[b]Character Name:[/b] Ichi-gou [b]Codename:[/b] [i]Current:[/i] Relic [i]Original:[/i] Talisman [b]Race:[/b] Synthetic Fire-Ant Hybrid / Android [b]Sex:[/b] N/A [b]Gender:[/b] Male [b]Height:[/b] 6.5ft, 7ft if he's standing up straight. [b]Carapace Color:[/b] Molted red and black, with an oily sheen over most of it. [b]Age:[/b] Human years, 29 [b]Eyes:[/b] Black, compound in appearance [b]Who He Is:[/b] Ichi-gou is the Champion of a previous Grand Tournament, and used to be a member of the Multiverse faction 'The Technocrats', before leaving the group and the group's eventual dissolution. There were two Ichi-gou's in the Multiverse for time, a result of him being split in half during his final mission as a Technocrat. One copy went and competed in the previous Grand Tournament while the other stayed behind, waiting to see what came of things. When that version of Ichi-gou won it made the wish that the two of them agreed that they wanted of The Hosts. Its memories and equipment were transferred over to the Ichi-gou which had remained behind, and it returned to the universe which Ichi-gou had originally called home, before it was destroyed years ago by a Multiversal disaster. That copy of Ichi-gou went back to being human, back to the life it had lost, and the universe was sealed off from further Multiversal interaction. The Ichi-gou everyone here interacts with is the Ichi-gou that remained behind to see what would happen. He's been mostly a drifter since then, seeing what there is to see, finishing up things he's wanted to finish up, and enduring the process of his body gradually shutting down due to lack of Technocrat facilities to be repaired and maintained in. His nanomachine regenerative system is disabled, and without that functioning and no Technocrat facilities to turn to eventually his body will fail completely, and then he'll be sent back to his home to a life waiting for him there. He has managed to effect some repairs since the last GT he observed, so he's not as bad-off as he was then, but Ichi has no illusions about the minor restorations being anything more than temporary fixes. [b]Physical Description:[/b] Ichi's head and body are covered in glossy a shell-like material that's a mix of red and black streaks, and his head's overall profile slightly teardrop-shaped. Above his eyes is where there used to be a pair of antennae that were about a foot and a half long that are swept back over his head or twitching two and fro, but the one of the left has been snubbed down to just a few inches long. Below them and shading his black compound eyes are sets of rather sharp eyebrow ridges. The left ridge appears to have suffered a severe impact at some point. There's a chunk cracked off, and a series of cracks surrounding it that spare his eye by just an inch or two. His mouth's exterior is a pair of streamlined mandibles with jagged and extremely sharp edges that open horizontally. He is fully capable of speaking quite clearly, and the mandibles do move in a parody of the act of speaking, but a sharp ear can catch that the sound is actually coming from deeper in his throat. Ichi's torso and arms are roughly humanoid in proportion (slightly bigger than most average human beings since he's on the large side), but he features an extra set of arms about midway down each side of his torso, giving him a total of four. Each hand, instead of having five fingers, features a triangular arrangement of three thicker and very sharp graspers. Each of his joints, from neck, to shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, all of them in other words, has a startling degree of flexibility and rotational range. His chest, back, thighs, shins, biceps, forearms, and the back of his neck are covered in armored shell similar to the carapace covering his face. A large deal of this area is studded with barbs or sharply raised edges. He stands digitigrade on clawed, two-toed feet, clad in Lockardized-titanium-toed boots. While some time ago he'dve been nearly seven feet tall while standing upright and straight. Some time ago the structure of his back had deteriorated due to repeated heavy blows, and he'd been forced to walk with a slouch. That damage has been mostly fixed up, and he can walk with a straight back now, but the plates along his back are still weaker than the rest of his body. The shell and material of his body's internals is mostly complex polymerized ceramic carbide, whereas his internals are a mix of polymerized biomimetic systems for things like tendons, nerves, conductors, and flesh. Small cracks can be seen on the exposed portions of his body, like the tops of his hands and parts of his face, which are miniscule repeated stress-fractures or the result of prior blunt traumas. They're less than they were in the past, but Ichi-gou hasn't been able to completely restore his armor. An interesting trait of his polymerized body is its unique inert nature. Radar doesn't reflect off him; scanning equipment doesn't register a thing, psychics usually can't read his presence, and his he has no body heat or ki. If you can't feel souls then you're not gonna feel him coming up behind you with a knife aimed at your kidneys. Those that are able to feel the souls of those in their vicinity would also detect that while no longer of the human race, and not 'alive' as most organic beings would define life, Ichi-gou does indeed possess a soul to call his own. Distributed throughout his body and limbs is a decentralized nervous system that governs his bodily control, memory, and ability to assimilate new data. Hard, crushing hits will turn his head, but it's extremely