...at the very least DON'T DIG THE DAMN ZOMBIE UP. I've BURIED KHA for a bloody reason so PUT DOWN THAT SHOVEL AND STEP AWAY FROM THE GRAVEYARD.
*hears moans and groans*
Now look what you've done!!
*shoots the slobbering zombie agex in the head*
Now with that settled, we can go back to posting cool stuff in this new and fully-operational thread.
*Age used Phoenix Down to self revive.*
*Age cast holy and obliterate Kha's remains*
Now that Kha is deader than dead, we can go back posting new stuff.
Magical girls each has their own familiars call (Interfacing Devices)
Blue Bird (Heroine)
Black Cat (Rival)
Red Dragon (Enemy?)
White Snake (Ally?)
Each girls has variation of the same classes: E.g. Swordsman/Blade-master...etc.
Because the Classes are actually Ancient warriors who fought against the evil god but fall. The Sadistic evil god decided to punish them by sealing their souls into crystals used to fuel its own army of Undead Husks. Nothing is more satisfying to know that your enemies' friend end up kill your enemies over and over again even without realizing it.
=
There are two method of using Classes: One by Loading which extract the data through the Interfacing Devices and other is by directly installing the Soul into the girl's body.
The latter process has the advantage of gaining the experience of Ancient warriors, allowing them to fight like expert but in exchange, they will experience Ancient warrior's death...which hurt like hell.
"Meet Erika. She’s smart – really pretty smart. Especially when it comes to strategy and operational tactics. Unfortunately for her, this caught Aegina’s eye when Erika was still training at the naval academy. And let’s be honest, no one wants to be Aegina’s favourite pet project. Which is exactly what Erika is. Her relationship with Aegina has proven extremely beneficial for Erika’s career, and Aegina’s experience has proven invaluable for developing Erika’s potential as a warrior and a leader. But the attention is a two-edged sword, and the long years Erika’s spent in close company with her mentor has left deep seated mental and emotional scars."
Profile thingy here, teaser or whatever, curtsey of my friend who is working with me to write all this stuff in the first place!
Dang I wish I knew how to make the image not so HUGE. Like a thumbnail or something. Hmmm.
When he heard the shriek of his partner, Elric acted instantly.
Slamming open the door separating the two TSAB officers, he dived into the room and tackled down the small framed woman who was his partner for quit some time now.
Shielding her with his body, Elric fiercely looke up to see what happened.
Elric Thorn could not imagine what he was about to face...
When he heard the shriek of his partner, Elric acted instantly.
Slamming open the door separating the two TSAB officers, he dived into the room and tackled down the small framed woman who was his partner for quit some time now.
Shielding her with his body, Elric fiercely looke up to see what happened.
Elric Thorn could not imagine what he was about to face...
Spoiler for Face it:
Remind me again why this board does not have a Like function?
Elric Thorn, I salute you. See you on the other side.
*Also, that is a lovely image *
__________________
Against all the evil that hell can conjure, all wickedness that mankind can produce... We will send unto them, only you.
Reading Vivid really makes you have strange ideas.
It was nice drawing him in some different clothes than his uniform or Barrier Jacket.
Spoiler for Elric showing a young girl a secret fighting technique:
DIRT TO THE FACE!! ò_Ó
And yes, that's An-chan. I'm refitting her background to make her appear in Vivid.
She's not the child of Rinya and Elric anymore, she is Rinya's cousin now.
Also, her dark green hair is now turquoise.
Hm... makes me think that Elric might profit from picking up Strike Arts and not the self-taught brawler style he uses in melee combat.
Sorry, but not really. This is more like a threat about characters created by the users here... so I don't really see that article about raising clones has much to do with that... (except you want to use that for an OC)
I would like to point out that rankings in Nasu is a very willy matter. (Anti-World and Anti-God being EX, I can understand. But Gae Bolg, God Hand and Knight of Honor only get a B?)
Dead?
We have the Technology: We can rebuild it, better than it was before...
