JACKSON ARMSTRONG
Nickname: Grandpa; Wind Talker; Child of Thunder; Sword That Cleaves Evil
Age: 55
Birthday: 22nd July
Hair colour: dark grey
Eye colour: sapphire
Height: 188cm
Weight: 82kg
Affiliation: TSAB
Position / rank in TSAB: General Inspector (retired); Wind Talker (active).
Home world: Earth (nationality: American)
Device: Forneus
Device type: Intelligent Device
Device appearance: halberd; Colossal Sword
Magic system: Mid-Childa
Magic element: lightning
Magic symbol: circle
Magic colour: dark grey
Partner: Leonidas, Annabelle
Appearance: Armstrong is never seen without his Barrier Jacket for the most of time.
Personality: a caring, understanding old man, General Armstrong always resorts to diplomacy as a mean to solve problems; only when everything else fails will he use full strength (although he seldom does so prior to his retirement). As a father, he cares of whoever he treats as his own children, adoptive or blood-related.
Style: in his younger years, Armstrong was among the few Aces whose technique could counter-balance Belkan magic system. His expertise in lightning-based magic gave him the moniker “Child of Thunder”, and he was respected by friends and foes whenever he went.
In his earlier years, Armstrong was known as “Sword That Cleaves Evil” due to his extensive swordsmanship and philosophical beliefs that all evils would have to be smitten with Forneus in Colossal Blade form. It was also his preferred method to finish off enemies, particularly AMF robots that were abound during the era.
Possible voice actor: Kenichi Ono (Sanger Zonvolt, Super Robot Wars Original Generations)
Quote:
- “Waga na wa Jackson Armstrong. Aku o tatsu tsurugi nari!”
- “Forneus, KENZAN!”
His ID:
BACKGROUND
Armstrong has an interesting background. His grandfather was America’s leading multi-linguist and cryptographer, who had spent his entire life studying the languages of the Native American tribes, especially the Navajo tribe. Both his father and mother were archaeologists and had studied various cultures worldwide, and they were famous for their studies on Mayan and Incas civilizations.
Back in the 1950s when the Cold Was starting to heat up, Armstrong and his family move to Egypt as his father becomes the vice curator of the Cairo Archaeological Museum. His interest in archaeological and studies leads him to local archaeological expeditions around Egypt but the turmoil in the Middle East becomes an obstacle for his inspiring dream. Unable to continue his outdoor activities, Armstrong spends his time in scientific studies of language, learning languages of the Middle East (Arabic, Persian, and Hebrew); he becomes the youngest person to sit the chair of National American Linguistic Society’s vice-president chair. His passion for cultural studies makes him leaving the position and he takes himself in a world tour, studying and analyzing every culture he comes across.
Armstrong’s involvement with the Time-Space Administrative Bureau becomes apparent when he is selected by a group of TSAB officers who is seeking for translator for their field studies in Navajo culture. Due to his talent, Armstrong becomes popular among space travellers who wish to study Terran cultures; incidentally the Navajo people recognize his role (they had an established relationship with his family for 125 years) and even give him the moniker “Wind Talker”.
On his 15th birthday Armstrong joins TSAB and appointed to the bureau’s cryptography division, at the time working under the Infinite Library (40 years later, he remains the bureau’s longest-serving officer). His natural-born talents as both linguist and code talker leads him to the bureau’s first extensive cultural studies programme; moreover, Armstrong is found to be a proficient learner, being able to gain knowledge of languages from all known administered worlds and perfecting his linguistic skills in short time. Today, he remains the only TSAB officer with knowledge of over 100 spoken languages.
Armstrong’s potency as a mage was, however, previously unknown even after his enlistment in the TSAB as a 1st Lieutenant (he admits during an interview with Space Magazine that he became aware of his power five years after the admission). Even so, he displayed amazing magic prowess and his traits as a mage became apparent during an archaeological expedition to Narulia (42nd Administered World) when he single-handedly defended the expedition’s base camp from Narulian local tribe, although it was his diplomatic skill rather than brute force that saved the day.
After returning to the TSAB with success (the expedition had unearthed archaeological data on the planet’s lost dynasty known as the Chronomancer; it is safe to assume that Chronomancer and, later, Chronograph, would later become Armstrong’s lifetime obsession), Armstrong undertook the bureau’s evaluation tests and passed with flying colours. He was also trusted by the admirals to take over the administration of the cryptography division, and was responsible for assigning the designation 271st Special Operation Unit to the division. Later on, together with five original members from the Navajo tribe that formed The Windtalkers, Armstrong travels across all administered worlds on mission to search and recruit as many members from different planetary cultures as he can; his aim is to have his division a distinctive multicultural identity eliminate cultural difference obvious among the bureau’s officers at the time. (Today, 271st Special Operation Unit is still accepting applications from would-be Windtalkers.)