difficult to dizzy or stun him, and next to impossible to actually KO him with a strike. Assaults that are exceptionally brutal however will scramble his vision, jam his thinking processes, and result in a momentary freeze-up while his neurons reset themselves (which happens, make no mistake, very, very quickly). While his minds do register damage incurred, Ichi-gou does not feel pain. He merely has a heads-up display within his vision that not only adjusts his point of view between numerous different choices of sight, but also shows the current status of his body. Everything from temperature, power reserves, communication channels for his augmented receiver/transmitter, and the like. [b]Equipment and Clothing:[/b] Ichi-gou is the type to only carry the essentials. His solitary lifestyle and the dissolution of the Technocracy has made that all but required for some time now. While his body has deteriorated under its own stress, his clothing and gear are still in good condition. When out on a mission or in day to day life, he'll stick with his black and custom-cut coveralls and boots simply out of convenience. In addition, in an effort to hide some of his equipment and evidence of his weakened condition, Ichi-gou also wears a navy-blue traveling cloak. Most of the threads are of a molecularly-reinforced Kevlar, but interwoven with those are micro-fine woolen threads of Nth-metal. This makes the cloak into a flexible sheet of very strong armor that is resistant to most scans, can repel some forms of magical probing, and can even absorb many forms of high-energy attacks. Some of that energy can be funneled into Ichi-gou himself to boost his weakened power-core. What he would carry on almost all missions however would be the Sigma 88 handgun, [i]Sprawlz[/i]. A heavy duty rail-pistol built by the Multiverse weapon-smith Sigma the Ironcast Gun, [i]Sprawlz[/i] used to always be strapped to Ichi-gou's right-thigh in a tactical draw holster. Ready to be brought free with the grip at the exact level of his hand, most of the weapon would be concealed from view in fracture-proof polymer shell. The handle is shown to be a black checkered grip, entirely of metal, and laced with neural receptors that sync with the nerves in its wielder's hands (programmed solely to respond to Ichi-gou's touch and command. If picked up by anyone else the gun itself would respond in a manner that can only be described as 'Damn that's fucking mean', ranging from triggering severe nerve damage, burns, to causing severe hallucination and brain damage). There is no trigger mechanism for the firearm, as [i]Sprawlz[/i] instead relies on the thoughts of the one holding it to be fired. The bulk of the body narrows for nearly a foot; tapering from a wide base to an opening of the bore that is .68 caliber. It looks like a triangular thick, heavy, black, and polished pendulum with a handle attached at the base; the inner components of which are hidden from sight and entirely encased in Lockardized-titanium. The weapon functioned by porting its ammunition in from a self-regenerating cache of purpose-designated rounds, held in a pocket-dimension, and blasting them from its barrel at a speed that could approach .1C. Its firing rate and muzzle velocity could be controlled by its wielder, but because it was equipped with an inertial dampening and transport system that dumped the energy of its discharge into a separate dimension, it meant the weapon could be set to stream out 1,000,000 rounds per second, and actually still be held fairly reliably on target. The fact is though, anyone in the room would likely notice that while Ichi-gou's holster is strapped to his thigh, it is empty. Ichi-gou keeps the gun in a separate pocket-dimension most of the time, pulling it out for surprise attack. He's got an affinity for the Technocracy's metallurgical process called 'Lockardization', which is essentially the tempering of metal in plasmic furnaces while the molecular structure is stabilized by laser fields. Lots of his gear features the treatment, meaning much of his gear is easily hard enough to break the bones or bodies of even the hardiest Multiversal opponents. On his person he has: [i]-Three short radius 'sticky' plasma grenades. They adhere to an identified target for three seconds (unless he adjusts the timing), imprinting the information from nerves in Ichi-gou's fingers before being thrown, and detonate in a blast of plasma with a radius of approximately 10ft. There's substantial radiant heat damage beyond that distance. -Three fragmentary grenades. They're standard pineapple models. -Laser pistol. It's small, shiny silver in color, and depending upon the configuration of the diode matrix in the core it's got a punch of about 500kW. The laser is powered by Ichi-gou, via connections in its grip and his hand, and a matter-ediation matrix around the focusing unit in its body can adjust the light pattern it emits at his direction. It also packs a wallop when used beat someone about the head and shoulders. -Coiled length of ten-feet worth of titanium razor-wire. -Lockardized titanium handcuffs -26" Lockardized titanium extendable baton. -Knives. Tantos, to be exact. There's a sheath strapped to his upper left shoulder, upper right shoulder, one on his left hip, and one on his right hip. Ichi-gou being a former Technocrat, they're hardly ordinary knives. Each sheath is actually a compact replicator system, connected to a similar subspace repository to the one that supplies Sprawlz with its slugs. In the case of the sheaths they supply Ichi-gou with a steady supply of Lockardized titanium, black anodized, six-inch