^^So true.

In the post-sale season, I'm sure you see some of your friends parading around in their newly bought protection paints, boasting about their new resistance to different guns. You may be thinking that they chose poorly in their selection, or you may not. Indeed choosing the best paint is difficult. Here's a guide which will help the relatively low budget buyer to decide. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are many characteristics and factors which affect a protection paint's appeal. Depending on your particular interests, you will choose your paints accordingly. ~designed by chriswu Visual Appeal The first thing, obviously, is if you like how a certain paint looks. It's clear that some paints are more decorative than others, even within the same price range. For example, Rock is not nearly as colorful as Clay. Visual appeal also is closely related to your personal taste. I love the look of Inferno, but I've heard comments saying that it's a little "cartoonish". Low cost Protection Assuming you don't have all the money in the world to spend on paints, the first things to consider in your earlier Tanki days are cheaper protection paints. In my opinion, it's not worth your money buying protection from teir 1 weapons, as they aren't particularly deadly in battle. Invest instead on protection against tier 2 weapons. If you still want to buy a cheaper protection paint, buy one which also has good camouflage. Camouflage can actually help you more under the right conditions than a protection paint contrasting starkly with its surroundings. Some good camouflage protection paints on the cheaper end include Swamp, Dirty, and Tundra, and Dragon (depending on map). Since camouflage can be so helpful, you may end up buying a paint with good camouflage but NO protection like Forester. Choosing A Paint With Good Characteristics Here's some advice on choosing a good protection paint. First, what do you use as your primary weapon? It's wise to buy paints which protect you from the gun you use. For example, if you have rico, and you are fighting a freeze, you can use rico's relatively long range to defeat the freeze. Or, if you're a freeze attacking a thunder, you can slow down the enemy tank and destroy it. However, if you have freeze and are fighting another freeze, it's only a matter of who has more hitpoints. Because of each gun's specialty, there are ways to defeat tanks with different weapons, but it's hard to fight someone with the same configuration. Invest in a paint with protection from your primary weapon. This is especially helpful for thunders or ricochet's who can inflict self damage. The second component in terms of actual tank hardware is what hull you use. Make sure you do your math before buying a paint for you hull, otherwise your paint won't make a difference. For example, a fully discharged isida m3 can destroy a hornet even with isida protection paint. Another example is how shaft protection on a weak hull like hornet or dictator doesn't make much of a difference, because an m3 shaft can still kill you in one shot either way. Make sure your paint is appropriate to your hull by doing the math before buying. Playing Style Lastly, choose a paint which suits your playing style. If you enjoy camping at your base with a large hull such as mammoth, pick a paint which protects you from shorter ranged weapons which typically charge the enemy base, such as freeze or ricochet. On the other hand, if you are more of an attacker, select paints which will protect you from long range snipers, like railgun, thunder, and shaft. These weapons can easily pick off approaching targets under good conditions (have you ever played in a shaft infested Kunger?).

