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When in 2012 on December 21 the Harvester spaceship “Bolon Yokte’ K’uh” appeared in Earth’s atmosphere, a strange object, that had been storaged in a warehouse on a secret army military base referred to as “Area Zero” since the late 1940’s, was suddenly activated and formed multiple tiny wormholes in it’s vicinity before it could be shut down. According to the warehouse files the object was part of the wreckage that was found in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 and highly likely of alien origin.
Soon after the victory over the Croa’to’an, the army started to investigate the alien object and founded a research operation under the codename “Project Blackgate” which finally managed to create a functioning wormhole generator, with which one could penetrate into alternative or parallel realities and dimensions. This in turn led to the creation of a new top-secret government agency called S.H.A.R.D. (Surveillance Headquarters for Alternate Realities & Dimensions), under whose direction the newly discovered realities should be researched and cataloged by a team of military personnel with both superhuman abilities and expertise in different fields of scientific knowledge.
These daring researchers are known as “Team Vanguard“.
The team members from bottom left to top right:
KILLJOY 
Real Name: Kim Jeong
Ethnicity: Korean American
Affiliations: Team Vanguard
Field of expertise: sharpshooting & surveillance; archaeology & history
Powers: Hyperkinetic (possesses flawless aim, perfect balance, and greatly enhanced motor skills with perfect synchronization between thought and action)Headshot:
JACKHAMMER Real Name: Jackson “JJ” Jareau
Ethnicity: Afro American
Affiliations: Team Vanguard
Field of expertise: recon & observation; geology & meteorology
Powers: Enhanced Speed (ability to move at extraordinary physical speed (373 mph)) & Additional Limbs (possesses 4 arms)Headshot:
GREAT DANE Real Name: Dane Nielsen
Ethnicity: Danish American
Affiliations: Team Vanguard
Field of expertise: tracker; ecology & botany
Powers: Canine Physiology (abilities of a domestic dog including Enhanced Senses, Stamina, Strength and Reflexes)Headshot:
BLACKBIRD Real Name: Naomi Blake
Ethnicity: Afro American
Affiliations: Team Vanguard
Field of expertise: hand-to-hand combat; linguistics & mathematics
Powers: Wing Manifestation (allowing flight) & Sonic Scream (the power to emit highly enhanced destructive and deafening scream of a high amplitude)Headshot:
MIMICRY Real Name: Luther McNamara
Ethnicity: German/Irish American
Affiliations: Team Vanguard
Field of expertise: infiltration; zoology & exobiology
Powers: Shapeshifting (power to transform and reshape the form of his body down to the genetic and cellular structure)Headshot:
RUBICON Real Name: Portia Russo
Ethnicity: Italian American
Affiliations: Team Vanguard
Field of expertise: psy-war; social anthropology, ethology & psychology
Powers: Telekinesis (ability to manipulate objects with the mind) & Telepathy (power to mentally receive and/or transmit information)Headshot:
GRUNT Real Name: Ray Borowski
Ethnicity: partially Polish American
Affiliations: Team Vanguard
Field of expertise: hand-to-hand-combat; biophysics & quantum chemistry
Powers: Muscle Manipulation (ability to manipulate the muscular structure of oneself), Supernaturally Dense Body-Tissue (extremely dense/solid body-tissue, skin, muscles, bones, etc.), Invulnerability (immune to all forms of physical damage), Supernatural Stamina, Ground Pound (ability to slam the ground to produce different effects) & moreHeadshot:
HARDWIRE Real Name: Ric(ardo) Garcia
Ethnicity: Puerto Rican American
Affiliations: Team Vanguard
Field of expertise: information procurement; computer science & applied physics
Powers: Computer Interaction (power to interface with computers, data, internet and world wide webs), Technology Manipulation (ability to control electronics and machinery), Technological Assimilation (power to assimilate any technological objects into one’s body and make it part of oneself), Bionic PhysiologyHeadshot:
For the CDC #59:
Sure it’s easy to piss off a Pit Bull – but they really shouldn’t call him dogface …
@HK (and everybody who cares):
Well, there have always been “good” people and “bad” people – the only problem is that then again the world isn’t just black and white, and you have to learn to deal with the many gray areas. Sure, the world is full of morons – but there are also many people who stand up against them. And believe me – I speak from experience.
Working every Thursday in a voluntary capacity at the food bank in my town, I encounter any sort of human behaviour on a regular basis. There are those people who spend all their energy to help others wherever possible and expect in return nothing but a little respect and maybe an occasional smile, the people who really appreciate that help, and the people who take this help for granted and treat you accordingly ungrateful. And of course there are also those people who bitch and moan about the necessary of that help in principle – along the lines of “why doesn’t they go working” or “all these asylum seekers come along and carry on as if they were at home”. That’s the point when it becomes disgusting to myself, but why upset yourself?
I do it not for these muppets, nor to feel somehow superior, but because it gives me the feeling of giving back (and yes, sometimes maybe even the selfish satisfaction of doing something for my karma). Thankfully I’m not the only one with this mindset, because the day people stop to help each other is the day the world really goes down the drain.
I’m not sure if I’m expressing myself understandable (especially in English) and I’m sure not looking for your tribute when I write this, but I am of the opinion that mutually help should go without saying and if you expect respect you have to show it yourself. So next time when you see somebody standing on the road with heavy shopping bags (it doesn’t matter whether it’s an old woman or a young guy), why not just go and ask if you can help. It’s the small gesture that makes a start and sometimes it’s already enough to lend an ear to somebody to help him.
[/sermon]
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.@ JR: Wonderful piece of art! I think the pain of masking was really worth it…
Oh wow! That pic gives me real … uh … Tremors … I’m just waiting to hear somebody saying “This valley is just one long smorgasbord” …
@ExtremelyEPIC said:
Hey Mad Jack…i just wanted to say thank you for handing over the choice to me. I owe you one buddy!You’re welcome. I think anything else than handing it over would’ve been stupid since I can create items myself (although not as well as dblade)…
@RobM said:
Clever. Good job.Thanks!
Thanks, dude. I thought it would be time to try and do more backgrounds – at least for the contest entries…
Sorry for the late response, I’ve been a little distracted with creating new characters (coming soon) and finally joining devianArt. Note to myself: Don’t forget to work on new items as well…
@headlessgeneral said:
I like the Xi’bala. I love the “tattoos” on the armor. Lord Mit’nal should be a definite contender in the energy blaster contest.Thanks! Looks like your wish came true …
@Angel of Chaos said:
Wow Chaos likes what he sees.Jack likes when other like what they see…
@Vampyrist said:
The xi’bala are awesome!Thank you very much! As you can guess I was “a bit” inspired by a certain species from the movies…
Nice characters. Very well done. Don’t want to be nitpicky but the name’s Thanatos – with one more a…
BTW: Do you know that you can write in the same post which your pictures are in?
Great, somehow the pictures of my previous post were deleted. No wonder that I received no response. Well, I fixed it now.
Now I want you to meet a member of the subordinate class of the Xi’bala. But don’t forget: Beware of Aliens Bearing Gifts!
The Xi’bala are split into two different subspecies – those with powers and those without. Each member of the first subspecies has a different, individual supernatural ability that makes him superior to the second subspecies and therefore they also represent the ruling elite in a culture that is characterized by the principe “only the strong survive”. Even as children the Xi’balba have to fight against each other to the death in different environments to prove their worth to society.
Despite their rather “rough” culture, they early on developed a very high technologial standard enabling them to travel the multiverse in order to spread their species over all universes. That was until one day 3,000 years ago, when they finally encountered a race that was able to pit themself against the aggressors: The Mata’Nui!
After a long drawn out war the last surviving Xi’bala were in the end “imprisoned” in an universe with only one habitable world: Earth SP-091. Of course the Xi’bala wouldn’t let it get them down that they were seperated from their space travel technology and soon bounced back by becoming the terrifying gods of the resident Maya civilisation for several centuries before they were eventually forced into hiding by the coming of the “modern” ages.
Headshot:
