Friday 27 June 2014

ThreeA - Adventure Kartel : Dead Astronaut Gangsta.













What you talkin' 'bout punk?
Gimme room as I light up the boom
Cock the hammer, wave the white banner
Ever heard a glock go 'click like a camera?
Cock the hammer!
Cock the hammer, it's time for action!
- Cypress Hill, Cock the Hammer.

flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.
- Virgil, The Aeneid, Book VII, line 312.

No victims, only volunteers.
- The Dead Astronaut Gangsta.

A (mis) interpretation:
 
Name: Louis Senen Muggerud.
Age: Unknown.
Alias: The Dead Astronaut Gangsta / Espíritu Asesino / Waed وعد
Affiliation: 32nd Battalion (former) / Le Clan Défunt (current) / Rogue trader (current) / Independent space jockey (current).
Abilities: Unbound soul; absolute immortality; astral manipulation; ectoplasm manipulation; imperceptibility; teleportation; electromagnetic spectrum manipulation; pressure manipulation; gravity manipulation; expert marksmanship, cunningness.
Std. armaments: "Mary Jane" - .50 semi-automatic pistol x 4; "C.H.O.L.L.O." - ENVIRON space suit x 1.

1891. Apellon 13. The seventh manned mission of Terra Apellon Space Programme and the third intended to land on Mars as part of the Mars Exploration Programme (MEP). The flight is commanded by L.S. Muggerud, together with Command Module Pilot, Stephen Oriol, and Mars Module Pilot, Henry F. Schroder. Their official objective is to explore Elysium Planitia. But the true mission is a top-secret assignment by Terra Military Intelligence to assassinate Jon J. Carter, the first man to land on Mars in '65. Carter, through a series of political maneuvering, has succeed in being appointed Mars Planetary Governor with the title Archduke bestowed upon him by the Council of the High Lords of Terra. He established the Archduchy of Mars and the Carter Dynasty. Carter rules the planet nation with an iron fist, hold the governments of Terra at bay with economic powers and popularity with the population, whom has been invited to populate the terra-formed Red Planet with promise of wealth, resulting in the Great Migration.
The crew of Apellon 13 are specially selected members of the elite 32nd Battalion, known as Os Terríveis, infamous for their atrocities  and gained the most enemies killed during the United Americana Borders War. They succeed in assassinating Carter through a staged "accident". Five minutes into flight back to Terra, the Faster Than Light (FTL) engine overheats. All electronics and controls are shut down. Antartica Traffic Control attempts to communicate with them but to no avail. Search and rescue mission is launched from the Solomons in an attempt to find Apellon 13 based on the flight path trajectory and energy emission. Or, if the FTL had gone haywire, which historically happened before, at least find pieces of the shuttle. They couldn't find anything. Nothing at all. Truth is that the military intelligence officers do not want any witnesses. Carter is succeed by his son, Archduke Carthoris.
2001. 500km above Terra. On board the Acheron, a Dante-class frigate, the Dead Astronaut Gangsta is watching a science fiction thriller which takes place in space. The opening sequence says at 600km above Terra the temperature fluctuates between 120 and 100 degrees Celsius. It further adds that there is nothing to carry sound, no oxygen, and no air pressure. It concludes with the line that life in space is impossible. Astro G laughs. He agrees with the first two lines. The last line is a load of hogwash. To him at least. For though he is dead, Astro G possesses an independent soul that isn't bound to any plane of existence and its restrictions. An Unbound Soul. It enables him to cross or travel any realm as a soul freely and not be bound the realm of the dead. He is a member of Le Clan Défunt or Clan of the Deceased lead by Les Mort. Astro G does not know why nor how he becomes an Unbound Soul.  Having drank from the River Lethe, his memories are vague by this point. He doesn't remember his name, Muggerud. All he remembers was being trapped in another dimension known as the Immaterium after the shuttle entered a realspace-warp overlay where terrible entities dwelt within. He does not remember the ultimate fates of Oriol and Schroder. How he re-enters realspace is also forgotten. All he knows is that time stands still in the Warp, decades have passed since then and he is a Rogue Trader, smugglers and merchants whom most view as outcasts, scoundrels and pirates operating their businesses in isolation without the Warrant of Trade, and outlaws whom are beyond the control of Terra and Mars. The Great War has created a huge black market with demand for anything from basic needs to expensive, exotic goods. Astro G, although having an unstable personality, exudes confidence and are highly charismatic, is also roguish and thuggish. He is a skilled negotiator and cunning trader with wide networks of profits and exclusive trading rights. Astro G is a hardened killer when the situation demands or to put out competition, often leading to violent confrontation. A mercenary and contract killer as well, Astro G provides his service to the highest bidder, with a reputation of being unstoppable and relentless when tracking down his target with a 100% kill rate, earning him the nickname Espíritu Asesino or Soul Assassin. Occasionally he gets into conflict with legally appointed merchants of Terra and Mars but such conflicts are often settled amicably by the merchants due to Astro G's reputation. Except for the incident involving the rescue of the porn star nymph Isobelle Pascha in space after being offered a considerable sum of money by Elaine "Big Shadow" Von Sydow which puts him into the limelight of media for a few seconds. He also operates a guerrilla radio station, Radio Free Dada, from the Acheron with an anti-authoritarian theme. It's niche is broadcasting subliminal alternative music, below the threshold of human hearing frequency. Guess appearance in his morning show include the famous Peppermint Grove and Funlicker 2215, amongst others.