There once was a time, when all tanks were small, and easy to bully. But now they’ve grown up and are eager to fight! The first ever multiplayer browser based 3d war game! Swift registration, low system requirements, simple controls! Only real players to play against! You don’t just control the tank, you ARE the tank! Tanks online. For those built like a tank! Indeed after many hours spent in tankionline, players do seem to become part of their tanks, as they execute elaborate maneuvers seemingly without thought. Thunderous explosions, pounding balls of plasma; it's just another mundane game in my favorite map, Silence. Succored by an isida, a small squad of ricochets heads back from enemy territory bearing the opposing team’s flag. A sound from my computer’s speakers alerts me that the enemy’s flag has been captured. The battlefund is at a commendable 812, and the game is minutes from ending. The desperate enemy activates supplies as they attempt to make up for the five flags we are above them. A helpless hornet in Forester wanders into the crosshairs of my shaft’s scope. “PPSSSHHH” The familiar sound from my discharging shaft emanates in tandem with a dark red explosion at the end of my scope. As it fades, a charred hornet chassis becomes visible. Excitement permeates the blue upper-shelf team as the timer hits five minutes. It was a long and hard fought battle, and everyone is satisfied and happy with his/her soon-to-be reward. Just as the red team seems to accept its defeat however, a lone hornet appears at our base and takes our flag. Unaware of how the encroacher arrived at our heavily defended base without detection, my team and I set our scopes, barrels, and freezers on our target. We don’t even get a shot. The hornet disappears, and a few moments later, the same alerting resonance which so recently heralded my team’s triumph sounds again, only this time it is the enemy who has captured our flag. Within moments, the hornet is back at our base and captures another, then another, and another flag, continuing to do so until the red team has captured many more flags than my team. Enraged, irritated and extremely annoyed, I watch my team members spam the chat in Russian, Arabic, English and some other languages in utter frustration. Undoubtedly an admin, somewhere, will get plenty of reports and screens of the latest battlefield scourge, a speed hacker. Though I’m sure many players have reported many hackers with such havoc wreaking abilities, no effective solution completely eliminated these cheaters until April 7, when a new anticheat algorithm was put into use. The anticheat resulted in the blocking of over 10,000 accounts, leveling the playing fields for all. While players in Tanki’s 25 servers happily reaped the benefits of this algorithm, the owners of the blocked accounts were undoubtedly outraged at their loss of mastery in the battlefield. Following is a fictional story told from a tank’s perspective, based on the blocked accounts’ attempts to return upon the battlefield to cause the same havoc they once enjoyed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A synthetic buzz fills the air as I heal a teammate with my isida. Once finished, an encouraging glint of gold in my status bar indicates I have received points for my service. My attention shifts to an enemy tank with supplies fully activated, soaring through the air and seizing my battalion’s flag. Equipped with a hornet chassis, I am one of the few nearby able to pursue the infringer across the ramp directly adjacent to our base. Because of this, Monte Carlo is a very troublesome layout to fight in. Nonetheless, I activate a Nitro, spur my engines, and rocket after the enemy. As I soar through the air, a blast of energy screams through the void and slams into my hull, causing me to spiral uncontrollably off the map and into the darkness below. Shafts. How silly of me to think that the flag bearer wasn’t being covered! As I descend, the denser air of lower altitude begins to crush my hull. The pressure readings on my meter rise from 10.4 psi to 20, then 30... I brace myself for the wrenching sensation of exploding and the dizzying respawn, but an odd thing happens. I continue falling without bursting into shrapnel. Twirling this way and that, I plummet past the normal altitude in which even the sturdiest of tanks cannot maintain integrity. I am full of disbelief - a hornet would surely be destroyed under such inward pressure. As I continue spiraling and turning, I catch a glimpse of the underside of Monte Carlo, as well as a fellow teammate also spiraling into the depths - only he explodes at a relatively high altitude. My mind races through all the possibilities as to the cause of my prolonged freefall. Perhaps the cryptic device I received from my recently decommissioned friend has something to do with this.... I continue my descent. Often times I had ignored the scenery and surroundings of the map I was battling in, often taking for granted or ignoring the existence of another world down below. Now as I approached the ground, far below Monte Carlo, I became acutely aware of how fast I was traveling. I would surely be crushed by the force of impact! Since my hornet chassis has a relatively low surface area to provide air resistance, my terminal velocity in freefall would yield a deadly force upon impact. The bottom approached, and I braced myself once more for the crunching feeling of being destroyed. However to my great surprise, I didn’t stop at the bottom. Instead, I passed right through it, as if it had no mass at all and were merely a holographic projection. Even though I was enormously surprised at passing through the ground, I wasn’t prepared for what came next. The moment I passed through the barrier, I was immediately hit by a blast of warm air, and whole new world was revealed to me. I had just emerged from a monochromatic sphere of titanic proportions, and continued to hurtle down towards a mountainous landscape sparsely covered in forest. My spiraling gaze fell upon a mysterious tower in the distance, from which a beam of violet energy shot upward, branching out like a tree, connecting huge spheres identical to the one from which I had just come. For a split second this revelation was before me. The next, I was caught in a leafy bough, bounced twice, then landed at the bottom. My cameras fazed out into a blinding storm of static.