tantos. They're sharp enough to circumcise a gnat with, and he's fully capable of throwing them so hard that they can slam through solid rock as though it were plywood. They're also each equipped with a solid-state transporter matrix in each handle, keyed to respond to on-the-fly programming from Ichi-gou's touch. Ichi-gou can flash from the location of one knife to the next, even while they're in mid-flight. Additionally the knives can be cued to remotely transport something they're attached to (or stuck into) to the location of another knife, or to Ichi-gou himself. Sword: A 30" straight katana style Lockardized-titanium blade, contained within a black composite ceramic sheath. The seam of the sheath completely seals itself shu with localized molecular bonders, rendering the weapon to appear as nothing more than a walking stick. And the sheath itself is actually durable enough to be rammed through sheets of steel when thrust point first, so it’s a handy weapon in its own right. And the sheath will not release the handle unless it's triggered to by neural receptors embedded in the grip, which are keyed to respond only to Ichi-gou's touch. Much like Sprawlz, the sword will attack the nervous-system of anyone other than Ichi-gou, if they tried to use it The blade is something special, of course. Embedded along the blade's length is a series of continually shifting runes, which is a system of magical countering originally patented by Paradigm Inc, and later improved by the Technocracy into what was called the Runic Defense Algorithm. The changing series of glyphs magically imbue the blade with different properties, according to algorithms cued up by Ichi-gou. In its default state the runes and glyphs randomly change to throw off the ability of an opponent to guess exactly what they do, but don't actually do anything at all to the weapon. When triggered though, they still continually change at hundreds of new combinations per second, but if one's eyes are fast enough it can be seen that they take on a more uniform purpose. A signature technique Ichi-gou has developed is what he calls 'Turning'. When he's observed that an opponent's weapon has unique properties of its own, he'll trigger the weapon to not only emulate them, but also cue up runic combinations that reflect that ability. He's used it to great effect against weapons that were thought to be indestructible, but reflecting that magical effect back upon the original weapon, damaging or outright destroying it.[/i] [u]Abilities:[/u] All physical abilities here have seriously degraded over the period following the previous Grand Tournament, in sync with the gradual failing of Ichi-gou's body. His programming is still very much intact, as is his consciousness as ability to think clearly. He's nowhere near the peak of his combat capability or control, however. [b]Plasma Control and Direction[/b] Ichi is; at the basic level, a blaster. He uses plasma as his main means of attack. Plasma energy can be emitted from any point on his body, but it is most effectively focused when fired from his hands, feet, and eyes (or even his mouth, if he wants to be dramatic and showy). The control over the path the plasma takes is accomplished via his Electron Direction/Dissolution Control System (the EDDCS), allowing him extremely efficient governing of the energy fields and substance of the volatile matter over an extraordinary range and volume. While the plasma produced by the power core in his chest is hot enough to destroy almost anything it touches under normal circumstance, Ichi-gou has the capability to control when, how, and where the transfer of heat takes place, if it even takes place at all, and to modulate the form the energy takes. The extreme amount of power that his core produces is also one of the main reasons his body has so quickly deteriorated to the point it has. Without access to regular repair and maintenance, combined with the deactivation of his nanomachines, the strain of his power core has gradually depleted his structural integrity and his synthetic muscles are slowly failing. As a result he also cannot generate the large-scale attacks he was previously capable of. Ichi-gou, at present, does not know when the decline of control over his plasmic-generation will eventually kill him, only that it likely will. If his power-core fails first, he will likely simply drop to the ground as an inanimate wreck. If his body's integrity and control system's give out first, he will likely leave an impressive crater wherever he happens to be at that moment. [b]Electromagnetic Control and Direction[/b] Plasma is a powerful but very finicky form of attack and defense. Ichi-gou controls it with an electro-magnetic field control system that's tied to his nerves and power-core, called the EDDCS. It allows him to direct streams and bursts of his energies in highly specified and focused paths with minimal loss of energetic potential, form plasmas into specific shapes for specific purposes. Generation of intense magnetic and electronic fields can also let him manipulate physical matter for attack and defense. This also includes very large scale electrical discharges, on-par with bolts of lightning. It also allows him high-speed flight. (ie, I don't know what other form of control the DBZ androids used to fire their island destroying attacks with such focus, or fly around at such crazy speeds with such crazy precision. Near as I figure Dr. Geero was a Magneto fan) [b]Programming[/b] Ichi's primary role in combat was intended to be a stealthy agent that could work his way beyond enemy defensive lines, and inflict heavy damage