knew online through our shared collaboration in story-writing. I've gotten to know some of you probably not quite as well... Jackson Lake (who to this day is Cohrii in my mind), Andrewnuva, Atton Rand... and then there are others of you are pretty new to the RPG in comparison to me, and I'm sorry to say don't know you very well. My absences haven't helped that, of course.I doubt I'll participate in any more RPGs around here, unless something's story looks really interesting to me. And even if I did... I wouldn't be terribly active, so perhaps it's for the best.There are still plenty of stories I'd like to tell in my own vision of the DARPG/LEGO Planet universe, but those might be better written up as actual "single player" stories. Assuming I ever get around to writing them. (Incidentally, these days, do we post LGD stories in the Library with all the other Bionicle stories?)What I probably will end up doing is archiving content from this thread, the old DA RPG thread, and the much older Mission Deep Freeze thread to the wiki. There's so much content that we've created over the course of eight or nine years (Mission Deep Freeze was from either 2003 or 2004, I can't remember), and it would be such a shame if it was left lost and buried in the forums. Anyone else who'd be interested in doing so would be more than welcome!And with that... I'm going to post an IC later wrapping up some half-written storylines for my characters. Otherwise: again, it's been an honor... see you all around.

OOC: Hey... it's moving day for me as well!Same applies, which is why I'm posting this now rather than later. It's the last real idea I had for the final battle itself... maybe when I get a chance I'll make a few more Reptile posts working on the Einstein device, but no guarantees.Incidentally, if anyone actually understands half of the stories and events I reference in the post below without the help of the wiki, I'll be very impressed. IC:Magma glared at the battle before him, as if by observing it intently enough he would be able to change it. Unfortunately, the observer effect didn’t actually work like that, but at this point Magma would be willing to try pretty much anything.Specs’ order had just come over the comm line. They had lost. DA was giving up- or was it? They were evacuating everyone and preparing some sort of superweapon in what little was left of DA HQ.The Iron Hammer had fought well, and accounted for many a Mutant Dino, but it simply had not been enough. Maybe if they had finished work on the hangar bays, if they had had a few more of these ships, if the Voltage had been there… maybe then, but as it stood they simply did not have enough firepower.A handful of T-1 Typhoons had formed up around the airship, seeking shelter- certainly, every Dino in range was much more likely to attack the massive, deadly airship than much smaller helicopters.The rest of the vehicles were either clustering around HQ, buying time, or were fleeing.Then, Magma spotted a lone T-1 emerge from the cloud of vehicles still around HQ and dive into the enemy swarms. Just when he was sure it would be destroyed, it dove back out of the Pterosaur swarms, cutting a path through them with radar rays. It circled back to the tower, and then emerged again for another potentially suicidal attack.He thought he recognized something in that maneuver, something... well, he barely dared to hope. But before he could open a channel to the pilot his attention was abruptly occupied by a large Pterosaur swarm attempting to knock the airship out of the sky.***Coral- Glacier- cursed his bravado.Once upon a time, he would have retreated, left the battle, and joined the winning faction. Once upon a time, he would have lived to fight another day.Why had he decided to throw his life away? It wasn’t as if one T-1 would do much good against the enemy they now faced, and even if it did- there was no guarantee Specs, Reptile, and the rest would actually be able to do anything.He had done it, he realized, because if the Mutant Dinos won there would not be another day to live for. It would be the beginning of the end of all life on the LEGO Planet.But there was more to it than that… after dozens of years of essentially being on the run, of not knowing who he truly was, of living an… empty life, he was tired.He hadn’t accomplished much. He had done a few minor deeds for Alpha Team back in the day, but what had that actually accomplished, in the Great War on Ogel? Probably not much.And as for the Pirates? Well, there, he had done a bit more, yes. But for what? They had saved the LEGO Planet from Skeleton Pirates so it could be destroyed by Mutant Dinos. And in the process, he had had some fun, some nice adventures- but it all seemed so meaningless in retrospect.So Glacier had decided to stay, to fight, to buy Reptile and the others precious time to get the Einstein Device online.Suddenly, as he dove back into the enemy for the third time, a panel sparked. Alarms went off in the cockpit- he glanced at the control panel. It looked like a T-Rex strike had destroyed his PLARXX Radar Ray control. Which meant-He realized exactly what it meant as a dozen Pterosaurs dive-bombed his T-1. The vehicle was simply not maneuverable enough to survive that kind of an assault.To his credit, Glacier managed to bring the vehicle to the relative safety of DA HQ, where a few others targeted and wiped out the Pterosaurs behind him. But he couldn’t prevent the crash, and that, in the end, was what did it.***Magma stared grimly as the T-1 that he had been watching dropped to the ground.“Open a channel to that downed vehicle, now!” he ordered in a tone even harsher than usual. Cee-Dee, fortunately, obeyed without question.“This is Alpha Team Special Agent Magma…. Are you… are you alive?” he asked, hesitantly.A grim chortle that turned into a cough came back over the line. “Not for long, Magma.”“So it is you,” he breathed. “Glacier…”“Yes, you finally found me, didn’t you,” his brother replied over the line. “And now you’ll lose me yet again.”“We can send people to get you out of there, we can use the teleportation systems..”“No,” Glacier said quietly but firmly. “Don’t waste the time trying to save me- I don’t want to be saved! Besides… personal’s not the same as important… you have to win, don’t lose because you pulled out to... “rescue” me.”Magma blinked rapidly. “Then, then… please, Glacier, you are forgiven. You are forgiven… be at peace.”There was a soft noise, then nothing but silence for a few minutes, after which Cee Dee respectfully closed the channel.The tears that had begun to form in Magma’s eyes were outpaced by sudden fury.His brother was dead. His brother, a rogue who, once upon a time, he had spent years hunting, was now dead- Magma’s last link to his life before Alpha Team, one of the last people who had known who Magma really was, underneath the hardened Alpha Team agent- dead. Dead, at the hands of some oversized lizard and failed genetics experiment. Dead, before Magma could have tried to reconcile with him.He'd known Coral was serving with the Dino Attack Team, and he was pretty sure that Coral and his brother were one and the same. But he had been far too busy coordinating Alpha Team's role in various DA-related operations to approach him... and now, it was too late.Several minutes passed before Magma next spoke, and when he did, he sounded eerily emotionless.“We’re going to Dino Attack HQ, and we are going to buy the Dino Attack Team time to activate their device. I don’t care if we have to single-handedly fight every single thing on the planet to make it happen- we’re going to make it happen.”“They are going to pay for this,” Magma added quietly. And this was much worse than the normal way in which he simply shouted at people angrily. Much, much worse.

Sonics Shard, De-ClysmaxMember Name: TakunuvaC01Description:It will not take a visitor to De-Clysmax long to notice what is strange about the Sonics Shard. At first glance, the flora and fauna are fairly ordinary- though rather sparse, as befits a former part of Ko-Clysmax. The climate is cool- not frozen, but definitely more polar than some Shards. And while there are many houses and structures dotting the land, and while many Sonics-affiliated beings live here, they somehow seem to produce no sound at all.No sound. No noise. No distractions.Oh, short, terse, and most importantly quiet conversations are allowed, but apart from that, there is simply no sound.This might sound strange on a Shard associated elementally with Sonics beings, until you remember that many Sonics beings have extremely sensitive hearing, such as De-Matoran.The locals refer to it as "The Quiet", and it is everywhere and inviolate. Attempting to break The Quiet through use of sonics powers, or indeed any sort of powers, is grounds for immediate deportation to the nearest Fragment. Specially modified solid-state crystalline Vahki are stationed on De-Clysmax, scanning for attempted violations and excessive sound.But The Quiet is not simply a law- it is actually enforced on the Sonics Shard by technology. When the Gravity Generators and forcefield systems were first installed underground, shortly after the Shattering, Le-Clysmax scientists noticed a strange feedback phenomenon. Somehow, the gravity fields and air forcefields were affecting the Shard itself in ways that are still not understood today. And one of the side effects was the absorption of a certain amount of sonics energy from everything within the airfields around the Shard.On De-Clysmax, everyday sounds are almost undetectable even by De-Matoran, and shouts are little more than a whisper. Once this was discovered, Sonics beings flocked to the Shard- a place where they could be free from the tyranny of noise.No one is exactly sure what causes this effect, however. There are as many different theories as there are scientists who have studied the problem. But scientists did figure out how to use the collected sonics energy to power the generators. Thus, what ultimately powers the Quiet is the noise that is being cancelling out, meaning that the more people on the Shard the stronger the effect becomes. Theoretically, a sufficient amount of noise would eventually overload the forcefield generators, but no one is certain what that level might be.The only place on De-Clysmax where one can escape the Quiet is the fortified facility containing the generators that cause it. This is the only facility on the Shard for handling offworld visitors and vehicles, and the only place where the noise they produce is acceptable. There is a reasonably large community here primarily made out of merchants trading with offworlders and scientists and engineers attempting to figure out just what is causing the Quiet.Today, the rest of De-Clysmax is a popular destination for those who wish to meditate and live a life of quiet contemplation. In addition to the permanent residents, many throughout the Multiverse will visit De-Clysmax for retreats and vacations, but rarely for longer than a week- the sheer silence becomes oppressive after a while. Even De-Matoran have been known to take brief vacations away from the Quiet,

OOC: It seems that we must rename "PeabodySam's Disease" to "TC01's Disease", but, here's a post!Incidentally, has anyone done anything with the AT reinforcements, or should I assume the airship is still out there awaiting additional IC posts from me?IC: "Take us up to the lab, quickly!" ordered Reptile.Reptile's T-1, one of the last that had been holding the line around the remnants of HQ, rose in the air towards the top of HQ. It should not have taken too long, but a few Mutant Pterosaurs were in the way. Coral and Tail, however, were able to destroy them.Reptile sighed. He had tried every trick in his book. Organized defenses. Massive radar ray defense systems. He had even, when HQ had been breached, ordered the detonation of a Green Goo tank, taking out hundreds of Mutant Dinos.And yet it had all seemed so futile.Now, Specs was summoning any Elite Agent willing to help to the laboratory on the thirteenth floor. Reptile hadn't been allowed up there for a long time, so he wasn't completely sure what he would be expected to do.But he knew this- without the best, brightest, and possibly craziest minds of DA working together to activate the Einstein Device, they were completely doomed.The T-1 drew up alongside the floor. Reptile hopped down and turned to regard his comrades, still on their vehicle."Tail, Coral- it's no use. We can send you through to Antarctica easily enough. Go- save yourselves," he said. There was hesitation over the radio."Sir, with all due respect, I'd like to stay and buy you some extra time," said Tail."It's not worth it!" shouted Reptile. "I may be an idealist and an optimist, but even I can see we're doomed. The more agents who survive, the better we'll be able to defend Antarctica."There was another hesitation. "That was an order from Specs, and now it's an order from me, Agent Tail," he added.Then Coral's voice came over the line, even as Reptile saw the figure of Tail dropping down onto the thirteenth floor as well."Tail's going to come over for the teleport. But I'm staying. And don't you try ordering me, because orders have never stopped me before."Reptile's eyes widened. "You realize it's practically certain death to try and hold the line...""I know," said Coral. "And that's what I'm counting on. Coral- Glacier- out." Before Reptile could say anything else, the T-1 turned and flew back out into the fray."He's given up too," said Tail sadly. "I've read the Glacier Files. He was always a survivor, he believed in living to fight another day. If he's given up now..."Reptile's face hardened. "Well, I'm not giving up just yet. We still have the Einstein Device- and it's time we got it working." He stormed off into the laboratory.OOC: Reptile's now in the lab with the others- feel free to use him in posts, etc.

Here you go. Just under the wordcount at 598... I came up with a lot of stuff for mercury given how little we actually know about it. Mercury Shard, Gi-ClysmaxMember Name: TakunuvaC01Description: The Mercury Shard was once a fragment of Ta-Clysmax that, in addition to pockets of volcanic gas, contained large pools of mercury. The heat from the region kept one large mercury pool close to the surface above normal air temperature and thus, more liquid than others lower down. Over time, the mercury from this pool began to seep into the ecosystem in the area. Plants, Rahi, and even purely organic animals were tainted Thus, no one had bothered to settle the region when the Shattering hit.Some years later, a group of researchers working for Experimental Industries made an important discovery. They discovered how to refine toxic mercury into non-poisonous varieties. While such varieties existed naturally, they were very rare, and as already mentioned most of the mercury on Gi-Clysmax was toxic. While there were no major applications for non-toxic mercury at the time, EI nevertheless agreed to fund a research station and refinery on Gi-Clysmax. The Ta-Clysmax government (who at the time claimed the uninhabited Shard) encouraged and supported EI in this effort, establishing Gi-Clysmax as a colony. Elemental beings of mercury began to settle there, and a vibrant community was established.Years passed, and the colony continued to grow. The scientists, who believed they had refined most of the mercury, began performing far stranger experiments (no doubt in an attempt to develop a product that could be brought to market). A few useful discoveries were made, but not many.Over time, more and more (harmless) mercury began to build up in the population, until suddenly a group of Toa and Turaga of Mercury realized one surprisingly useful side effect of this. Because most of the mercury the population had been living with for years had come from the same source, by using their elemental powers of mercury, they could sense the presence of anyone else living on the Shard. This discovery revolutionized life on Gi-Clysmax. The Toa declared their independence from the Fire Fragment and established a new, independent Shard government. The researchers was allowed to stay, but the Toa demanded they be able to look into just what the scientists were developing (and were granted this right).Today, visitors to the city on Gi-Clysmax will probably not notice anything unusual (other than the occasional mercury pool and the metallic tinge to plant and animal life) until they pass through Shard Security. There they will be required to inject or absorb a small sample of mercury into their armor. This will allow the Security Buereau to monitor where they go within a few dozen kio of the Shard as if they were a citizen of the Fragment. As a result of this practice, some claim that the government is a repressive regime that uses this power (along with other unknown mercury control powers) to abuse its citizenry, but there is no evidence that anyone living on Gi-Clysmax is actually unhappy with the way things are. The Shard government gladly works with other Shard (and sometimes even the Fragment) governments, should that be necessary. They have no known dealings with entities such as Izumal and don't actually appear evilTwo other notes of potential interest: first, no one is really sure what the Experimental Industries scientists have been working on since the rise of the independent Shard government. Said government supposedly has access to the facilities, but they don't seem to know much either. And secondly, the rumors of sentient elemental beings of mercury lurking in some of the pools have yet to be ruled out, though no one on Gi-Clysmax seems to take them very seriously.

OOC: And, here they are, as promised. Maybe I could have delayed them a bit more for more Dramatic Effect, but, better earlier than never.IC:Magma stared in astonishment at the battle before them. The wreckage of more Dino Attack vehicles than he cared to count littered the banks of the river, along with probably a thousand dead or stunned Mutant Dinos.And hundreds more Mutant Dinos were still massing, preparing to charge on DA HQ. Hundreds more were fighting even now, cutting into what looked like the final lines of defense between Headquarters and the approaching army. Some of the villains' forces had arrived in the river and were trying to fight their way through the Dinos occupying it, but they seemed to be equally bogged down.It was complete chaos. Dino Attack was in disarray, that much was clear.The others on the bridge- Shark, Sting, and Cee Dee- were all clearly stunned as well.It was Sting who found his voice first. "Orders, Magma?"Magma's eyes narrowed, and he tapped the intercom switch."This is Magma to all Alpha Team personnel. I want every Blue Eagle launched immediately, understood? Get those things in the air as fast as possible! Anyone who isn't urgently needed for that, get to a weapons station. And if you run out of weapons stations, grab a hand weapon and get to a window, understood?"He hesitated, as their airship drew closer to the massive Mutant Dino hordes. Then he gave the order that would seal their fates, but just might save the day."Target everything and open fire!"***Agent Fireball, who was manning one of the few Fire Hammers still intact, squinted up at the sky. A massive... something was approaching. It looked- like one of those combat airships the team used to have access to?Around him, the pace of the fighting seemed to slow for a moment as he heard other agents shout their observations, in person and over the communication network."It must be Kotua in the Voltage! They've returned to save us!""How do you know he's here to save us? Maybe he's here to destroy us... remember, Kotua was not trustworthy!""No, no, don't be ridiculous. The Voltage was ten times the size of that ship. It must be something else!""Yeah, but like I said, is it the cavalry or is it here to sealing our doom? Some new superweapon from XERRD?"Agent Fireball frowned as he studied the ship. It looked so familiar... but what was it? And then he remembered: the Iron Hammer!He had been a Dino Attack agent assigned to that airship, long ago, before it was destroyed in a fight with the Voltage- or apparently destroyed. Because it was now floating in the sky above them.About a dozen blue fightercraft emerged from the ship, followed by a weapons barrage that lit up the sky and cut straight through the smoke of the battle. Where the weapons struck, Mutant Dinos were deactivated, stunned, killed, and disintegrated.Then the Iron Hammer released another barrage, cutting down a horde of Mutant Raptors that had been about to rush him, and Fireball wondered if they might win the battle after all.***"Keep firing! Clear a path to the Dino Attack Team!" Magma ordered."Sir," Cee Dee reported, "Everyone is trying to contact us.""Everyone?" asked Magma, sarcastically."Shadow and Specs, speaking for DA Command, Elite Agents Reptile, Semick, Hotwire.. a Super Sea Drone or three from some underwater-""I think I get the idea," Magma said loudly, attempting to speak both over Cee Dee and the explosion caused by a Mutant Pterosaur swarm slamming into the Iron Predator before someone turned on the PLARXX systems and returned fire. "Put us on with Shadow and Specs, and then take the rest." he ordered.OOC: If this post wasn't completely clear, Alpha Team reinforcements have arrived in a combat airship (that is large, but still much smaller than the Voltage), launched some vehicles, and begun attacking the Dinos from behind.Rather than write the posts of Magma and company talking to the founding members, the Elite Agent comm network, and probably quite literally everyone else, I'll leave this open for others to write should they be interested.

IC:It had taken quite a lot of arm-wrangling to get the agents in command of the Green Goo tanks to relinquish operational control to Reptile, but he had done so.Now, as he frantically attempted to coordinate the ever-shrinking number of T-1 Typhoons in an aerial last stand around HQ, he was busy trying to think of a delivery method for a couple hundred gallons of Green Goo to the enemy.After a few failed concepts, he thought he had an idea.When he had discovered the effects of Green Goo on Mutant Dinos, and brought it to Specs and the rest, they had constructed a Green Goo tank facility near the hangar bay. Some pumps and piping and other equipment had been assembled, and hooked up to the then empty-tanks. The idea was, presumably, to be able to refuel vehicle mounted goo launchers as easily as they could refuel actual fuel tanks.But once the Goo Caverns had exploded and the supply of goo coming in from Ogel had been reduced to a trickle, Specs had placed a moratorium on the use of goo in vehicles. Only a handful of agents had been cleared to use it.Specs had just agreed to pull out all the stops and authorized the use of goo in the battle. But it was probably too late- there was no way they could refuel an army of vehicles already in the field. The few that were still in the hangar would not be able to do nearly enough damage to the enemy.But... if they overloaded and pressurized all the pumps, they could probably drown anything in the main hangar with enough green goo to turn a city into Mutant Drones.Unfortunately, hat would mean abandoning the main hangar, and it would waste most of their supplies of goo. Still, if things were desperate enough, if they allowed the hangar to fall into enemy hands and sealed it off, it could work."I have an idea," Reptile said over the elite comm network, "for how we can stop them when they hit HQ. But I don't think you're going to like it...""What is it?" asked Semick.He briefly outlined the plan. "When they hit Headquarters, we let them in as far as the hangar, and then drown them in Goo by overloading the fueling system. It'll deplete most of our supply, but if we do it right we'll knock out a sizable chunk of the enemy and buy us some more time."There was silence for a few minutes."That sounds pretty desperate," another Elite Agent who Reptile didn't know said, "We'll lose the main hangar, and probably won't be able to retake it afterwards.""I know," Reptile replied. "But if they get as far as the hangar, we are going to be very desperate. If you can think of a better way to deliver a couple hundred gallons of Green Goo to the enemy that's better.. but if not, we need to do something. And this is the best I could come up with."OOC: Not sure quite how well this fits into things, but there was a reason I asked about Green Goo before. It's open for other people's characters to discuss.

I also think an official topic would be good, for all the reasons you said.

This has possibly been brought up before, but doesn't the quote about the Shadowed One mean we can rule out (a lot of) evil beings? If the GB doesn't define himself as evil, then it can't be a really evil character, could it? It could still be someone who doesn't think of himself as evil, I suppose... but that still seems to rule out a bunch of characters.

Looks interesting. Couple of (fairly minor) comments on it:1. I would recommend linking the vehicle names to pictures of actual sets, rather than giving set numbers- the direct link to (for instance, brickset) is a lot more useful than the number.2. Is there a limit on the number of (main player) characters allowed? Nothing explicitly states this in the profile or rules section.3. You have listed a "General" and "Commander" rank on the list of ranks. Are these ranks that players can actually achieve, or ranks that are going to be limited to your characters (or some non-player characters controlled by you)? The description suggests the latter, but it would be good to note that if it is indeed the case.Apart from that... I think it looks pretty good.

OOC: This is one of those things I probably would be more up to speed on if I had payed more attention to everything that had happened before my return, but- what's the status of the Mutant army's resistance (or lack thereof) to Green Goo? I know that there were some Mutant Dinos being bred in the Goo Caverns that were immune to it, but we happen to have blown up the Goo Caverns.So are the ones attacking us mostly resistant or mostly vulnerable to it?