What if I don't know what day I purchased crystals way back when?

He replied in this post didn't he HE DID!!! :shock:

C - chili

We gonna...we...GONNA CRY!!!! :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a busy day at the Zhukov Research Institute. Scientists in the research building hastily bustled through the high ceilinged halls carrying data pads, while in the Engineering department Ivan and his team were getting ready to execute the final tests for a new modification of the Smoky Gun. Dubbed “Smoky XT,” the prototype was highly classified, secret material, and possessed the damage of a Thunder and the reload speed of its fully upgraded predecessor. Ivan stroked Kiwi, his pet bird which he received from Buran when he had visited his hometown. An unusually long self-run diagnostic allowed Ivan to reminisce on past events. A month earlier, chief chemist at ZRI Peter Petrov had submitted an exciting finding. By combining specific amounts of phosphorus, hydrogen and fluorine, a new and extremely explosive, corrosive and volatile compound could be generated. A mere kilogram of the combustible substance had succeeded in blowing up half of Petrov’s laboratory in a freak accident in which one of the containment tubes had fractured. Immediately following a press conference was held in which the applications of the finding were discussed. There were many suggestions - some wild and impossible, others intriguing, and some completely pathetic. The prestigious board of scholars, scientists and engineers had just finished a Skype call to an unseeming kid who had enthusiastically suggested a “Turtle-Controlled Miniature Artillery Enhancement” (TuCoMArtEn). On the other end of the spectrum, a retired Russian Cosmonaut with alzheimer's proposed to harness the substance’s combustive nature to create a more effective rocket propellant, which would bear a probe on a 4.243 light year voyage to the nearest star: Proxima Centauri. Frustrated with fruitless proposals, the conference resorted to their own element, concluding that the “Super Substance” should be used in weapons technology. “After all,” ZRI’s council mused, remembering the latest success of freeze, “We’ve had lots of luck with weapons development in the past. Why try to reinvent the wheel when we already know how to use it?” Following the conference’s conclusion, a truckload of Petrov’s “Super Substance” was shipped to ZRI’s Engineering department, whereupon Ivan and his team of engineers would work the substance’s potent nature into the most advanced weapons of the day: Thunder, Freeze and Ricochet. However, because of Petrov’s accident, it was decided that before the substance was to be integrated into any of the powerful weapons, it must successfully enhance a weaker, more easily modified weapon - smoky, of course! The reasoning behind this was obvious: Petrov’s “Super Substance” was too volatile to risk a malfunction in any weapon of mass destruction. Thus began project “Smoky XT.” Burdened with pressure from the science committee and board, yet driven by excitement, Ivan and his engineers worked relentlessly on Smoky XT. The engineers were now finally running the last diagnostic before proclaiming success. An electronic “beep” from a terminal brought Ivan back to reality. The results were positive! Ivan and his team had finally created a compatible composite of Smoky’s previous gunpowder with Petrov’s compound. With a few modifications to the turret itself, Smoky XT was ready for service, and Ivan’s team was ready to use their experience with smoky on more powerful weapons. An article on Ivan and his team’s work would be published within the week, and project “Thunder XT” would commence. Ivan slept well that night. Progress had been slow, but now that Smoky XT was a success, his work was finally cut out for him. After enhancing all of the weapons, the XT series could be released to public knowledge. Recent intelligence had reported that the public, strongly influenced by a famous (yet demented) cosmonaut, was enthralled with the idea of meeting aliens at Proxima Centauri, so ZRI’s secret was safe...or so it was thought. Ivan dreamed of fishing... Two dark figures lurked in the shadows of Ivan’s lab. One cautiously snatched a diagram of the Smoky