upon rearward positions. He's not just good at looking over the lay-out of enemies, but he's also programmed with multiple different combat skill-sets for when the time to actively engage foes comes. As needed he can analyze, adjust, or shift and his physical fighting style to gain the best advantage possible over an opponent in a one on one (or several on one) encounter. If a situation occurs that's outside his scope of knowledge however he's usually stuck with making do and adapting as well as he can; because even though he can communicate with local sources of electronic information a rapid download can actually end up crippling him. Absorbing new data, or too rapid a stream of complex information can easily surpass the rate at which his brain can form neural pathways to store the fresh coding; causing Ichi-gou the synthetic equivalent of a stroke, or lapse into a comma. It's a temporary condition, but one which has crippled him in the midst of dangerous situations before. He's largely stripped his systems of the major Technocrat programming, or recoded the critical subroutines in his brain, just to make sure than any agents who might be out looking for him can't surprise him with unexpected shut-down commands. [b]Strength and Durability[/b] As one would expect, this is an area that has been severely compromised following the shutdown of Ichi-gou's nanomachine repair and regeneration systems. When up close to an opponent Ichi's durable body structure can deliver devastatingly powerful strikes due to the fact that his bones and muscle are harder than most metals, and the fact that the strikes are powered by the same plasma energy supply as his long range attacks. But his body is nowhere near as capable as it once was, both in ability to punch someone into the next zip-code, or ability to withstand similar strikes himself. In the prior Tournament Ichi-gou had been perfectly willing to smash himself through solid rock at several times the speed of sound purely for the chance to take an opponent by surprise. He can handle that a bit better now, and if pushed he could do so without the aide of his structural integrity field, but it would likely still result in further damage. Additionally, having armor composed of polymerized ceramic-carbide means Ichi-gou must very carefully monitor build-up of resonance frequencies in his shell's structure. He cannot fly at high speeds for an extended period of time without risking a shatter-effect, unless he turns on his structural integrity field, which is a big drain on his power-reserves. His common strategy is a rapid darting in one direction, and then shifting to another, giving his body time to stabilize, yet still overwhelm and opponent's defenses through sheer speed. [b]Structural Integrity Field[/b] Ichi-gou was surprised at how quickly his body's stability was failing him, and supplemented it with an internal energy field system very similar to those employed by starships, which have to be protected against matter encountered in space while traveling at extremely high velocities. When the system is turned on it tremendously reinforces Ichi's physical durability, at the cost of being able launch energy based attacks. The strain on his power-core is immense, and while the system has kept him alive, it results in a loss of his offensive capability, and dramatically slows his movement. [b]Venom[/b] Ichi's shell is nice and shiny because his body contains a network of artificial venom glands beneath his carapace, which continually produced various toxic compounds, which exuded over his shell through micorpores near his joints. Not only did he look pretty and glossy, a scratch or bite from him can leave an opponent paralyzed, hemorrhaging, hallucinating, suffering severe blood loss, vomiting, or a whole host of different poisonous effects. Ichi-gou can adjust the types of various toxic compounds into many different cocktails, and his signature one had been a compound he called 'Bite', a combination of poneratoxin and verrucotoxin, which could cause almost unimaginable agony in even the smallest of exposures, and could lead to someone who'd been sliced by Ichi-gou's spines or claws, or jaws to hallucination, deep shock, or fall into a coma as pain overwhelmed. It was actually one of the dooming factors of his final opponent in the prior Tournament. Ichi-gou has only recently restored this ability. In the tournament he had merely observed, it had been unavailable to him. [b]Speed[/b] Ichi-gou's nerves and his entire nervous system aren't limited to the constraints of wholly biologic materials. His brain and body are capable of processing information and acting upon it at incredible speeds. In battles while in the Technocracy's employ he routinely fought running hand to hand battles with opponents moving at super-sonic speed. While he's not as capable as he used to be, this is one of the abilities that hasn't been as degraded as everything else about him has. He must be very careful to avoid breaking himself, but he can, when needed, break Mach-3 for short periods. [b]Onboard Systems[/b] Ichi can receive and identify a gamut of detectable information types; from mystical energies, life signs, or transmissions by reconfiguring the receptors within his eyes; or altering their make-up entirely (the antennae on his head feature and enhance this capability). He can also transfer an equally wide variety of data with electronic devices. He's not quite as fast to adjust as he used to be, however. The loss of system performance has affected his sensor adaptability. He can still adjust and fine tune readings he's looking for, but it's