ThreeA - Adventure Kartel : The Golden Dolphin.

Stop thinking, use your fists.

*translation: Sometimes its better to use your flippers to build your house than intent.

Tear off their heads and see if they bleed gold.

*translation: The venere of the vase sometimes masks the flowers intent.

They don't get it because they are f***tards who needs a beating.

*translation: Some will not not embrace the message at first, the deception of their self-imposed reality clouds their thoughts and will need to be led gently to their awakening.

- Extract from The Gospel of the Golden Dolphin Vol.1

 

A ripple, then a wave.

A (mis) interpretation:

Name: Robert "Robbie" Grove.

Alias: The Golden Dolphin; El Loco.

Age: 35 years old.

Affiliation: The Gospel of the Golden Dolphin.

Std. armaments: Cú Chulainn - power gauntlet; The Golden Dolphin - mystic head garb.

Abilities: "Torque" - berserker physiology; hydrokinesis; kinetic energy manipulation; vector manipulation.

Ulster zone, Hibernia sub-sector, Europa. The Druids of Medb Order conjured a perfect storm to destroy Sguaba Tuinne, a Wave-Sweeper class ship which is smashed asunder by the giant waves and hurricane winds, the crews falls into the churning tempest. Robert "Robbie" Grove of Aus Republic, Oceania is the only survivor, finding himself un-conscious on an atoll near Scotia sub-sector. Robbie and the deceased crews were part of scavengers whom roamed what is left of the so-called seas of Terra for well, anything valuable, such as the Rothchild Corporation's Standard Template Construct (STC) which still commands a high price from rogue factions like the MOD boys and girls. This time round, they had unknowingly taken Medb's prized bull, Donn Cúailnge from her ancient burial site of Cnoc na Ré. And they paid dearly for it. 

Dying from thirst and hunger, Robbie is rescued by a passing-by recon ship. Under interrogation, Robbie re-counted the entire incident to the officer, including that of a dolphin that appeared to him "just before the sun sets, like made of gold surrounded by glimmering waves." Whether this is due to his hallucination caused by environmental exposure or chemical poisoning from eating mutated crustaceans and molluscs from the polluted oceans is unverified. 'It talks to me. Says its name's The Golden Dolphin, each sentences punctured with a squeak,' Robbie recounted, 'and I couldn't tell its sex, even from its voice but one thing for sure, once I listened, I immediately understand what it has to say, about the world, about how screwed up things are now, that I need to take action and preach what it said.' What comes next as Robbie retells the story to his rescuers are both gruesome and too fantastic to believe. 'Remember that book about a boy whom was stranded in the high seas, and how he uses metaphors to represent what he experienced? That's I think is as close as it gets. What you see on my head is what the GD asked me to do. I did it. And I don't regret it. GD said it is tired of living in the bloody dirty sludge of an ocean, and as the last of its kind, it asked my permission to mentally bond with it. Which I agreed. So I tore off its head and fashioned it into this head gear. I ate the rest. You can't hold me accountable for killing possibly the last dolphin on this planet. Because I just listen to what it asked me to do.'

The naval officer whom recorded the entire account later submitted his reports to his superior which includes his own observations on Robbie. The verdict concluded that Robbie killed and ate his own fellow crew members and scuttled the ship. Remains of the crew are found on shore off the Ulster zone, stripped of flesh with signs of ritualistic murder. There are cairns and stick figures around the corpses. Furthermore no storm was ever recorded in the Hibernia, Scotia sub-sectors as claimed by Robbie. As to his motive, it is probably due to his mental instability or dispute over his shares of salvage items. His employment reports show a maximum hourly sleep of between 1 to 2 hours daily, under extremely stressful conditions. He is known to consume amphetamines  to stay awake. Robbie also has a history of violence, is a member of the Red Anarchist Skinheads and subscription to extreme left wing political views, a pro-working class stance and  a self described militant anti-fascist.  

Robbie is committed to the mental hospital, Jeremiah Danvers Institution, Apulia sub-sector. The doctor in charge of his case felt pity for Robbie as he became mentally withdrawn, almost catatonic due to his yearning for the taxidermy dolphin head garb. The doctor approved the release of the head garb back to Robbie, whom is later observed to talk to himself and the object. A day before Robbie is scheduled for mental reconditioning, the dolphin head garb speaks to him. 'Robbie, it is time. Take your vows as we had spoken about at the atoll. Are you in or out? Red or blue?' asked the head gear. 'Do I look like I have a choice?' replied Robbie. The next day, the orderlies found the cell empty. Some of the guards under interrogation claim to have sighted a bright light enveloping Robbie's cell. But no teleporter beacon was found. Review of the security camera proved futile as it went blank during the last ten minutes prior to Robbie's disappearance. The director of the asylum was furious and accused majority of the personnel in charge of lies and covering up Robbie's escape.    