XT from a nearby table. The other chuckled with quiet glee. “Smoky XT...finally a new weapon to devastate the battlefield. I like it!!” “Peep” It was Kiwi. “SSSHHH!! QUIET!!! Stop making that noise Vlad!!” The other said. “Let’s leave now. Grab the schematic over there and we’ll have everything we need to make our own Smoky XT.” Vlad approached the entrance of the lab and clumsily banged into a desk, strewing papers and writing utensils across the floor with a painfully loud clatter. Suddenly self-conscious in the midst of his partner, yet desperately trying to buy a wicked impression, Vlad uttered a weak “muhaha.” In the morning Ivan and his team entered the laboratory ready to continue work. He and his colleagues were in high spirits...Kiwi was going berserk. “Funny,” said Ivan. “Kiwi only does that when she sees someone she doesn’t like.” Slightly annoyed by Kiwi’s howling, but completely ignorant of the two missing schematics, Ivan and his colleagues began documenting their work on the Smoky XT. By the end of the day they had nearly completed writing their article, and by the end of the week they had received approval by the board of ZRI to begin “Thunder XT”. It was one day a couple weeks later when Ivan and his team were busily working on Thunder XT that an intelligence agent burst into the room. “Smoky XT is being sold in the black market! Someone has managed to steal our schematics! Project Thunder XT is now on hold until further notice. Agents were sent to confiscate the goods last night, but reports reveal that Smoky XT has been on the market for almost a week as of February 18th! Our secret has been exposed!” Horror filled the room. The engineers had been so consumed in Thunder XT that it felt odd to file out of the room at midday. With a sigh Ivan realized why Kiwi was so berserk that day when project Thunder XT began. Everyone crossed their fingers, hoping that the agents would successfully retrieve the thieves and confiscate the goods. If people could manufacture Smoky XT’s, it wouldn’t be long before they discovered the formula to Petrov’s compound and forged weapons of mass destruction on their own. Days passed. Days of idle, boring, inaction for Ivan and his team. Morale was at rock bottom when finally agents had returned with the two thieves who had infiltrated Ivan’s lab that one night several weeks before. At last there was some action. Ivan was invited to hear the interrogation of the two criminals. The thieves responded to each question with lackadaisical, despondent answers. Not surprisingly, they weren't as gullible as the general public appeared to be. An illustrious cosmonaut with a mental illness, no matter how famed and credited, was still mentally ill. There was no reasonable way in which one could expect the masses to believe in travelling light years to meet green aliens. Faulty intelligence agents were to blame for this confounded information, and this was becoming more and more believable by the second, as the thieves easily outwitted and squirmed past each question posed by the interrogators, agents themselves. The rest of the interrogation ensued, in which the Agent became thoroughly frustrated with his subjects, though in the end, some progress was made. It became apparent that Vlad and Andrei had figured out the formula for Petrov’s “Super Substance”, which meant that there was a threat that they might further develop these weapons and sell them to wreak havoc upon the civilized world. However, Ivan and his team were further ahead than Vlad and Andrei, since they had access to Thunder, Freeze, and Ricochet. Since both sides were mutually threatened, a treaty was signed not to further develop weapons based on Petrov’s compound, and all such weapons were confiscated and destroyed, leaving no evidence of them ever existing save for the wasted money of buyers. All was well, and while Ivan had to return to his mundane world of “regular” work, he was relieved all the same to be rid of wrangling with colleagues and board members, and witnessing the agents go about their “work”. Ivan decided it was time for another vacation. Ivan sighed. “I guess it’s never too early to go on vacation. I’m looking forward to visiting home again. It will finally rid me of all this trouble...

ωнєη єqυιρρє∂ ωιтн α ρσωєяƒυℓ тαηк ƒυℓℓ σƒ ѕρєє∂ αη∂ ѕтαмιηα, ƒяєєzє ¢αη вє σηє σƒ тнє мσѕт ∂єα∂ℓу ωєαρσηѕ ση тнє вαттℓєƒιєℓ∂. тнιѕ ιѕ тнє ѕтσяу σƒ ιтѕ σяιgιηѕ αη∂ тнє мαѕтєямιη∂ вєнιη∂ ιтѕ ωσякιηgѕ; σƒ нσω α нυмвℓє вυт ραѕѕισηαтє ιη∂ινι∂υαℓ ιη α яємσтє яυѕѕιαη νιℓℓαgє ιηνєηтє∂ α ∂єναѕтαтιηg αη∂ υηιqυє ωєαρση. It was spring, and the constant splashing of fish in the local ponds heralded a new season of bounty. It was his favorite time of year, and Ivan had returned from his laboratory at the Zhukov Institute to his beloved home. Although his Russian hometown was seemingly “in the middle of nowhere”, Ivan had never run out of things to do. A versatile individual with many hobbies, Ivan enjoyed the outdoors, as well as using his engineering skills to create ingenious inventions to entertain himself in his spare time. It was a beautiful day when he was contentedly fishing by a small pond, when Ivan heard a thunderous crash and loud whoosh from across the water. The long legged birds which had been wading in the banks clamorously took to the air in a flurry, filling the air with feathers, leaves and dust. Out of the surrounding trees, Ivan watched as his old friend, Buran, rushed into the scene with an odd contraption spraying a synthetic looking material meters ahead. A few unfortunate birds had been caught in the line of “fire”, froze in mid-air, and splashed back into the water. “AHAHAHA!! IT WORKS!!” Buran cackled. This was obviously something new. Buran and Ivan had had a long history together. Both natives to their small village, the two individuals shared a fascination for creating gadgets and tinkering with old appliances. As teenagers, Ivan and Buran had built a device which allowed them to climb walls like a spider, a gyrocopter in which they could fly, coilguns, and other fantastic contraptions other children could only dream of. They were both very creative individuals. Though both were very smart, Buran ended up flunking out of school, while Ivan accomplished many academic achievements. School simply didn’t work for Buran. When he was in class, he could only think of his inventions back at home. Instead of studying, he would be hacking an old computer, or hammering at a car engine. Ivan, on the other hand, embodied the ideal student. Concentrated and studious, Ivan graduated first in his class, and attended the most prestigious universities with flying colors. At the age of 25, Ivan was hired by the Zhukov Research Institute under the discipleship of one of its chief engineers: Lev Borondinskii. It was Lev who had designed the schematics for the weapon “Isida” during the recent Cold War, though the realization of his brainchild was deemed “impossible” by his colleagues. Ivan worked hard under Lev’s supervision, and succeeded him as chief engineer after his retirement eight years later. An illustrious person, Ivan completed his mentor’s work on Isida. Recent developments in quantum physics had indicated the possibility of self powered nanobots, which could be transported from an emitter onto a target. Work on Isida was heavily taxing and required a monstrous budget. However after its release, isida was so successful in the weapons market that buyers had not only compensated for the cost of development, but had spent so much that the Zhukov Institute was able to move to a new location with fully upgraded systems. After many press conferences and public appearances regarding his late success, Ivan had finally returned to his hometown to recoup and relax. “What is it?” Ivan asked. His excited neighbor turned. Buran was a burly fellow, with his shaggy beard and bright eyes, he had never ceased to be consumed in his work. “Ivan! I had no idea you were in town! I assumed you were too busy at Zhukov!” Buran exclaimed. “Yeah, isida sucks your life...literally. Anyways, your invention looks interesting. What does it do besides kill birds?” Ivan chortled. “Behold the mighty ‘Freeze Thrower’!” Buran answered. “Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, ‘Freeze Thower’ sprays a lethal dose of freon at its unfortunate target! Come closer so I can demonstrate.” Ivan approached his friend. “Behold!!!” Buran pulled the trigger. The contraption let loose a blast of bluish material, then sputtered and emitted a funny sounding honk. “Crap...it does that sometimes.” “That’s really cool! I love how you reversed the polarity in your vacuum cleaners to make them blow instead of suck! And how you paralleled the freon supply so that you can spray in any direction!” Ivan exclaimed. “Thanks,” Buran said sheepishly. “Those darn Hoover 9000’s keep stalling though.” “No need for expletives Buran! I can fix that. Maybe if you’d let me take this prototype to my department at Zhukov, my colleagues over there can improve its design. We have better equipment there. We can replace your hoovers with industrial grade turbines and derive a synthetic material more effective than freon! The possibilities are endless!” “Of course! I can’t wait for the upgrades! Just let