Astro G is a skilful space navigator. He is one of the most demanded pilots to smuggle human immigrants, if the price is right, capable of bypassing even the strongest orbit detectors and defences. Astro G often steers his ship deep into space, sometimes beyond the Outer Rims, exploring the far regions of the galaxy, the areas within his reach as yet unvisited by humanity. He have even attempted to cross the great starless voids of intergalactic space in search for technology or minerals. Astro G often returns laden with the treasures of space - alien artefacts, rare and precious minerals, and undreamed-of technologies - to be traded and unload to rich individuals or merchants from Terra, Mars, the United Space Colonies Federation and factions such as the MOD. The aristocratic ruling classes crave the exotic, often paying outrageous sums for goods imported from distant locales. Clothes, foodstuffs, jewellery, and art are all highly desirable to those who wish to make a display of their wealth and influence, whether real, imagined, or feigned in the interests of fashion. He will re-supply and rest until the next foray into the darkness of unknown space or making a milk run for the nations and colonies. Astro G answers to no one, except maybe for Les Mort, but apart from watching the percentages, he is a true rouge. But he stands by one rule. There is no back off once a deal or contract is agreed upon. Astro G is so good that he always deliver, earning him the nickname Waed or promise as the caliph traders of the Republic of Middle East call him. Renege of a deal would results in penalty of unbridled pain.
Astro G is one of the most formidable individual in existence of his time. He is an absolute immortal, truly indestructible and eternal. He is unable to die, get sick, or be permanently wounded. Any injuries he suffers immediately heal, even if his body is disintegrated, blown up or destroyed at the sub-atomic level, he will still return to life, in an un-conventional sense. Regardless, Astro G would still feel pain. And he has begun to feel boredom and stagnancy of living. Signs of emotional withdrawal and mental downward spiral due to endless time have begun to manifest itself. He is still susceptible to psychic attacks and can be rendered mentally inert by mental assaults by powerful psykers such as the likes of the N.O.M. Legion. As such Astro G wears his necromancy enhanced ENVIRON space helmet and space suit which gives him a degree of protection from such attacks. Extremely powerful mage such as the likes of Bleak Mission or psyker from the N.O.M. Legion may also be capable of wiping Astro G out of existence or seal him within an empty dimension with no chance of escape.
Astro G also possesses the power to generate and manipulate astral energy, allowing him to travel to the Seas and Highways of the Dead, which he calls "Davy Jones' Locker". He interacts with the spirits and making spirits visible to others. He could astral traps a spirit or daemonic entity as well as potentially harming the dead souls. He can allow others temporarily to be able to astral project as well as blocking others from astral projecting, such as in the case of a daemon, by sending them back to their bodies or the Warp if they had already projected. Astro G is himself, however, vulnerable to individuals possessing the same ability.
As an Unbound Soul, he can create, shape and manipulate ectoplasm, a variable-state form of matter-energy coming from the Realm of the Dead beyond the realspace. Taking form as raw seething energy, a misty vapour or viscous gelatin, ectoplasm reacts to normal matter/energy in unusual and useful ways, including being able to ignore most of them. Astro G utilises this ability as a form of ectokinetic combat by incorporating ectoplasm into physical combat, allowing him to directly bypassing defences such as armours and striking directly at the opponent's soul. Ectoplasm also enables Astro G to act as medium, secreting or emitting ectoplasm in order to facilitate communication with ghosts and souls of the departed. Business is good, as lots of people seek him out to speak to their deceased relatives, lovers and so forth. Astro G can also coat these spiritual entities in ectoplasm in order for them to interact within the realspace. Often he would use this to summon and create an army of dead souls. And ectoplasm itself is a much valued ingredient in alchemical magic of which Astro G sells to the highest bidder.