2001. Aus City, Aus Republic, Oceania. Mega block "Russell Crowe". Amanda "Peppermint" Grove's vid pict beeps. 'How is it going Chubby?' Robbie asks. 'Sigh. What is it this time, little bro?' Pep speaks as she busily typing away on a continuous roll of teletype paper through a repro 30s Underwood tele-typer. 'The Bots are acting up again. Northern Frontier, New Andria, big sister', Robbie replies. 'Ain't got nothing to do with me, Rob. Those bots bounty hunting days are over for me', Pep irritably replies while taking a big drag from a Chesterfield. 'I know. You're a big time music, what, critic and journalist now, huh? And your bot-head bag line is doing well, very well. But this is a big one, Pep. A total cluster f***,' replies Robbie. 'They got JC, Johan, and the entire garrison of ANKOUs. Hell, even the A.B.Cs and that F-cyborg. Remember them? Should be a walk in the park for the Baron,' Pep retorts. 'Should be. However, JC disappears after the last stand at Necropolis, the A.B.C. Warriors' taking an isolationist stance and the ANKOUs are not doing well. And fyi, Tommy's in hospital from a strafe bombing. That dhampir girl of his and her sister, Cherry. Well, they're so severely drained from all the fighting, that daddy of theirs have to force them into hibernation temporarily for recovery. Only that F-cyborg and Johan still standing,' explains Robbie. 'Gotta give credit to them. Let's cut this short. You want me to bring us the gauntlets is that it?' Pep says as she puts out the Chesterfield and lights up another. 'Bingo.' Robbie excitingly said. 'You know what the gauntlet would do to you. The question is, can you handle it?' asks Peppermint. 'No Pep. I can't handle it. But also by the same token, that's why flesh wins over steel, Pep or have you forgotten?' replies Robbie. Peppermint takes another long drag from the Chesterfield. She thought about how both Robbie and herself retrieved a pair of mysterious cybernetic gauntlets embedded in the glassy sands while scavenging on the north ridge of the impact crater created by an inertia strike via a space colony upon Perth district, Western Aus Republic during the times of the Great War in the 30s. The left gauntlet has the name  Cú Chulainn etched on it, while the right fist is called Scáthach, of which Peppermint keeps. And once Robbie puts it on, the power fist tends to turn the screw looser on his head. The power gauntlets composition remains a mystery.

2001. The Northern Frontier, DMZ. 'How long before the breach?' asks Baron Seth von Sydow. 'Five, maybe six minutes tops, Guv,' the sergeant replies, 'but the War Zombs and KA Mumbs would be there to break the first wave follows by the ANKOUs.' he continues. 'Never trust those Zomb bastards. But in times like this, an enemy of my enemy is my...fiend, I mean, friend.' the Baron says sheepishly. Since the Robot Island War begins, the Baron and the Zomb MD have announced a temporary truce with each other. The Baron could not afford a two front war. Meanwhile, The Plague Lord himself is tired from the high intensity engagement against his former creation, the Zombots. A continuous ten feet thick, thirty meters high, superviscous hydrowall with super pressure velocity is built to put out the bots and borgs. Tesla coils, melta towers and magnetic mines are put in place. But the robots still find a way to breach it. 'Sir, they are here,' the sergeant said. 'Good. Tommy and the Sunshine Gang's great at fighting the Zombs but we need the Groves for added edge against the Bots. Furthermore, Goldie has been instrumental in the rescue of Cherry from King Thumb.' said the Baron. 'But that head gear..' the sergeant begins before being cut off by the Baron. 'Don't even mention, nay, think about that in Goldie's presence, you understand boyo?' the Baron warns. 'I understand it's kinda strange but son, there are stranger things in this world which I had seen. And that head gear is not one of them. But what the heck, it sure is one queer looking hat, hahahaha!!!!' the Baron breaks out into a stomach bursting laughter with the rest before The Golden Dolphin and Peppermint step into the makeshift command room. 'Ahem. Welcome to New Andria. Great to see you again, Pep. And Robbie, how's it hanging?' the Baron suddenly changes his tone and demeanour. ' Last I checked it's still there and hangin good, mate. Is the deal hanging good as well, Seth?' Robbie asks. 'Of course. A clean slate for you once what I want of you is done, Rob.' the Baron smiles slyly.  