me keep my prototype when you’re finished ok?” Ivan chuckled. The friends were reminded of many thrilling childhood memories as they shared the enthusiastic moment. “It’s a deal then.” After Ivan finished fishing, the two friends went to Buran’s home to catch up. After his hiatus was finally over, Ivan returned to his lab at the Zhukov Research Institute with a new and interesting contraption. “What is it? keeping busy Ivan?” his colleagues asked. Schematics were drawn and redrawn, materials were synthesized, and parts were welded together. The final product was a sleek and powerful weapon. Buran’s “freeze thrower” had been streamlined to just “freeze,” and the freon had been replaced with an enhanced chemical which dealt much more damage to its target. The handheld freeze was enlarged to fit a turret, and the freeze you see on your tank was born. Yet another wild success, freeze dominated the weapons market after it was released only months after Isida. When praised by the press for his “rapid innovation,” Ivan never forgot to give his old friend Buran the credit. Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Long, long ago, before there were tanks, or buildings or civilization itself, a small group of nomads wandered a desolate landscape. This primitive people group hunted animals and tilled the soil to grow crops. Life was hard, as a devastating drought had parched the landscape, and neither flora or fauna was easily gathered. Disheartened and thirsty, the wretched creatures continually trudged on the barren, cracked earth. A flat, dusty plain stretched for as far as the eye could see merging with the pale-blue sky on the horizon. A relentless sun beat down upon the swaying, hapless figures. Hope of finding water and food dwindled as the old and sick had fallen and crumpled in the dust. However, just as the desperate nomads were on the verge of getting crushed in the vise grip of misfortune, a small, indefinable patch of green appeared on the horizon. Overcome with joy, the wanderers let out hoarse cries as they rushed towards their distant destination. As they progressed, the patch of green took form. They beheld a mountainous dune, covered with lush vegetation nourished by glistening water spouting from a well at its peak. When they finally reached the oasis, the savages blissfully splashed in the water and drank deeply. Overcome by thankfulness to whatever cosmic fate had brought them to this serendipitous place, they worshipped their primitive, false gods, building an altar of stones at the mouth of the well. With their dumb, primordial minds, the ancients settled in the area, building shelters and laying the foundations of civilization. Aeons went by. The lackluster shelters became tents, then clay houses. Eventually as the pool of man’s intelligence began to overflow, houses, factories and buildings replaced the castles and tents of old. Yet through it all, a haunting remnant of primeval civilization remained: the life giving well in which long gone beings had practiced their obscure ways and worshipped their gods; the whole reason for the surrounding landscapes’ industrial, residential and urban attributes. Through the ages, a great temple had been built and rebuilt around the well, proclaiming it as an object of civic pride, as well as a sacred place. However, as people became more intelligent and empirical in their observations of the world, cynicism and doubt followed. People began to disregard the archaic temple built about the well. As the Earth shifted, the well ran dry, and the ages old object of worship, which had been the savior to those ancient nomads long, long ago, was lost. The memory of the temple was forgotten, until the awakening of some spirit that had laid dormant since the dawn of the world. Resultant of this awakening, an object of great power was be discovered: the secret of the Lost Temple. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ralph stared blankly through the rescue plane's small porthole. Before the incident, life had been quite happy in his quiet, sleepy town. Lost in a mirage of mundane, repetitive routines, Ralph had become so accustomed to the cycle of rising, going to school, cleaning glassware in his father's lab, then going home to play with his friends, that he never, ever thought in the darkest corners of his mind that something terrible was slowly encroaching upon his town. Then the rumblings began. Initially slight tremors, an hour later the quakes increased until the earth shook the foundations of all the structures in Ralph’s little beloved town, pitilessly razing all the towering sources of society’s livelihood to the ground. The night of the major destruction, Ralph watched intently as huge chunks of concrete and stone hurdled precariously near to his family’s abode. Shockwaves from colossal impacts shattered windows, and the trembling earth filled the air with ceaseless thunder. Yet the cause of this natural disaster was reported unknown, nor was the phenomenon foreseen. Whatever it was, the cause of this disaster was just as mysterious as the quakes were destructive. Instructed by town officials to flee from standing structures into open areas, Ralph fled with the rest of the town’s civilians to nearby hills surrounding the settlement, and there spent the night. As dawn finally came, and the first fingers of light pierced the sky, Ralph was met with a terrible sight. Amid dense clouds of gray dust, nothing remained of his once thriving town but scattered heaps of rubble. Sorrowful wails permeated the stuffy air, and Ralph joined the lament. Ralph wept in spite for the terrible reality, and of the end of his blissful childhood. As he boarded one of the many rescue planes dotting the landscape, he silently swore to himself that he would return one day, and see things right again. Time flew by after the incident. Ralph started a new life, and grew into a man. The traumatic destruction of his old home became nothing more than a fleeting memory from the past. Following in his father's footsteps, he became a physicist, and quite a successful one, at that. Specializing in the study of new forms of energy, Ralph published numerous articles on quantum mechanics, theoretical conjectures on temporal distortions, and other topics which seemed to belong only in the most fanciful science fiction. Engrossed in his work; a breakthrough seemingly just around the corner, Ralph patented a machine which, through very sophisticated mechanisms, detected residual effects of massive energy transfers. In other words, his device detected the locations of titanic sources of energy. If Ralph succeeded, he had the potential to solve the whole world's energy crisis, and ride the crest of the planet's next wave of technological advancement! ~~~~~~ It was the big day. Ralph and his enthusiastic band of scientists powered up that which they had poured the last five years of their lives into. A low hum followed by a short series of whirs indicated the machine was ready for its task. Having meticulously tested each component innumerable times, Ralph had become so familiar with the machine that he could tell exactly which calculations or scans the device was internalizing by simply listening to its working micro-mechanics. The machine was basically a large satellite dish about 30 feet in diameter, connected to a large control unit, bristling with the newest technology, and glowing an iridescent blue. The scanning programs engaged, the receiver dish panned and tilted this way and that, while the monitor Ralph and his team viewed flashed with a frenetic influx of data. Ordered by energy potential, sets of coordinates from all over the planet streamed in. Among the top of the list were the locations of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Chernobyl, and other places of nuclear disaster. However, there was also a hauntingly familiar pair of coordinates, though Ralph couldn't grasp where he had seen them from. Then he remembered. He had seen them long, long ago in a brief lesson on cartography. Ralph froze. Memories from many years back, buried in his psyche came flooding back in an unstoppable hurricane. Startled, alarmed, yet suddenly aware, the hairs on the back of Ralph's neck stood straight. The coordinates were those of his childhood home, destroyed by an unknown anomaly! Something phenomenal happened that day, long ago. Something like never before, and Ralph finally had a clue to the answer. Ignorant of what was waiting for him at the site of his old town, Ralph and his team packed their bags and proceeded to the coordinates. ~End of Part I

wut -.- sale ended and I never got my prize...

Does Misha still play?

I didn't yet.

^that

Before the sale. 8)

WINNING CLAN LEADERS SEND A PM TO LES!! He said he won't give out the prizes until everyone contacts him. It would be a shame if we can't get our reward before the holiday (sale) in two days!!

1. Being weird 2. Football 3. Baseball

Might want to ask winner of clan logo contest if you're looking for a clan logo.

So is it the translucency or opaqueness which makes it protective?

And? :)

Hehe you know something is up when the interviewer has more words than the interviewee. :P

If something is translucent, its phase of matter is irrelevant. :)

^^^Mr.G you forgot me!!

Rost's is brilliant! I've always seen shafts as a little bestial..

Hey, wait a second!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: You said in the beginning Jade is translucent which is how it gives protection from laser based weapons. In the end though you said Type C gets RID OF the translucency... And anyways, if Jade is translucent, doesn't that just mean that the laser goes through the protection into your hull? Don't you want something reflective, not translucent? :-) P.S. The whole part about enhancements was completely copied and pasted from Wikipedia. Though Wikipedia is an open source, you still need to properly cite it.Just saying something came from Wikipedia isn't enough. Just a useful piece of advice...