slower than it used to be. Ichi-gou describes it as being 'Kinda like astigmatism'. He's also lost an antennae, reducing his scanning capability. [b]Nano-Matrix[/b] (Disabled) While most other Technocrats had a veritable swarm of nanomachines cycling throughout their bodies to repair damage as it is incurred; Ichi lacks blood or fluid flow for such a dispersion method. So instead a constantly interlinked matrix of the microscopic machines is laced through his body. Should he be damaged, they will effect extremely rapid repair as a matter of course; and should there be obstructions in the way of full reconstruction they can conduct energy or commands around the damaged areas, while breaking down the intrusive material to make it into replacement synthetic flesh, or dispelling it from his body it was at all harmful. The disabling of this system is what has led to his body's gradual breakdown. Without access to Technocrat repair and maintenance facilities, and without the ability to repair himself to exacting specifications, Ichi-gou's body is gradually wearing itself out of functionality. [b]The Trait Sphere[/b] The Trait Sphere is a containment crystal modified from matter-storage systems imbedded in Ichi's abdomen approximately where a normal man's prostate would be located. Connecting the Sphere to his body is a network of synthetic nerves that are specially designed to conduct and transfer supernatural energy; the majority of them culminating in his hands. It is composed of five layers of grown crystal, one surrounding the layer beneath it, and all of those around a solid crystal core. The center of the Sphere is a storage crystal for a magical energy reserve. The layers of crystal around that are specially crafted to contain paranormal Aspects; the force contained within gifted or magical items that lends them their unique traits and abilities. Their 'charms' in other words, or 'templates' if you want to use a techier term; but it can contain aspects of objects that go far beyond the charm level. By contacting an object with any of his hands Ichi-gou can draw the aspect of that item into him and out of the selected relic, and use that Aspect to effect himself at will. Because the Sphere has layers of crystal; Ichi-gou can absorb, contain, and make use of five Aspects at any given time. After five have been absorbed though he must discard one aspect to gain control of another. Ichi's Trait Sphere used to be capable of holding a whopping [u]ten[/u] extra abilities. But in his current condition that proved far too great a strain, and the sphere itself was damaging in the GT he'd fought in. Ichi-gou repaired it as best he could, and added in the reserve of extra magical energy for more capable use. He can now also filter Aspects for things like imbedded traps or defensive spells. The reserve-energy crystal can also be used to destroy magical energies completely. Current Trait Slots: [i]Slot 1: Earth[/i] Captured from an earth-based defense entity which had the ability to manipulate matter at a molecular level at a touch, remaking minerals and matter into new mass for itself, and alter their very composition. It also possessed a unique resistance to energy-based attacks, able to blunt their effects or negate their effectiveness entirely. Ichi-gou captured its aspect for himself, lending him similar capability after screening out any of the entity's sentient presence. It's been a skill that Ichi-gou has developed almost more than any other, and he has actually worked up to using it in an almost alchemic capability, creating new forms of matter when needed for unexpectedly hard to break defensive use or extremely powerful attacks. It's energy-intensive, however, and not something he can keep active longterm. [i]Slot 2: Chaos Void[/i] Captured in the first round of the previous Grand Tournament, from the pistol of Lucius, a chaos-touched lich. Lucius had cast a spell into the gun, enabling it to release magical bolts which triggered instant collapses of matter into compact points, which then violently exploded and released their compacted energy. Hitting a wall with one would cause the wall to appear to suck in upon itself and immediately thereafter a terrific concussive shockwave would devastate the surrounding area. Ichi-gou can now use this Aspect to release similar bolts of power from his hands, eyes, and mouth. And when he combines it with beams of plasma it can actually trigger off very powerful thermobaric detonations. It's a unique magical effect, in that it doesn't matter what form of matter it strikes, it will still cause the damage to take place. Magical negation or a counter-spell is needed to stop it. [i]Slot 3: Alloy[/i] An old Aspect that Ichi-gou had discarded, but kept stored away. With his body's slow degradation, it's helped keep him alive a while longer, and also made him much harder to kill. Activation of this Aspect turns Ichi-gou into a metallic golem. All of his body becomes living metal, which can transmute further into almost any sort of metal itself. Any part of him, no matter how small, remains sentient and aware, meaning he can split into many pieces without a problem. His control over his body is also exceptional, and this form is actually a form he will take almost casually, since it spares his body time slowly falling apart. He can launch extremely fast attacks by lashing out with portions of himself for cutting or bludgeoning assaults. Because he can transmute parts of himself into almost any sort of metal, and then very precisely control that, he can take advantage of the physical/chemical properties of many different elements.