Armstrong’s major challenge as a Wind Talker comes after he achieves success in decoding Narulia’s secret language of the Minamikaze Tribe and studying the Lost Logia his team had unearthed from Narulia’s archaeology sites 20 years earlier. He learns of the tragic tale of Bayu and Nagalintar, and the enigmatic myths behind the planet’s long-lost Chronomancer Dynasty. His investigations lead him into the encounter with the young Hikki Kokurabuji, whom he finds to inherit the bloodlines of Minamikaze and Chronomancer. He puts his cultural studies on hold as to concentrate on observing the boy, and even establishes the bureau’s auxiliary unit (which later becomes Bougainvillea Brigade) to help him with the investigation. He is the first person to unlock the dynasty’s closely-guarded secret, as he points to the fact that Chronomancer Dynasty was the expert in Time-manipulating magic.
After Hikki leaves Bougainvillea Brigade, Armstrong mobilizes his division into full force and sets them on the mission to persuade Hikki to join the bureau. He even discovers some disturbing aspects about the young monk (namely, his Linker Core) and because of this he mobilizes his task force in haste, fearing that each second wasted will only lead to the boy’s untimely demise.
When the task force is engaged in battle with the berserk Hikki, who is under control of the Lost Logia (Unison Device Halcyon), Armstrong enters the battle and assists the TSAB Aces; he is motivated by the loss of his son who died in a rockslide in Switzerland, and Hikki strongly resembles him in term of determination. Although never actually involved in the duel between the Aces and Halcyon, he himself provides valuable information on the Unison Device.
After successfully ending the Chronomancer Crisis with the help of Lost Property Riot Force 6, Armstrong retires from service and appoints Hikki, now a Tactical Instructor, as his successor. He returns to his hometown in Arizona and lives with his Navajo family. The retirement is temporary, however, as the TSAB still seeks for his service, and Armstrong agrees to return to the bureau as senior advisor.
Armstrong is married to Maria Gato, Spain’s leading linguist and blessed with two children from the marriage. His oldest son, Alexander Gato, unfortunately died when a rockslide in Swiss countryside struck his family-in-law’s mansion; his daughter, Annabelle, was the only survivor in the natural disaster that also destroyed the entire village, and was adopted by Armstrong soon after.
POWER
Armstrong is a lightning mage and uses lightning-based magic in long- and medium-range combats. He is unique for being the only known mage to have perfected the “device-free” technique; it refers to the ability to cast spells without the aids of Devices in any and all circumstances.
As a combat-hardened veteran, Armstrong has been known to fight mages and knights with all kinds of magic systems. Even in his golden years, his strength is comparable to that of Nanoha, Fate and Hayate, currently the TSAB’s strongest aces; prior to events in StrikerS he frequently fights them in mock-up battle. Although he is classified as an AAA+-rank mage, Armstrong’s actual strength is kept confidential for security reason.
There are circulating rumours that Armstrong’s strength exceeds the three Aces’ power level. Given his experience in battlefield, and his excellence as lightning mage, it may have basis. Furthermore, his reputation in his earlier years as “The Sword That Smites Evil” further strengthens the rumour, although he personally admits his power is nothing.
Armstrong’s Intelligent Device is Forneus. It takes the form of a halberd (when deployed from Sealed Form), and has ribbons tied under its pointed blades. Forneus has female voice, speaks in English and addresses him as “sir”.
- Sealed Form: Forneus assumes the form of a locket.
- Open the Seal: Armstrong’s incantation to activate Forneus, and usually his Barrier Jacket is activated as well. The transformation was intended to be performed with long phrases, but Armstrong saw it unnecessary and replaced it with his own chant. His trademark quote is “DaiForneus, Kenzan!”
- Invoke Form: Forneus takes the distinguishable form of a halberd. It is used for firing projectiles/energy beams (Bombardier Mode) and in melee combats (Striker Mode).
- Limiter Release: this is Armstrong’s command to unlock Forneus’ Overdrive Form.
- Overdrive Form: Forneus’ strongest and most powerful form.
- Jewel Seed Seal: used to seal the Jewel Seeds so they will not fuse with anything. Armstrong uses this ability many times throughout his archaeological expeditions.
- Area Search: this ability extends Armstrong’s magical inner-senses, helping him to find anomalies in an area.
- Colossal Sword: even more powerful than Overdrive Form, it was accessible during Armstrong’s golden years as The Sword That Smites Evil.
DEFENSIVE ABILITIES
- Barrier Jacket: Armstrong’s Jacket is a dark grey/red knight-styled dress, with black armoured gloves and armoured boots. It hasn’t changed much for 30 years.
- Thunder Dome: Armstrong’s first spell, and Forneus’ auto-guard magic. It can guard in every direction but is easily penetrable.
- Round Shield: a powerful shield that can endure a prolonged attack. Unlike other barrier-type spells, it can only guard from one direction.
- Thunder Feather: this ability grants Armstrong with the ability to fly and it increases his speed. If Thunder Feather is used in conjunction with a melee attack, the resulting explosion is technically called a Thunder Impact.
