In post-Final War North America, there is a vast Wasteland, bordered on the West by the undead hordes of the Tomb Kings, on the East by the Federal Republic of America, the Republic of Lakotah and the New Confederate States of America, on the North by the Chaos Wastes and the Lone Star Republic to the South, this land is so savage and lawless that only the most brain-dead zombies or crazed devotees of Khorne, Chaos Lord of War and Bloodshed, would casually venture into them.
There are, however, any number of small settlements and city states scattered throughout the Wastes, and oftentimes, the only difference between their survival and destruction are the few forces of good who regularly risk their lives to patrol the lawless wilderness and bring some kind of law and order to it. The main three are the Federal Republic of America Dragoons, the Lone Star Republic Texas Rangers and the Airborne Demolitions Unit.
The one we are dealing with today is the Airborne Demolitions Unit or ADU, which has an interesting history. Not only is it an elite unit, on par with the Federal Republic of America Special Operations Command (SOComm) and the Texas Rangers, but it is one that, for all intents and purposes, belongs to no nation.
The ADU was originally an elite unit in the North American Union Army just prior to and during the Final War, and after serving with distinction against the nefarious Dr. Regis Blackgaard's elite Blacktron unit, they were rotated off the front lines to counter-insurgency duty in the area of the North Dakota/Saskatchewan border. The antimatter missile exchange that ended the Final War occurred while they were assigned here, allowing them to escape unscathed.
Somehow, during the years following the Final War, they managed to maintain their unit cohesion and core values, becoming one of the only forces of order in the Wastes. They have since become a highly respected mercenary/heroes for hire outfit, with a famous sliding pay scale: Once, they helped an impoverished settlement defeat a particularly notorious raider gang for nothing more than a share of the loot captured from the raider camp and 3 days worth of food and water.
While they have recently established bases in the Republic of Lakotah (where ADU members serve as the elected Chief's personal body guard, similar to the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Empire) Lone Star Republic (in the Navajo Nation) and the Free State Redmond (Federal Republic of America Exclave on the West Coast), the ADU's mainstay for patrolling the wastes is still the M-115 Mobile Command Center.
CMD Center Side by
Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr
The Mobile Command Center is pretty much what it says on the box: It combines an Armored Personnel Carrier, Command Control Bunker and Fighter Support in one vehicle.
Module Separation by
Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr
When the Mobile Command center arrives at its operations area, the APC separates from the Command Control module and deploys to combat the enemy, along with the fighter, if need be.
Modules Front by
Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr
The APC sports dual 120mm cannons as well as side-mounted blasters, while the Command Control module is equipped with a dual 20mm dual-purpose Vulcan cannon as well as multipurpose missiles and (once the fighter launches) twin anti-aircraft blaster cannons for defensive purposes.
Modules Back by
Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr
Both modules are also equipped with loading ramps for easy crew access and the command control unit has ladders for the pilot to access the fighter. This particular fighter is one of the last surviving pre-Final War Vic Viper orbital space fighters, and on the day of the antimatter missile exchange, it took part in the general fighter scramble to intercept as many inbound missiles as possible. The Viper and two Sky-Spear Class ships (currently with the Federal Republic of America Air Force) are the only North American Union space fighters to survive the Final War, however its pilot succumbed to severe radiation poisoning from a near miss shortly after landing.
APC Driver Compartment by
Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr
APC Interior by
Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr
The interior of the APC unit is rather cramped, but with heavy Unobtainium armor, armor-plast windows and no flat tires, it provides the equivalent protection and firepower of a medium tank for the crew and squad of power armor troopers it carries into battle.
Command Control Interior by
Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr
The interior of the Command Control module is somewhat roomier, with a lounge/berthing area as well as consoles for the weapons control and communications personnel and plenty of weapons racks (including a full reload for the multipurpose missile launchers).
(4th wall: Yes, that alien crew member in the lounge drinking coffee is, in fact, reading a copy of the "Daily Prophet"... It's that kind of setting.
)
....And here's a couple pics of our brave ADU crew defending truth, justice and freedom in the Wastes:
ADU Squad APC by
Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr
The APC Crew, L-R: Commanding Officer, Gunner, Driver, Senior NCO/Heavy Combat Squad Leader, Heavy Combat Squad Troopers (x3)
ADU Squad Command Control by
Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr
Command Control Crew, L-R: Jetpack Trooper, Squad Leader, Sniper, Demolitions Expert and Vic Viper Pilot.
About the Build: First of all, yes, those ARE Kre-O Battleship series Aliens... I just thought they looked cool and decided to add them to my ad-hoc ADU trooper squad. I ended up using up all my ADU troops and Series 7 Galaxy Squad minifigs for this build, but it was totally worth it. The Nnenn tribute Vic Viper is completely unchanged, and is the first LEGO set I've actually added stickers to in 10 years... The reasons are that IMO, it is perfect the way it is, and this is also my way of honoring Nnenn's memory.
My favorite parts of this mod would have to be the main gun turret, which is probably the most SNOT I've ever used in one place (but it works quite well, I think), and figuring out how to mod the deployable antenna dishes so that the interior was fully enclosed was a challenge, but after a couple of hours I finally found something that worked.... Which I then had to modify further to fit the radar/communications consoles in.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this mod as much as I had building it... I held off getting the Earth Defense HQ set until just about two weeks ago, when I found a couple at Toys R Us, and I now wish I had gotten it sooner (I'm still kicking myself for not getting the Jet Copter Encounter set... If the Camp Hill Barnes and Noble still has it this weekend, I'm buying that sucker, no questions asked!)...