IC:Reptile acknowledged Semick's departure from headquarters defense, and turned all his attention to securing the HQ.So far the attacks had only begun to touch HQ itself. Pterosaurs had continued to menace them, but the radar cannon weaponry he had designed in the comm center was continuing to prove effective. And T-Rexes and Raptors on the ground who had tried to get too close to them had been taken out from the air.But that didn't mean they could ignore HQ. Dr. Rex had moved a large Dino army into the subway system and compromised their forward position, which meant that he could have more armies in the subway system, or using far more outlandish methods of moving about, waiting to strike. If he ordered everything that was focused on defending HQ intercept these new arrivalsReptile briefly considered if they could secure the subways somehow. Obviously they were stretched far too thinly to push agents into the subways, but if any of the automated systems still worked he might be able to...His thoughts were abruptly cut off as a small group of T-Rexes charged straight at Headquarters. They trampled over a few Urban Avengers on patrol below and fired their laser vision at an Iron Predator."Fire!" Reptile ordered, and three T-1s (including his own) fired their sonic weaponry, knocking out the T-Rexes.And that was that. But it alarmed him that they had been able to get so close to HQ in the first place... he checked the battle map on his computer screen.Reptile frowned. "Tail, you're more of a soldier than I am. What do you make of this data?" he said. Tail, checking the battle map on his own computer, hesitated before answering."I'd say... ever so subtly, defenses are being drawn away from key inner positions. That's how raiding parties of Dinos, like that bunch of T-Rexes, are able to get closer than they should be, overcoming the limited defenses we've left in their path.""I thought the same," Reptile agreed. "To me, that suggests that once most of the Iron Predators are in the field and the T-1s redeployed closer to the river, and the Urban Avengers we've left on patrol have been taken out... they'll make a big push straight through here and into Headquarters.""But what about the automated turret systems? There's a pretty nice amount of automated weaponry being set up in the HQ," Tail said. "Surely those would hold the Dinos long enough for T-1s and Iron Predators to get back here," he objected. "Even if they try it, we'll probably win the day anyway.""Unless XERRD have infiltrated Dino Attack- something we know they've done before- and have agents waiting to deactivate the defenses," Coral muttered grimly."Either way, I'm not sure what we can do about it. I could order more agents to hang back on base defense, but they're badly needed out there," Reptile said, frowning."And, if we turtle and reinforce the defenses, Dr. Rex might change his plan to be something else we can't predict," Tail added."Right..." Reptile trailed off. And suddenly the uncertainty in his tone was replaced with command. "So this is what we're going to do. We're going to hold position, and continue to organize defenses. Tail, Coral, I'm going to be working on a few... extra surprises should the Dinos make a big push this way. In the mean time, keep us alive and attack anything that comes too close to base."With that Reptile set to work yet again in the makeshift laboratory in the back of their T-1. Maybe he couldn't seal off the subway system, but there was something else that he just might be able to make work.OOC:So yeah, basically Reptile is continuing to organize defenses- which will be my excuse for not posting as often as I probably should.Feel free to write him into your posts doing just that, providing (more) air support for battles near HQ.

Well, BS01 at least suggests we do know that, stating that proto was synthesized from EP: But I have no idea what the source is on that, so it could easily be one of those theories that everyone just has assumed is correct...

My initial reaction to this thread was a shrug, like so many others. But, I did think about it for a few minutes, and so I decided I might as well post my analysis.First of all, the question was simply what would happen if the Ignika and some EP touched each other. Unless we have reason to assume otherwise, I don't see why this would involve a mental contest between the mask and the entity, or have anything to do with the power levels of the two respective beings. Here's why:The Ignika can manipulate life, but EP is capable of transforming matter- life or otherwise. That suggests to me that whatever the nature of EP's power, it works the same on a living being, a stone wall, or whatever- unless the substance is capable of resisting it. We know there are some substances that can do this, since the Great Beings manufactured at least one (and Matoran later discovered presumably the same one). So unless the Ignika is made out of such a substance, there's no reason to assume the EP wouldn't be capable of effecting it like anything else.Would the Ignika's powers be capable of effecting the EP entity? Yes, because it's alive. It is true that the Ignika was created from EP, but there's no reason to assume that the EP is thus invulnerable to the Ignika's powers. So then, it seems like it's a simple question of timing. Would the Ignika's curse "resolve" first, or would the EP's transformation? I think the transformation would, as I think we've seen the mask capable of thinking about what curse to bestow. It chooses to give the Great Being the power to create because it can sense he is a "creator", remember. Whereas we know the EP entity doesn't know what things it touches will transform into.And a power that requires conscious thought would probably take more time to "use" than a power that activates and does something regardless of intention. So I would say the EP will trigger before the Ignika does.That doesn't mean the Ignika couldn't curse the entity, though. If the EP didn't destroy it, or remove the power to curse, then there's no reason to assume it would not curse as normal. And we do know that the Ignika can undo transformations (Tahu and Icarax being examples of this), so possibly it could undo it's own- again, assuming it does transform.And all that's assuming the Ignika was not made out of EP-resistant materials. Which I suppose is entirely possible, if the Great Beings wanted to make their failsafe as destruction-proof as possible.

Well, you may be comparing a bit it to Sticks and Stones, which was about as long as all the other episodes put together. But I would agree that it's a bit short, yes.As I said above, this was actually originally to be directly continued by Takuta-Nui in another epic, and the ending was written with that in mind. Those plans fell through, but I think I can safely promise (even from my limited knowledge of future Multiverse plans), that many of the plot threads developed here will be picked up in the future.

IC:An alarm sounded on the wall-mounted terminal in the body of the T-1 Typhoon. Reptile turned to it, exasperated.A Mutant Pterosaur swarm was rapidly approaching the HQ.Not again...This was, however, what Reptile had prepared countermeasures for. This time, perhaps they wouldn't be caught like sitting ducks in the metaphorical hurricane.Every T-1 Typhoon came equipped with a PLARXX Radar Ray, a nifty piece of technology that had been devised early in the... well, Reptile supposed it was officially a war now... as a Pterosaur countermeasure. The T-1s were much more powerful than the Pterosaurs, but a lot slower and less maneuverable than the airborne reptiles. Which meant that unless T-1s could get Pterosaurs in their sights and disable them quickly, they would be vulnerable.Enter the PLARXX Radar Ray. This was a passive weapon built straight into the radar systems of the T-1. In addition to gathering data on the surroundings, it had a fortunate side effect- it scrambled the senses of Mutant Pterosaurs and knocked them out could.Unfortunately, it wasn't all-powerful, and for maximum effect required them to be in close range. Pterosaurs could still attack from range.. and in sufficient numbers, could simply overload the system. This is what had happened at Adventure Island, resulting in the crash landing of nearly a dozen T-1 Typhoons.Reptile had designed what he hoped would be a countermeasure to such massive Pterosaur swarms. It would only be effective if the Pterosaurs came directly over the base... but now they had.Now was the time to test it.He tapped a few keys, connecting his onboard computer to the servers running in the base's communication center. The powerful transmission system there was not radar-based, but Reptile had studied the PLARXX system. It had taken him the better part of a month to work it out (unfortunately, some of the agents who had helped build it had perished during the Dino Attack), but he had figured out how it could be adapted to other communications systems.It had required installing a prototype power generator in the communications center, and overclocking equipment to run at dangerous levels. But hopefully it would be worth it."Reptile to T-1s! Back off from the Pterosaurs- repeat, back off from the Pterosaurs!" he shouted.There were confused exclamations over the comm line. Back off? But the radar rays were only effective at close range! Had Reptile spent too much time away from the field and lost his senses?Then he tapped a key, and everyone heard a strange pitch come over the radio system. It lasted for three minutes- and when it was done, every Pterosaur that had been too close to the base suddenly fell straight out of the sky.

It would seem so, yes- at least, that's what Zuruk's example suggests: One hundred years sounds rather more permanent than mild temporary memory loss.

IC:The battle was joined.One T-1 Typhoon attack wing began to take off from the hangar. It appeared that the rest were being held in reserve by their commanders, or those commanders were trying to figure out where the choppers could be best used.Coral's console lit up with attack plans. He glanced at them and grimaced- it looked like the Strategy Planning department was frantically coming up with increasingly half-baked stratagems for the battle that would probably get quite a lot of them killed.However, one useful thing was contained within the data dump."Reptile?" he said over the comm system. "I hope you have a better plan than some of these fools do- because you're in command of a T-1 attack wing."Reptile sighed audibly. "With luck, someone has realized we must clear the skies of Pterosaurs before we can go on crazy bombing raids on the other side of the river. Otherwise those swarms will rip us apart like they did on Adventure Island.""So, orders? We're getting increasingly frantic requests for orders..." Coral said, a bit irritated."Right. I've got an idea about these Pterosaurs. For the mean time, we'll provide air support for the front." Reptile tapped a few keys, and Coral surmised he was now addressing all the pilots under his command."This is Reptile. We're going to provide cover for the Fire Hammers out front. I want every pilot to hold formation just behind the Fire Hammers, and fire on anything that crosses the river. Focus on Pterosaurs and T-Rexes."Look... I won't pretend this will be easy. If you've seen the reports you know this is going to be a lot more difficult, a lot more dangerous, than I know a lot of you were hoping." That was an understatement- the panic at the front lines that Coral's old friend Greybeard had barely been able to quell had spread, in a slightly more subdued form, to the rear guard."But we can win this. If everyone does their part, stays calm, and follows orders- we can triumph. Reptile out."Coral frowned. "Not the greatest of motivational speeches, was that?" he asked.Reptile replied, evenly, "I've broadcast Greybeard's speech and song to everyone."Coral would have laughed if not for the circumstances. Instead, he focused on leading them into battle.The T-1s rose and flew forward to the Fire Hammer lines. There, things were quickly turning into chaos. Coral saw a grouping of Fire Hammers engaging two Mutant T-Rexes near the center of the fray- they were rather outmatched.Tail and Reptile seemed to see the same thing. The craft shuddered as both the mounted Goo Spheres and the more conventional sonic weaponry opened fire. Seconds later, the two T-Rexes toppled beneath the combined onslaught of the T-1 and the Fire Hammers down below.While taking down two T-Rexes would have ordinarily been something they could celebrate, it was a drop in the ocean today. Coral hadn't seen anything like it since that day in the Goo Caverns, and even that had been tame compared to this.Coral wasn't sure how long they would last, unless someone came up with something very clever.He was a survivor. He had survived betraying Alpha Team so long ago by joining the pirates. He had taken on a new identity, and lost all his memories for a time during the war with the Skeleton Pirates, but he had survived even that. He had survived the beginning of the Dino Attack, and had joined up with Reptile, where he had managed to survive quite ably thus far.But as he flew the T-1 to where they were needed, and Tail cut down Dino after Dino on the ground below... he vowed that if he had to die today to stop these monsters, so be it.But he'd take as many of them down as he could before he allowed that to happen.

It's been two years since Takuta-Nui contacted me to let me know I'd been chosen as a future guest writer. I'll admit that I was quite surprised. I never imagined for a second that my writing would be selected to stand on equal ground with that of bonesiii, Takuta-Nui, and Swert- all of whom I've read and greatly enjoyed over the past few years.I didn't start work on the episode immediately- originally this was not even going to be my episode. But due to some complications, I was brought onboard first to help edit episode 4 and then to write episode 5.I started working on episode 5 in September of 2010, I believe. I first thought I would be able to quickly finish it, but real life complications kept arising and it took longer and longer to finish it. Finally, Takuta-Nui stepped in and wrote the last half of Chapter 9 and the Epilogue. Partly, this was because of original plans for the next episode to be written by him- it would have been like a two-parter. Unfortunately, those plans were scrapped with his retirement from the team.Of course, we couldn't even begin to post the epic until Episode 4 was finished, and fortunately (or unfortunately), episode 4 was extremely long. Which meant it would be a long time before this episode saw the light of day. And then, the forums went down in the summer of 2011. And by the time they did come back I was even busier. So it wasn't until recently that I reached out to bonesiii and we worked together on editing and preparing Current Events for posting.It was quite an experience. Even though my involvement with the Multiverse was fairly minimal, even though there were various issues in bringing this episode out, it was still amazing and highly enjoyable to write. It was an honor to be able to make this sort of contribution to the Multiverse.There are a few scenes I think are worthy of edits- the scene with M'konglii and some of the scenes bonesiii mentions below. I'll try to get that done soon. Other than that, I guess this is it.Thanks for reading and reviewing! I appreciate all comments, even the ones I didn't directly reply to. Yeah, that's where the scene came from. Hmm, I sort of thought of it like... it's a science vessel, so it's not too much of a stretch to say that they have a handful of different gaseous compounds onboard, plus gases used in the operation of the blimp itself. I guess I was thinking that Team Star Portal is really just a bunch of scientists doing all sorts of research in all sorts of different fields- so you'll have, say, a high energy physicist studying the energies of the star portal, a biologist checking for signs of life, a chemist studying the compounds that make it up, and so on. It's a pure research team, studying how the Star Portal affects their various fields, simply because no one knows enough about the Star Portal to do any more directed research.And then Artakha, being technically savvy, does some computer hackery to mix some gases together into something capable of stunning or killing. This could be explicitly stated though to make it clearer.Levitaas, on the other hand, being basically a soldier, who's probably been in situations like this before, just sort of assumes that it's possible and tells the technical guy (Artakha) to make it happen.Of course- another option is that simply because it's (supposedly, anyway) a high security project there's various defense mechanisms built into the ship that can be activated to prevent the research from falling into enemy hands. The criminals bypass them because they've already infiltrated it, Artakha just turns some on. That might be a simpler explanation. Heh, alright. I'm glad I was a good inspiration. I admit I noticed this when posting the chapter.Is it possible to bring a vehicle through a Totem? Is there a size limit on what a Totem can teleport? I guess these might be questions for the EM Discussion Topic but I'll ask them here. :PI think I'd go with M'konglii having arranged things so the two totems are close enough for Bajnok to travel quickly- I guess this fits in with his scene in the team meeting in Chapter 6. You know... I don't think we did plan it, not completely at least. I think we sort of planned pieces of it, like what the Kanoka did and that the artifact was going to be in the Star Portal, and Takuta-Nui mixed everything together and produced awesomeness out of it.