MAJOR DEEJ UNIVERSE

United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant (SSGT) Cheryl Shelton, a gun totting, high speed/low drag, hard-hitting, infantry leader led a unit of Marines to stop the powerful alien group known as the "Galactic Expatriates". SSGT Shelton used her unit to contain the villains and move them from other populated buildings. Sadly, one such villain, Mantisoid, broke away and went into an elementary school library through the upper windows.  SSGT Shelton took charge of a squad and went into the school to attempt to lead it away from the students, who were all hunkered down in the 'safe locations'.  Sadly, when SSGT Shelton found Mantisoid, it was arming a proton bomb in the library.  SSGT Shelton went full automatic rifle, including grenade launchers, flares, anything she could fire at Mantisoid to bring him down, all the while advancing on the bomb's location in hopes of disarming it...or, in the worst case scenario, run with it away from the school and get blown up in the process.

 

After getting close enough to look at the alien design of the bomb, she chose the latter.

 

Mantisoid was in bad shape; its wings and body were swiss-cheesed by SSGT Shelton and her squad's automatic fire. Shelton yelled to her team to find cover and take care of the kids as she grabbed up the bomb and jumped through the library window out into the school parking lot.

 

She got as far as the street where she saw a curb-side sewer drain.  Shelton shoved the bomb into the drain where it fell down into the sewer. As she stepped no more than three steps from the sewer drain, the bomb blew.

 

Every sewer drain pipe in every kitchen, bathroom and floor drain erupted with a column of fire blazing up and out as a result of the explosion.  The street that Shelton was standing on was tossed at least 400 yards into the sky, along with SSGT Shelton's limbs, arms and torso...all separated during the blast.

 

When Shelton awoke in the hospital days later, she quickly realized she was alive...but also a quadriplegic.

 

She had damaged hearing (eardrums blown out), her vision was blurry at best (due to retina damage), her legs were cut off mid-thigh and her arms were cut off at the shoulder.  A variety of scars across her body also showed skin grafts for burns and missing chunks of flesh on her torso.

 

Shelton also saw a Congressional Medal of Heroism in a case on her bedside table.

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Over the next few weeks, Shelton's parents, brothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews and nieces all showed up to help cheer her up and tell her what an incredible job she did.  The doctors, on the other hand, only had more bad news each visit.  Her ears were permanently damaged as well as identifying she'd have to be placed in the care of the military's Veterans Association hospital for the rest of her life.  Her family, although, loving and proud of her, couldn't afford the cost nor the time to care for her.

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While at her lowest point, thinking of suicide rather than a life of hospitalized care, Mantisoid attacked Shelton's hospital.  Mantisoid wanted revenge on Shelton for the damage she'd inflicted on it; the most damage it had ever received by a 'lesser being'.  To correct this 'atrocity', Mantisoid, by its cultural norm, was supposed to 'eat its nemesis while it was still alive'.

 

Although Shelton couldn't hear or see well, she was still a very alert person.  She saw blurred visions of hospital staff running about in terror.  Like a reflex, Shelton went into action. She wiggled out of her bed, landing hard on the hospital tile floor, trying to get herself to see the trouble; she quickly saw the familiar winged outline of Mantisoid in the hall.

 

The hospital's security guards did all they could to stop Mantisoid, shooting at it and charging it, but only delayed Mantisoid's 'eating' of Shelton by a minute.

 

A minute was all Shelton needed.

 

The evacuation alarm was already blaring, thus ensuring the rest of the hospital wing was being evacuated. As such, she rolled herself over to her bedside table, grabbed her medal in her teeth and swung it around her neck.  She then rolled to the adjacent bed in the room that had an oxygen rig for her roommate, who was in therapy at that time, and using her moth and teeth, opened the Oxygen valve fully as well as opening the tank's relief valve, allowing pure Oxygen to our into the room.  By this time, Mantisoid tore into Shelton's hospital room.  Mantisoid taunted and screeched at Shelton, telling her that it was going to her as per its customs.  As it kicked Shelton across the room, knocking over one of the hospital beds on top of her, Shelton scrapped her new medal on the edge of the bed's steel debris, causing a spark...and a resounding explosion.