Astro G is totally imperceptible if he chose to, and cannot be detected or communicated with by external forces. In that state, he cannot be physically or mentally touched or perceived, by smell, touch, vision, hearing, taste and gives off no heat, auras, energy detection or leave any evidence of his presence, yet the space he occupy has no lack of it. To all senses, Astro G doesn't exist. He is undetectable by x-ray scans, sonars, radio detections or any other technological detection. Astro G cannot be perceived by mental, telepathic or spiritual powers. He may not even be able to be remembered, or perceived as existing at all. However, Astro G could still be able to interact with others through use of any other abilities they possesses, and so may also still be able to attack a target. Regardless, this ability would not work on someone with powerful, enhanced awareness or enhanced senses.
Astro G has the capability to teleport at will, without a teleporter device, moving instantaneously from one location to another without physically occupying the space in between. He thinks of a destination and can appear there at will. Astro G often utilises teleportation offensively, and quite powerful, as a spatial attack, while offering superiority in terms of movement speed and distance coverage. This include avoiding harm, going great distances, move past physical obstacles and teleport other objects. Astro G would teleport objects into a target and crushing them, causing telefrag, which can punch holes or bisect the target. He could also teleport parts of his target away, "flash-stepping" or short-distance teleportation and remotely teleport his target or object to another location without transporting himself along. Astro G could also teleport a target to himself. Astro G could only teleport within a particular number of times per time span. Overusing this ability could lead to self-damage although not death. He is also limited to teleporting object or target within a certain mass or density and only within a particular distance from where they are to begin with. Powerful psykers could negate this ability. This is why Astro G doesn't mess with "da big dawgs", a term he uses to describe the N.O.M., and "gotta maintain" if he were to confront one.
Astro G can manipulate electromagnetic spectrum, the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation, which in order of increasing frequency and decreasing wavelength, consists of radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and gamma rays. He can infuse electromagnetism during physical combat, using electricity and magnetism to defeat their foes, such as electrocuting or messing with metal and technology if his enemy has them, cook them alive through microwave or simply through radiation sickness. But he is unable to create electromagnetic energy, being limited to manipulating only from already existing sources. Astro G is also limited to amount of energy he can hold within himself.
Astro G can manipulate pressure, application of continuous force by one body on another that he is touching, or the exertion of force upon a surface by an object, fluid, and others, in contact with it. He can enhanced his strength by increasing the pressure on his hands and feet exert on a surface. Astro G could often  crush heavily armoured foe with this ability. He could manipulate pressures inside living beings, leading to instant death, equilibrium distortion and even inducing extreme pain without necessarily killing his enemy. Astro G could also manipulates and distorts the space-time to generate a spatial pressure, which can crush the target with tremendous force either directly or by generating a burst of powerful shock wave . Since this is a spatial attack, it cannot be negated by conventional means. However, Astro G has to be in contact with the object/person he wishes to pressurize/ depressurize. This ability is useless in a vacuum or void of space, to the irk of Astro G, being a deceased astronaut and spends more time in space than possibly anyone else. 
Astro G can manipulate gravitation and gravitons. He could levitate himself, wall walking and bend gravity to make the surrounding environment very “heavy” or “light”, causing objects to “fall” toward another object by "nexus inducing", flattening objects through gravitational field, and generating miniature black holes to compress objects into oblivion. He can repel and attract matter and energy regardless of its mass or move objects in a manner similar to telekinesis. One of his most formidable abilities, Astro G uses this power to repulse people or objects with such force that could shatter practically anything, increasing gravity to crush his opponents or decreasing it to render them defenceless, as well as surrounding one's body in a gravitational field to amplify their physical strengths. Defensive uses include creating a gravitational force-field to repel  all manner of attacks or anchoring oneself to the ground. He is however, being limited to manipulating only from already existing sources and useless in areas with no gravity which is not much of an issue for Astro G since technically anywhere, even space, has gravity.
Astro G is an expert marksman. He has four .50 semi-automatics which he endearingly call "Mary Jane". He never misses and this skill is matched only by the likes of the Blind Cowboy and Merde Mission.
 