- Reactive Blow: it refers to the ability to nullify an attack by detonating the outer layer of Barrier Jacket.
- Lightning Bind: a strong binding-type magic that prevents target from moving.
- Bind Break: this ability, when used, attempts to deactivate a binding spell, and the time required to perform this depends on the complexity of the target magic.
- Frequency Discharge: this ability has the properties of jamming a device, therefore preventing opponents from using their abilities. This is one of the two abilities that do not require a Device (Sacred Edge is the second ability).
- **Plasma Wall: accessible only through Overdrive From, Armstrong first recycles all residue magic and combines it with any available magic stored in Forneus. Then he unleashes the compressed energy to form an electrified barrier that can be used to encage a target or protect friendly units.
OFFENSIVE ABILITIES
- Crescent Slash: Armstrong’s melee attack, consisting of a lightning crescent blade fired from Forneus in Striker Mode. It has the power to neutralize other projectiles, and the blade itself can be thrown.
- Crescent Scythe: this ability enhances Crescent Slash to penetrate barrier-type magic.
- Stun Edge: Armstrong’s basic ranged attack, fired from a small collection of lightning spheres. It is fast and can turn on command should it miss.
- Sacred Edge: a variation of Stun Edge, this spell stockpiles several spheres and unleashes a huge lightning arrow at target. Armstrong can perform this attack without Forneus’ aid, and its short execution time makes it almost impossible to predict.
- Voltage Shooter: Armstrong’s siege-type attack, analogous to Nanoha’s Divine Buster and Fate’s Thunder Smasher.
- Plasma Storm: this is Armstrong’s area-of-affect thunderstorm and has the properties of jamming other Devices.
- **Dragon Hammer: accessible only in Overdrive Form, this ability is designed to destroy force fields, binding magic spells (in case Bind Break fails), illusions and barriers. This is the strongest melee next to Divine Voltage Infinite Razor.
- **Heavenly Judgment: a stronger variation of Plasma Storm where thunderstorms are summoned and commanded to strike at all opponents in target areas. It is accessible only after Forneus’ Overdrive Form is unlocked.
- **Ride the Lightning: Armstrong braces himself and charges at opponent in lightning sphere, leaving electrical residue behind in trails. Then he collides with the opponent and leaves him/her stunned in vicious electric circuits. On some occasions, Ride the Lightning also serves as reactive protection spell.
- **Divine Voltage: the most powerful “Breaker”-type ability so far, on par with Nanoha’s Starlight Breaker Exceed, Fate’s Plasma Zamber, Hayate’s Ragnarok and Hikki’s Squall Breaker Unlimited Discharge. This ability requires the collection and recycling of residual magical energy left over by previous attacks in combat airspace for a new attack. Overdrive Forneus assumes the shape of a gigantic thunder blade many times its original size, analogous to Fate’s Bardiche Assault in its Zamber Form. There are two attack modes of Divine Voltage:
- Infinite Razor: Armstrong strikes the extended “sword of light” onto any target regardless of its distance.
- Thunderbird: Overdrive Forneus shoots overcharged lightning bolt onto target.
COLOSSAL SWORD
This form was only available during the “Aku o Tatsu Tsurugi” saga when Armstrong, along with a colleague named Maxim, was assigned to the non-administered world Excelia following a rebel uprising. It was thought that Colossal Blade Forneus bore many similarities to the legendary Zankantou, possessed by the strongest knight in the history of the Belkan Empire, and added with the fact that many of the attacks mirrored the legendary knight’s.
Divine Voltage, Colossal Burst of Heavenly Cloud
Armstrong uses the Forneus in its base form with a swift swipe in the air that creates a strong wind to cut the enemy.
Divine Voltage, Spinning Blade of Evening Sky
Armstrong uses the plasma generator to enlarge the Forneus into a larger katana-like blade, which is then swung as if it were a boomerang.
Divine Voltage, Rising Thunder of Destiny
Armstrong enlarges the Forneus into a large broadsword. He, then, uses it to perform a series of slashes before ends it with a clean, vertical cut.
Divine Voltage, Blade of a Shining Cloud
Also known as
Colossal Storm, Armstrong enlarges the Forneus to such a point that it’s almost too large for his arms to even handle. He lifts the weapon high overhead and proceeds to take to the sky. Then he drops down with a single bisecting slash as a finishing blade.
Divine Voltage, Infinite Hurricane Blade
A variation of
Infinite Razor & Ride the Lightning, this attack is available only after Maxim agrees to assist him in battle. Maxim activates Trombe and transforms it into Pferde Mode, allowing Armstrong to ride on it (Maxim himself fuses with the Device during the sequence). Riding towards the enemy as a samurai on horseback, Armstrong then strikes with Forneus in high-speed horizontal slash, dragging it across the battlefield. Then he spins Forneus very rapidly to generate a whirlwind that carries the bisected enemy up into the air before adding a final horizontal slash upon the enemy. This combination attack is very flashy, often borderline-ridiculous but very powerful.