 

The blast, luckily, not only severely injured Mantisoid, but thanks to the old VA building design, allowed for the blast to funnel outward from the room, from the fifth floor, and out across to a construction site for the new VA building, where Mantisoid was later found impaled on several rebar...alive, yet barely. It was taken away and sent to a 'special' prison owned by the international peacekeeper force known as G.U.A.R.D.

 

Shelton defeated the creature and as a lucky result, didn't cause any further damage to herself or to the VA hospital, other than her room and the nurse's station across the hallway.  No one else was hurt or injured as a result of the explosion.

 

SSGT Shelton was awarded two full rank promotions to Master Sergeant, had her Congressional medal replaced and received several additional US Navy and Marine Corps medals for valor and heroism.  Still, however, Shelton knew she'd never be able to return to service still and knew the rest of her life was going to be in a VA hospital bed.

 

Enter G.U.A.R.D.

 

The Director of Guard, Neal Norton, as well as a medical cyborg/robot called "Doctor Detroit" and a GUARD Operations Manager, Commander Susan Snow.  Together, they presented a plan to Shelton that would get her 'back in action', hopefully for GUARD.  They proposed a series of medical procedures that would introduce cyborg-like 'bionics' to replace Shelton's arms, legs, eyes and ears. As a result, she'd become better, stronger, and faster than ever before.  There were risks, but with Doctor Detroit performing the surgery, it was believed that the risk was the lowest that could ever be conceived.

 

Shelton agreed to the procedures and told Norton that she 'reserved' the right to return to the Marines or to volunteer with GUARD once this was all over.  Norton agreed. 

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Months later, Shelton was able to stand on her new bionic legs, seeing through her bionic eyes and hearing with her bionic ears while lifting weights with her new bionic arms and hands. 

 

During her rehab, physical therapy and final testing, she discovered she could remarkably lift over 1000 lbs., run up to 60 mph, see things in varying spectrums, and hear things hundreds of yards away at all frequencies.

 

Shelton's bionic implants were successful.

 

During her final testing, she was able to observe the other superhero groups that GUARD had formed or were in the process of forming.  She liked each one and their complement of people, but the one she wanted, more than anything, was the one that went into space - the Astroguardians.  She talked with the team's new leader, Astroguardian, and actually performed several combat scenarios with him.  2 out of the 5 scenarios, she actually beat him (Astroguardian was truly a very powerful superhero; not an easy feat to beat him!). 

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After the final testing, Shelton went back to her old Marine unit, surprising the hell out of them when they saw her new bionic parts.  Sadly, that night, when the unit went out for drinks, she received a lot of push-back from her once fellow 'brothers and sisters at arms'.  They didn't like that she was 'more' than what they were; they didn't like that she'd outperform them in every way, and as such told Shelton to her face that she 'no longer belonged in the Corps' and that she was instead a freak.

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Shelton left with dignity, but went home only to feel like she'd just lost a piece of her heart and soul.  She thought they'd be happy to have her back with them, but now, she realized that was never going to happen.

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The next day, she barged into the GUARD Director's office, interrupting a high level meeting, and told him that she will now be assigning 'herself' to GUARD's Astroguardian super-group...and that was 'final'.  Norton paused, stood up slow, looked her in the eyes and said, "I'd already assigned you to them a week ago; I was just wondering how long it'd take you to figure that out. Oh, and you're new code-name is "Nimtrona" - and that's non-negotiable...and 'final'. Now get to your assignment...Nimtrona."

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Shelton left Norton's office on her way to the Astroguardians space station with a smile as wide as the Grand Canyon.

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Today, "Nimtrona" is now a a gun-totting, high speed/low drag, hard-hitting, bionic ex-Marine Corps Master Sergeant who is now part of one of the best super-groups in the galaxy!

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