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According to the ThreeA Wiki, Dead Astronaut Gangsta is an early Ashley Wood character which is incorporated into the Adventure Kartel line. This figure comes in standard black, or 3AA white and for the retail channel, Dead Cosmonaut Golovorez in classic "Soviet" colour-way. Also comes in 2-pack combination with bonus accessories in the form of a 3A flag and an "escape hatch" as part of the AKlub offering, of which once completed, there would be a free Ms. Shadow for the collectors. I didn't "sign in" as I did for TKlub, solely because it is too overwhelming. If 3A were to offer a single figure, I would jump onto the wagon without any second thoughts. Unfortunately, 3A decides to offer a "double" figures of each set with different colour-way. I don't need two Dead Astronaut Gangsta (or previously, two Golden Dolphin). I guess I would have to hunt down Ms. Shadow in the secondary market and get crunch by the price. Anyhoo, back to the astronaut. It is, undoubtedly, one of my new favourite figures from 3A and amongst the current collection. I just love the look of this figure - wide, fat-ish - with the grimy, "black" colour-way (I actually think hard which colour to get during drop time. I decided black is the one to go since there is no astronaut in black space suit anyway. Esther remarked why would an astronaut be in black space suit, of which I said, yeah, it's fiction. And the character is dead anyway) and tubes. Perhaps in summary, it reminds me of why I collect 3A in the first place. The "dirty black" is close to the Badbot and Kyuuketsuki TK, a favourite personal colour. I wish they would apply this to the WWR robots. It has a lighted-up feature around the helmet. The battery slot is within the backpack, hidden by a flap. I did not try because typical of 3A, there is no instruction what battery to use. Regardless, I am cautious when handling this figure due to his fat-ness and weight. If I held the figure by the legs during posing, it tends to bend over, on the knee joints, which if happen regularly, I am worried might "give out". I am also paranoid about the bending of the "tubes", so I just try as much as I could, not to be too "adventurous" about it. And both boots leg aren't slot into the peg when opened.  There is limitation to articulation due to the "fat" padding within. Again the mis-interpretation is all personal fan-fiction, non-official. I am not sure what WAED stands for. Took inspiration from Gangsta genre rappers theme, Apollo 13 and WH40k universe, Rogue Trader. According to the poster and one-page comic, this character is supposedly engaged by Lil Shadow to kill Tommy Mission as an "anniversary gift" for their relationship, and later to call it off but couldn't.
 

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