Talking of which:
Character Pic, Profile and expository snippet, with notes below:
Spoiler for profile:
Name: Nathaniel Adams Norton/NaN (from only identifying mark on subject) Age: 32 Gender: male Racial Classification: Non-Combat Cyborg Affiliation: Dimensional Fugitive Magic-user Type/Rank: Non-magic user Height: 6’3” Weight: 497lbs Hair Colour: red Eye Colour: grey
Basic Outfit: Standard wear is a reinforced Bodyglove similar to the type later used by the Sentoukijin Numbers (who share considerable elements of design with this 'Older Model') In this case, it has been cut down at the Shoulders and Thigh and equipped with pressure cuffs, to form a seal at the junction between the remaining Man and machine.
Inherent Equipment: Prosthetic Components
Unlike the ‘Sentoukijin’ Cyborg series as typified by Jail Scaglietti's Numbers, this subject’s prosthetics are not integrated with it's genetic structure, as it was not born with the intention of making it a Cyborg, and thus did not receive the requisite genetic alterations in the embryonic stage required for full body integration of biotechnological modifications. Rather, large tracts of it's body have been essentially replaced with entirely new ones. This crude replacement was the only means to achieve any major improvement over a fully biological body until the breakthrough that allowed biological-technogical fusion in the Sentoukijin.
By studying the interactions between the new prosthetic parts and the few remaining biological components, insight into the required genetic alterations could be gained.
Advantages afforded by the addition of Prosthetic Components include:
Increased physical strength and durability; Even Compared to the already significantly enhanced Sentoukijin, It's physical strength is not merely Superhuman but Inhuman - Without the need to accommodate or be limited by Organic tissues, inherent physical Strength is correspondingly greater. Because it's outer integument is structurally part of it's chassis, it's physical resiliency is increased by application of reinforced armour plating to his external surfaces. Trans-Skeletal supports Provide unequalled capacity for leverage and Force Amplification and also provide complete skeletal redundancy.
Reduction in the requirement to physically respire or excrete; the Digestive and Respiratory systems have been partially replaced and partially eliminated; While eating and breathing are still possible, the requirements for metabolic energy and gaseous exchange has been greatly reduced; since the extensive prosthetic systems cannot be maintained solely by metabolic energy without additional energy support, this was considered an acceptable sacrifice.
Enhanced sensory range and precision, including telescopic and microscopic vision across multiple wavelengths including Infra-red thermographic and light amplification, Aural clarity and range improvements including ultrasonic and infrasonic hearing, Proximity sensors and short range Sonar/Radar.
Micronic Self-Repair system; Modelled on the Regenerative abilities of living organisms, this system uses micro-scale mechanical tools to conduct ongoing reconstructive repairs to counter wear and age-related degradation. Overall rate of replacement is slow, however, and major damage will require technical surgery.
Wide range of inbuilt equipment
disadvantages include feelings of dehumanisation and depression; lack of fine motor control, including loss of ability to sense touch except via specialised sensory pads in the hands; An increase in overall mass and inertia, which leads to apparent clumsiness, exacerbated by the extremes of force and torque his body can exert.
History of Contact with Space Time Administration Bureau: Outstanding Warrants for Theft/Possession of Restricted Lost Logia, Absconding Custody, Resisting Arrest
It was shaping up to be quite the day; It wasn't often that Nanoha Takamachi actually asked for people to accompany her on a vacation, since it wasn't often Nanoha actually took her vacations without being shanghai'ed by Fate, or more usually, Hayate, though she had been getting better about it since her injury and especially since adopting Vivio.
What made this even more unusual was that this time, it appeared to be Nanoha doing the Shanghai'ing. Even more peculiarly, the usual suspects for such a shanghai'ing were not in evidence.
Instead, Nanoha had managed to get almost every member of the Nakajima family Bar Genya allocated the same leave, somehow compounding that by managing to get their other family who were seconded to the Saint Church to also be free to accompany them.
Why she had decided to arrange an all cyborg accompaniment for her latest trip to Non-Administered World 97, otherwise known as Earth, was currently puzzling almost all present. Nanoha had merely been vague and mentioned introducing them to relatives. Of course, it was known to some that Earth was Nanoha's Homeworld and that she had relatives there was therefore unsurprising, but that she saw reason to introduce the entirety of the non-incarcerated Numbers to them was less easily understood; If it had been Simply Subaru (and even Ginga) it would have been easier to comprehend, since Subaru Had been a part of her unit, and thus there was at least some connection to be expected. Bringing Ginga was a reasonable extension of that. But bringing along all of her Sisters-in-Cybernetics seemed like inexplicable overkill, even for the White Devil, to Whom the Term 'Overkill' was usually considered no more than a Quaint concept.
Nevertheless, and possibly because of that Reputation, ten sentoukijin Cyborgs ambled along bemusedly but uncomplaining as they made their way to the Relay Port; Nanoha had had to clear a mass transfer slot allowance to transfer so much mass; while she could probably have managed to pull off such a transfer herself, arrangement had been made so she didn't have to. As they were on leave and off duty, the group were in civilian clothing, which actually made them stand out more at this end of the transfer, since most of the personnel were in TSAB uniform; Nanoha (or someone who owed her a favour) had swung the use of a military relay pad rather than having to wade through a civilian port; Since Earth was off the beaten track, civilian shipping didn't get too close in any case, and since relays were commonly bounced off in-transit vessels, getting a relay could have been difficult, not to mention difficult to explain. Fortunately, the Bureau maintained a Relay beacon near Earth of it's own, partly because of Nanoha and Hayate, partly because of Lindy Harlouwn having partially retired there, and partly to keep an ear on Gil Graham.
Which meant no queuing; as soon as they arrived, they were given the clearance to step onto the pad, and with a thumbs up, the operator raised three sliders on their panel and reality dissolved into dust before being reassembled in a radically different pattern.
Reality re-entry was very different than departure; unsurprising, since there were no official relay ports on Earth, merely a designated reintegration location concealed from prying eyes and discreetly situated relatively close to the Takamachi and Harlouwn residences. Since Earth was a non-administered world and had no magical or dimensional transit of it's own, Transfers had to be done with a degree of subterfuge to avoid raising awkward questions among the locals.
Someone being there to meet them of course didn't signify anything on it's own; Nanoha's relatives obviously had to be in on the masquerade; As for Lindy Harlouwn, she was part of the masquerade. The person they saw, however, wasn't one they recognised, even Subaru, who second-handedly had seen some of Nanoha's Family via photographs. Naturally, it left the possibility that this was merely some member of her family Subaru Wasn't familiar with. And after all, hadn't that been what Nanoha had said this visit was all about?
Nanoha waved the waiting watcher over; As they came closer they could make out more of them, beginning with their height; they were taller than anyone present by quite a margin; They were also Red haired, Pale skinned and seemingly male. If they were any relation to Nanoha, the Assembled Numbers couldn't see it; He seemed to be different even to the point of racial type, sporting different facial features Than Nanoha. He was also wearing casual clothing; Black Trousers and a Blue-and-purple patterned Hoodie.
“ Nathan; You got my message then.” Nanoha asked of the approaching individual.
“Yeah; Kinda surprised though; This doesn't sound like the sort of thing I'd have thought you'd come up with...” Was the bemused answer. 'Nathan' didn't sound like Nanoha either, and it took a moment for some of the Numbers to realise he wasn't speaking the same language and they were hearing automatic translation; they were so used to Translation Magic it was easy to forget it was there.
“Once upon a time you'd have been right; I guess Hayate and Fate made an impact on me over the years...”
“ Not in the same way you and Fate made an Impact on me, I hope..”
“Well, the odd argument notwithstanding, no Explosive force was involved”
“If it wasn't you, that'd be easier to believe...”
“ Are you saying I solve all my problems by Blowing them up?” Nanoha shot back (figuratively only) with mock annoyance.
“ Sounds like he's got your number, Takamachi” Nove Interjected “ so, Is this your brother? I'm not seeing a resemblance...”
“ No, No, Kyouya's busy with his own stuff” Nanoha waved the comment away “ Anyway, to introduce you, This is Nathaniel Adams Norton.”
“ So if he isn't your Brother, what relation is he?” Sein Asked. “ After all, this whole thing was supposed to be you introducing us to your Relations, right?”
Nanoha smirked. “ Not My relation...Yours.”
“ Say What?” Was the intent, if not the actual words, of what pretty much all the assembled Numbers tried to spit out in relation to this revelation.
Nanoha Sighed; So much for her big reveal; “Go on: Show them what's under the Hoodie” She smirked as she glanced over at Nathan's Confusion.
He responded by reaching down and lifting the hem of his hoodie up and pulling the garment off over his head, along with the shirt he had on underneath it, revealing...well, it was one thing to call a person Barrel-chested, but in this case the term should probably be something more like 'Steel-Drum-Chested'...With emphasis on the steel part, it looked like.
Arms like Linked metal tubes fastened on to huge balljoints at the shoulders, and it was realised that hands that they had thought had been wearing gloves were actually just clad that way due to their attachment. It was when they got below the chest that the real revelation began though; the colours of the parts they'd seen so far were familiar enough, but what he wore beneath that...
well, to say they recognised it was a gross understatement: until recently, 9 of those present had worn that familiar looking bodysuit themselves; the lavender and blue patterning was pretty unmistakeable...and so was what that meant.
Etched into that Steel-Drum Chest, about where they had each worn their own Tag with their own number, was instead a series of Letters: NaN, the significance of which was quickly realised...
“ Nathaniel Adams Norton...NaN...” Subaru Recited “ I know You! You were in the Bureau 'Wanted' Files! You Stole a Lost Logia and beat the snot out of Nanoha and Fate and...” And then Subaru slowed down with her accusation and glanced over to Nanoha, who was grinning “...And there's something going on here that the Bureau Files doesn't know about, isn't there?”
Now it was 'Nathan's' turn to grin “ Something like that; It seems my reputation preceded me though”
“ That doesn't explain what's going on here though; NaN?” Dieci asked.
“'Not a Number'; presumably a Joke on Jail's part; He already had all of you on the drawing board when he used Nathan as a guinea pig for his cybernetic interface testing, But since Nathan had no Linker core and obviously couldn't receive Embryonic modification for Artificial Mage or Inherent skill traits, he was no use as a Combat Cyborg, so when Jail was done with his Data Gathering, he tossed him onto the trash heap so he could get to more important things: You” Nanoha filled in.
“ That does sound like the Doktor” Cinque Mused “ but how did he go from that to a Bureau fugitive?”
“ Well, when Jail scrapped me, he doesn't seem to have pulled the plug completely enough; I woke up again after some period of time I don't recall in unfamiliar territory. Shortly after that, She found me” He thumbed at Nanoha.
“Out-of-Place technology coupled with weird Mana Readings meant investigation as a possible Lost Logia Disturbance. Of course it wasn't, but we only found that out after we found Him”
“Of course, Being newly risen from the essentially-dead makes you wary of being confronted, so I wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect of being dragged off; besides, it was just a couple of kids...”
“Ouch.” was Subaru's assessment. There were nods among the others.
“ So where does Lost Logia Theft come into this; I mean resisting arrest, sure; and you obviously got away again, so Absconding from Bureau Custody is covered, but where does the Lost Logia come in?” Subaru asked of the gaps in her knowledge covered by the Bureau File.
“ I'm getting to that” Nanoha placated “But consider: Since he isn't modified the way you were, His prosthetics are replacements, not additions; And they need to be powered. In your cases, the power is supplied by Linker Core Taps and metabolic energy. But he has no Linker core and his Prosthetics are far cruder and more power intensive than yours, and he's got more of them.”
“ That's true; we just need to eat to keep our power levels stable under normal circumstances; How does he manage?” Ginga asked. Nanoha Grimaced.
“Badly” Nathan Answered.
“What he means to say is that he needs external power to support his implants. And as for where that comes from; Subaru, do you remember when we first took down a type 3 drone intact enough to find out what powered it?”
Subaru thought for a moment. “ Yeah. You and Fate were really shocked; It was like it was something you'd seen before, you said, and...you weren't just talking about the Jewel Seeds themselves, were you?”
Nanoha sighed “No; That was my Second time seeing something that resembled a Jewel Seed without being one. The first time...”
“When they took me in, the bureau Meditechs disconnected my prosthetics and took off my support frame; I Woke up limbless in a hospital bed In just my bodysuit, Harmless enough, but they'd also opened my chest socket and extracted the Micro-Jewel-Seed-Copy Jail had installed to power all the Cybernetics. So I was powerless, literally. Thing is, it's not just the obvious parts that are prosthetic...”
“We got to see him a few hours after capture; He was...well, he looked absolutely pathetic, honestly; Helpless, pale, and so weak he could barely move; what was left of him, that is.” Nanoha continued. “his breathing was laboured, and he could barely speak; He was drifting in and out of consciousness. It took me and Fate some digging around to find out why”
“ Naturally the Bureau took the Knockoff-Seed; I didn't realise the significance then; Lost Logia wasn't a term I understood except as part of a tirade launched against me by...well, Nanoha; well, among other things she also launched at me. But without it, and without my Prosthetics, and my support frame...well, I wasn't going anywhere except one place...and that pretty fast.” Nathan Recounted.
“ It was such a shock to see the change; A little before he'd fought myself and Fate with enough strength to smash my Shields and wreck my barrier jacket...and then he was so weak moving his eyes was a strain. I managed to get some details out of the Meditechs; His systems were just shutting down one after the other. Without the extra power that Knockoff-Jewel-Seed provided, his systems just didn't have the power to operate, and so he just progressively shut down.”
“ It's starting to make more sense now” Subaru conceded. “But this was pretty long ago; You'd have been pretty young then”
“Young and Naive; I knew he could be a theoretical Danger...but seeing him, helpless and fading just hit me with pity...”
“ So you got the Jewel-Seed-Knockoff back for him?”
“Well, no. By the time I'd figured all this out, it was already too late for that. The Bureau had ideas regarding a less powerful, more controllable Jewel Seed; they wanted to know how to duplicate it...”
“ The Doktor Foresaw that possibility; Those items were booby-trapped to try to prevent such an occurrence; They would self-destruct upon being probed in the wrong way” Cinque confirmed.
“Which is of course exactly what happened; fortunately the Researchers took precautions and no one was hurt, but the item was destroyed. That's why we didn't even try when we recovered that partial one from that Type-3.”
“ So then what? You must have come up with something for him to be here right now.” Nove asked.
“Well the Bureau Meditechs did try connecting an ALICE (Artificial LInker Core Engine) Pack up as a life-support Generator, but it didn't work because of incompatibility; Without a Linker core of his own, the external Mana wouldn't link and so he couldn't actually use the energy even when it was supplied.”
“ So The original was destroyed, and a substitute wouldn't work” Dieci Surmised.
“Well, not quite. Fate reminded me that we both knew where there were twenty-one substitutes that should work perfectly well...for a very obvious reason...” Nanoha
“You're not saying...you didn't...You Did!” Subaru exploded “you stole a Jewel Seed! An Actual, Honest-to-Vivio Lost Logia Jewel Seed! And you gave it to him! And he used it to clean your clocks! That's what the Lost Logia Theft was about, except he didn't steal it, you did!...Waitaminute...”
“Yeah, well, when they snuck in and figured out how to install the thing I was a bit confused” Nathan Admitted “ on the other hand, it beat the prospect of slowly suffocating”
“What?”
“ My 'lungs' are Augmetic Gas-exchangers; Once my power levels got low enough for them to go into shutdown...”
Nanoha shook her head “the Bureau knew it was going to happen. They had a team lined up to perform a post-mortem the moment he flatlined. Just one more reason I don't really regret what I did”
“After that, I told them how to reconnect my prosthetics, which they'd broken out of evidence...and then came my escape...and a running battle”
“ Which was nothing more than a glorified pyrotechnics display and a lot of play-acting really, of course, but the Bureau never Knew that; As far as they knew, he'd become a Dimensional Fugitive in possession of dangerous Lost Logia”
“Except Bureau Jurisdiction doesn't extend to Non-Administered worlds, so Nanoha had me escape here, where I've spent most of the intervening time, occasionally doing odd jobs for the Takamachi's or Admiral Lindy...”
“ In the meantime, of course, life on Midchilda continued; Nathan unfortunately didn't remember much from before waking up on the scrapheap where Jail dumped him; He never actually recalled seeing Jail himself; Possibly Jail Kept him unconscious and just used him as an organic work fixture to test his cybernetics on before building...well, you. When Quint found Subaru and Ginga, we asked him about them, but he didn't know anything, and we talked to him again after Jail made his move. We couldn;t actually ask him to do anything else, since he couldn't move off Earth without becoming a target of the Bureau again; He almost did anyway, actually, but we 'persuaded' him to stay put.”
“ By which she means she threatened to disconnect my Prosthetics again” Nathan Glared at Nanoha
“ It worked” Nanoha responded mildly.
“ I'm surprised she didn't blast you again.” Wendi suggested.
“That Wouldn't work” Nanoha casually waved it off. The Numbers stared.
Nanoha Takamachi, Not using Blasting as an argument? And 'wouldn't work'?
“He's a lot like you are in that respect: he's Very tough, and very hard to stop. Just Blasting him wouldn't stick for long. Thick-skinned is pretty literal in his case” Nanoha smirked.
“ Anyway, you know the rest from there; Then Nanoha calls me up and asks me If I want to meet some girls, and I says 'Sure' Says I...She didn't tell me exactly who I'd be meeting till a lot later...” Nathan Glared at Nanoha again “Way to get a guy's hopes up”
Nanoha just stuck her tongue; Wendi was more vocal “ she didn't tell us who we were meeting at all. We thought we were meeting her relatives”
“Not ours”
“ We didn't know we Had Relatives”
“ Is he even actually related to us?”
“Well, with that hair he might have some genetic similarity to Nove and Wendi; maybe the Doktor used some of his DNA”
“ I don't think that really matters anyway; We aren't all genetically similar...But you are definitely my Sisters.”
“So What does that make him?
“ Brother?”
“ I think it's the closest term we'll get...Father is...well, The Doktor tried to play that role...and it's kind of soured me on the term at first, then Genya stepped in to That role; That just leaves...”
“We have a Brother?”
“We have a Brother.”
“This deserves some kind of celebration: We have a Brother!”
“And that would be why, and for precisely this reason, that you had me help prepare all those cakes at Midoriya, would it not, Nanoha?” Nathan Rhetorically asked, though it was obvious from her mocking smirk that this was exactly the case.
So, after putting his Shirt and hoodie back on, Nathan and Nanoha lead the assembled Sisters to Midoriya, still the best bakery in Uminari city, and venue for a long overdue family reunion.
Spoiler for notes:
After a lot of work getting my picture right after being struck with background inspiration, success.
Picture is obviously not my own work: it's stitched together from various concept art for Megaman Legends 3 from the net: I merely put bits together and recoloured them.
The colours are due to my progress: At first I could not get the bodysuit how I wanted, so I tried to give the impression by using a similar colour palette to the Numbers on the rest of the body to tie him in; Then I had a breakthrough and got the Bodysuit Right. I also added an eyepiece and helmet. I'm unsold on wether to go with the arm cannons though.
There's a couple of mythology Gags regarding the Name: The Numbers all have there, well, number, on a plate on there chests; I wanted something similar, but not using a number; Since he's supposed to predate the numbers...ah, but Subaru and Ginga are Zero...I considered using 'i' for the square root of Negative NUmbers...but that would make him...an Imaginary Number, and since Front MIssion 3...welll, LUKAAAAV! Also, Imaginary NUmbers in that sense also have Genetic modifications, which part of his background is that he pointedly doesn't have.
So, not a Real Number, and Not an Imaginary Number. What's left?
So, I then went for NaN: Quites simply, what is he? Not aNumber.
His (Fake) Name is also a nod to this, and the origin of the picture parts via convoluted logic: The names follow the initials NaN. Norton follows the Nanoha tradition of names=vehicles (cars usually; to be different I used a Motorbike Manufacturer; there aren't many car models begnining with N) Nathaniel Adamas Fits the othe N and a in 'NaN', and is the 'real' Name of the character 'Rock' From Soul Edge/Calibur series. Rock, of course corresponds to the (japanese) name of the character I nabbed the picture parts from.
I also came up with a reason to be able to slip one past the H4xxbusters of old: He has 'Officially' kicked the Snot out of Nanoha AND Fate in a fight.
H4xx?
No, because they Threw the Fight
The Jewel Seed Theft was an Idle thought I explored: If he had to use a power source, what would it be? Well, Jail Cyborg, but no Number-mods...but the drones, the powerful ones use those knockoff Jewel Seeds. But if that's taken off him and lost...
If Nanoha Takes pity on him...well, She knows where there are 21 possible stand-ins for that.
Of course, that makes him a Fugitive, since Lost Logia Theft is a big thing. Nanoha would be if it were known she did the stealing...hence the play acting to cover it up, and the thrown fight.
Of course, a real Jewel Seed is probably more powerful than the knockoff.
As for how he relates to the Numbers, well, scene
In a more technical sense, if the Numbers are Terminators, He's Robocop. Not as sophisticated; not as subtle and certainly not as agile or elegant...but in terms of pure durabilty and sheer brute force still a force to be reckoned with.
Backstory prior deliberately left vague for possible futre filling in.