Trans-Atmospheric Tactical Multi-Role Lander

[Joe C-P]

Let me play your nice game: after this flying bird, you will make a submarine, swimming in an ocean of fuel, and burning it, with tanks of liquid oxygen. Great: it would work also . Just... visibility may be poor, under the surface...

How about such a sub in an ocean on Titan, Saturn's moon? There just may be such there.

Great model, A-P-D! Excellent story! Keep up the good work.    

[BlackOps]

Nice! I really like the way it came together. Good looking and great back story.


Jeff G.

[AeroplaneDriver]

Well the Talon is nearing completion.  Once the paint cures I'll give it a spot of Future then decal it.  When its finished it will be posed with the canopies open and will have some missile rails on the lower fuselage.  For now It is temporaily posed with the auxiliary boarding door open, but the red inner airlock door closed, and the boarding ramp in the aft fuselage open.  During building it acqured a second pair of railguns mounted alongside the 50mm railguns at the bend in the wing.  these are smaller 30mm guns for smaller targets.

More tomorrow

[AeroplaneDriver]

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[AeroplaneDriver]

I didnt do much to the front cockpit, and may leave it closed up, but in the rear I added a pair of LCD screens on the panel and another swingout LCD display on the right side of the cockpit.

[AeroplaneDriver]

last one for tonight

[Tophe]

The red camo is beautiful, funny and logical...
I have learnt at (French) school that military camouflage has been invented in 1870 when the French soldiers, all in red as best for parade, were shot easily in the fields and forests while they failed to see the German enemy... Yes, but while kaki-green is the best not to be seen on our green planet (red being awful), it is the complete opposite on a red planet! Well seen...  

[NARSES2]

That's awesome - the figure gives it a true sense of scale.

And Tophe, the French army was still wearing "pantaloon's rouge" in 1914

Chris

[cthulhu77]

That is one hell of a cool ship !!!  Way to bring it all together too...with some decals, WOW !!!

            greg

[Mike Wren]

 love it!    

[nev]

That thing kicks some serious donkey    

I have learnt at (French) school that military camouflage has been invented in 1870 when the French soldiers, all in red as best for parade,

Whilst I'm not claiming they invented camoflage, British Skirmishers in the Napoleonic Wars wore green clothing to help hide them, hence their name the "Greenjackets", and that was decades before 1870

[noxioux]

What did you do to that beautiful BMF finish???!!!  BLASPHEMY!!!

Looks great, anyhow.  Very cool bash, and story, man  

[Leigh]

That looks fooking AWESOME like a movie prop.
And it's got pink in it too!

So if it's gonna transport space marines will Sigourney be piloting it?

[AeroplaneDriver]

A Brief History of the Mars Settlements
(abridged from "I Hate It Here, I Want To Go Home", by Dr. Cecil Homebody)

2017-The first manned mission from Earth lands on Mars.  After a 6 month stay the joint US-European-Chinese mission returns.  The resounding success of the mission fuels excitement at home and provides the impetus for further exploration.

2020-Finally a breakthrough in Unified Field Theory at Cambridge University paves the way for many technological advancements, including Gravity Manipulators, and Warp Drive.  Though a practical Warp Drive still remains decades away, gravity and interial manipulation becomes commonplace in spacecraft by 2070.

2023-A meteor impact kills 3.6 million people in central asia.  This disaster is a wakeup call to the human race that long term survival depends on finding a foothold away from mother Earth.

2027-A European Mars expedition lands in the Cydonia region of Mars and is tasked with a secret mission to explore the famous "Face" and "Pyramids".  The mission finds remnants of a massive city and alien artifacts which are dated to be over 2 million years old.

2029-The first of 38 robotic"terraforming" stations begins operating on Mars, pumping greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere to raise the surface temperature to melt ice in the ground.

2035-News of the alien discoveries on Mars is leaked to a CNN reporter.  Man is finally forced to accept his position in a larger universe, knowing that he is no longer alone.

2039-The first permanent colony of 48 humans is founded on Mars.  The predominantly US colony is named Port Percival Lowell.  

2041-The first human child is born on Mars.  This first Martian is named Virgina Dare O'Reilly.  She goes on to be elected governonr of the Cydonia Territory in 2079.

2043-Violence comes to Mars.  A small group of colonists have become fanatical followers of a cult dedicated to the alien city.  They plant excavation explosives in a habitat at Port Lowell, killing six.  Virginia O'Reilly loses and eye in the explosion.

2047-The second colony is founded at Port H.G. Wells.  This colony is founded by the British, in a mission sponsored by Virgin Galactic Airways.  Commercial flights to Mars landing at Port Wells begin within two years.

2052-After increased terrorist attacks, a permanent military presence is established on Mars.  The US establishes three orbital support stations and bases 400 Colonial Marines on Mars.

2070-Over 15,000 humans now call Mars home in 14 major colonies and over 50 smaller settlements.  The radical extremist element is all but eliminated from Martian culture, but tensions are growing with the Chinese over water deposits in contested territories.  Over 1000 troops from five countries are now based on Mars.

2090-The first Water War is fought between the US and China.  China loses 775 troops, the US loses 590.  Over 300 civilians die in the fighting.

2095-Terraforming engineers predict a breathable atmosphere on Mars by 2175.

2101-The population of Mars has balloned to over 40,000.  The largest city is Port Ray Bradbury, a US colony with a population of 10,500.

2114-The Second Water War.  This war is bloodier than the first with US, British, and French forces fighting the Chinese and Brazillians.  Over 1,000 civilians are killed and more than 3,000 troops die.  The first use of a Matter/Anti-Matter Annihilation warhead results in a 400 megaton explosion, wiping out not only a major water processing station, but the water source itself.  The remote location of the station prevents massive casualties.

2119-Tensions remain over the Second Water war.  In April an outpost in hte neutral territory is wiped out by an advanced weapon.  Both sides deny responsibility...








Port H.G. Wells, Cydonia, April 09, 2119

After a grueling 14 day patrol in the contested territories, the United States Colonial Marines crew of Talon Assault Craft 102 enjoy a 36 hour R3 (Refuel, Rearm, Refresh) break at Port Wells.  Located near the center of the allied territory, Port Wells is a change from the hell-holes the crew have seen over the past few weeks.  Wells is a British station, and the crew have enjoyed more than a few pints with their Royal Marine cohorts during their brief time off.

All too soon the break is over and they prepare their ship for another patrol.  Since the uneasy ceasefire with the China territories three years ago there has been little real combat, but plenty of tense standoffs when the railguns were charged, and missiles readied for launch.  

Since this break was not at a USCMC station the ship is still dirty from its last patrol.  After two more weeks in the outback, the crew are scheduled to rotate back into orbit to their base ship, the USS John Glenn.  There the ship will undergo more thorough servicing, and a well deserved cleaning by the ground techs of Colonial Marine Patrol Squadron 42 (The Hellbirds).

Little does the crew know that during their next patrol they will come to miss the skirmishes with the Chinese.  During hteir next patrol they will encounter a force not from Earth.  Something much older.  Something that has waited a long, long time to begin its conquest.  Something that will wait no more...

[AeroplaneDriver]

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