The combat zone is reminiscence of the old days from the Great War. Amidst the decaying industrial towers and complexes, the ANKOUs march forth against the tide of Zombots and other borgs. Robbie begins to twitch, as he is overwhelmed by the emerging berserker rage. And as his alter ego takes over, Robbie ignores all rational restraints in the battle and completely immerse himself in  the combat, becoming a dangerous warrior for both allies, friends and foes alike. The formers are staying clear of his paths. The Golden Dolphin's berserker fury, known as "Torque", makes him ignore even fatal physical injuries as if it never affected him and continues fighting with a frightening level of stamina, endurance and speed. Each punches give out a sonic boom as it exceed the speed of sound. It makes The Golden Dolphin super strong as it boosts his adrenaline and stamina to the point he is able to wear out all his opponents through sheer tenacity and ferocity alone. In combination with the Cú Chulainn power gauntlet which is said to contain the very essence of the Hibernian legendary hero, The gauntlet smashes apart anything at the molecular level. 
The gauntlet enables Rob to create, shape and manipulate kinetic energy, the energy possessed by any moving object. The kinetic energy gained during the acceleration process changes once the speed also changes. He can transfer kinetic energy from one object to another, thus strengthening their attacks, or tearing holes in walls with a simple touch, turn an object's potential energy into kinetic energy, making it explosive, or cause target to be unable to move or unable to stop if in motion.  Robbie fuses this ability into a form of kinetic physical combat, enabling him to channel kinetic energy through different parts of his bodies in order to enhance the strength of his physical attacks, giving him enhanced condition such as enhanced strength, speed, jump and vibration emission which generates destructive shock waves, including devastating air-burst. The robots at the receiving end of his power fist and kicks are often grounded to nothing more than scrap pieces of metals. Together with his berserker rage, Rob would charge into the thick of the battles envelop in kinetic energy,  releasing shockwaves which tears anything in his path, becoming a nigh unstoppable force. 
Rob could also manipulate vector by redirecting matter and energy either through direct or indirect contact. He can change the magnitude and direction of an object to manoeuvre it in the desired way, regardless of pre-existing vectors. This also applies to static or non-moving objects, technically speaking, the object still has momentum as it is moving through space. Since nearly everything in existence has vectors, manipulation of them can essentially grant the Rob an absolute defence that prevents him from harm, among many other possibilities which includes inertia negation, power reflection and deflection. However, Rob requires physical contact and limited to affecting only matter. Psykers and mages could forgo vector movement and can bypass defence. He is also limited to controlling certain amount of vectors at a time, and distraction may leave Rob open for counter-attack. Prolong battle would also causes him to tire out but if not for the berserker rage which enables him enhanced endurance. Regardless, his Golden Dolphin head garb protects him from the barrages of techno magos psionic assaults, accorded him total immunity from any forms of sorcerous and magic attacks.
As the Golden Dolphin, Robbie has absolute control over water manipulation. He can shape and manipulate water, inorganic compound with liquid, gas such as steam, water vapour, and solid states such as ice, including chancing them from one state to other. Robbie is known to control ocean currents, manipulate tides, generate tidal waves and whirlpools. He control water molecules, manipulating its density and solidification. Robbie has displayed abilities of water related elemental flight and hydrokinetic surfing. Combined with his berserker fury and hydrokinetic attacks of all forms since Northern Frontier is just border of the Adriatic Sea, as the Golden Dolphin, Robbie summons great walls of tidal waves to smash apart a great numbers of the machines. Salt water ain't exactly friendly to metal. It must be noted, that the Golden Dolphin could not create water, being limited to manipulating only from already existing sources.  

Nevertheless, like Peppermint warning to Robbie, the combination of the gauntlet's anger empowerment ability and the Golden Dolphin's magic empowerment would more than often caused him to suffer from total physical and mental backlash due to the emotional, mental power overload, with risk of self-destructive behaviour.

By the end of the battle, a ring of wall consist of torn apart bots and borgs have piled up at where The Golden Dolphin stands, his gauntlet glowing bright orange. Although worn out and tired, The Golden Dolphin plucks up a Bothead and starts to preach the Gospel of the Golden Dolphin to it.

 

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This is one nice figure from 3A, but the dolphin head garb is truly an ingenious, eccentric creation by Ash. Who would have thought of that, I wonder? Apart from the creators of Ugg Boots that is (just kiddin).