As of YE 34, any remaining NH-18 bodies are denied access to PANTHEON.
OOC note from Faction Manager Wes: Please do not create new characters using this body type. Character moderators: Please do not approve characters using this body type.
The NH-18 was a Biological Weapon from PNUgen Corporation. It is an organism made out of billions of single celled organisms, none with a set task, but each contributing to the organism as a whole. Each of the cells can quickly specialize to a task and the entire organisms adapts to external stimuli extremely fast, evolving the necessary changes.
It can easily adapt to temperature extremes, pressure, and atmosphere, even going into hibernation in the depths of space. It also quickly adapts to any other situation it comes across and the entire organism learns from its past adaptations and becomes more efficient as time goes on. These adaptations can be anything, the organism striving to come up with the perfect answer to the situation, from larger claws to specialized cells to utilize a new substance. The organism can also very quickly absorb organic matter into itself, growing larger and stronger, and regenerate wounds, only a few cells need to survive (and these can be separated) for the organism to survive and regrow, thanks to its telepathic bond (detailed below). This matter can be in the form of humus, dead animals or plants, or even alive ones, as the organism sends in some specialized cells that take them over and introduce the link.
The organism usually appears to be a humanoid form, but this is mainly because of its designers, it can actually take any form, due to its highly flexible nature can look like whoever it wants, and has been known to become a quadruped or even more exotic forms to adapt to a situation, and can loose matter to become small animals. It often grows large serrated blades, or tentacles, quickly reallocating its matter. It can also become up to one cell thick and fit through tiny gaps, or even split up and reform later. It has an inbuilt inhibition from creating new versions of itself “budding” but it could quite easily form a swarm of identical creatures. As could be expected it can form a huge variety of natural toxins, natural pathogens, bacteria and even virus’, and often adapts to find the perfect toxin after taking a cell sample from the target (using a claw, or picking up a piece of organic residue). Its senses can become amazingly sensitive, able to pick up the slightest smell, noise, or light, and can grow additional sensory nodes if needed. As a result from its nature the longer it exists the more dangerous it becomes, adapting to more and more situations, gaining more data and learning how too take down more and more targets.
Its mind is another great feature. All the cells are connected with a telepathic bond that forms a single sentience, a mind as adaptable as its body is. The organism can loose most of its body and still keep its cognitive functions, with reduced reasoning and analysis ability, and once it has gone below a certain amount of cells, it looses its mind, but there is a back up mission statement and details of its general function in the genetic structure, and once the cells have replicated enough to bring it above this point a new mind is created. Its mind also works on several levels, one of which is constantly reviewing its actions and stimuli and adapting its tactics using this. This mind adapts to new situations and learns how to deal with them, and never falls for the same trick or a variant of the same trick twice.
The NH-18 has an alien mind, one of cold calculation and evaluation, itself adapting to the task at mind, yet it can emulate a human personality, and after spending some time with them can act like one perfectly, even imitating someone’s behavior flawlessly. However its very make up is so different from other creatures that its thoughts differ in much the same way, its communal cellular nature and other features, along with its highly adaptive personality, makes each one perfectly unique, and impossible to empathize with. If they had more of a personality they would feel lonely. It evaluates every movement and only takes “acceptable” risks. A newly created one can talk to humans, quickly learning the language, and even have a discussion with one, temporarily adapting its mindset, however even then it is unnerveing, its cold calculating personality, and ruthless logic. However its personality adapts and once one is given more connection to humans in a non-combat situation it soon is able to create a perfectly normal façade, with just a slight hint of its inhuman nature (very hard to pick up), and if given enough time this disappears as well.
For the reasons given above the organism is a deadly adversary. Possessing great strength, speed, and if it wishes toughness, growing armored plates. However it can also mould around attacks, absorb opponents, grow extra limbs, serrated claw arms, tentacles, and an almost infinite other adaptations. It also quickly adapts the opponents fighting style and after it has that it will easily win (as long as it isn’t against something of the nature of a mecha, in which it will need a while to adapt further). It also has the capacity to fire poison darts, spit poison, or any other long range attack it comes up with, and has the capabilities to use weapons such as swords or guns. Its fast healing abilities and shape shifting also give it an advantage, as well as its quick immunity to diseases and poisons.
The first test NH-18 was assigned to the Valiant, and saw its first action in the exploration of a damaged Ghullfrashirv. Taking the form, first of a grim-reaper like figure, the NH-18 used heavily scythe-like tentacles and hunted down every Mishhuvurthyar on the ship, slaughtering them in a deliberately brutal fashion, all the while laughing. This is understood to have been an additional psychological weapon.
“There was a loud hissing noise, and the lid of the coffin slid off, revealing the interior, where there was a figure dressed in dark robes, with a hood which obscured its face, revealing only two pin-pricks of red light. The NH-18 adapted to be effective psychologically as well as physically, and found that terror was very effective, and its forum was certainly that. “Taisa, what are your orders?” It asked in a voice especially designed to chill the bones, as if it were the very voice of death itself, its eyes turning to Arild, and its senses analyzing the atmosphere, and studying the burning Mishhu.”
“The NH-18 nodded and suddenly, almost faster than Arild could follow leapt forward using the base of the coffin as a spring board and jumping over the sheet of flame Garrett had created, as he landed dozens of tendrils shot out of his dark form, and speared insects with hideous speed, kabob-ing them, and drawing them back into the NH-18, the total process for each tendril took only around half a second, and soon the NH-18 was surrounded by a near cloud of tendrils, which removed almost all of the flow, before analyzing the genetics of the creatures it had taken within itself, and before adding them to its own biomass it made itself resistant to them, and even better at killing them. It withdrew the tendrils into itself, and stretched out one dark long arm, which turned itself into a scythe, as did his other arm as it began slicing through the Mishhu, staying close to the ground as it mowed them down, its arms a blur, much as combine harvester would mow wheat, leaving only shattered insectile bodies in its wake.”
It managed to recover from repeated energy weapon hits, including concentrated fire from dozens of Mishhu. It also sprouted wings.
For further information on how the NH-18 fared, and to investigate its adaptive fighting style, the following JP contains the first RP usage:
http://stararmy.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2822
It is released in: http://stararmy.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=22963#22963
The NH-18 was next encountered as a hostile force by the crew of the Sakura. They encountered 6 of the units. This can be found in this link:
