Nexus Core

The **Nexus Core** is the titular main antagonistic faction in MADNESS: Project Nexus. They operate the Science Tower, overseeing Project Nexus under Phobos, even obeying his standing orders after his death in Madness: Project Nexus (Classic) episode 1.5's final stage.

## Units

### Scientist

In Madness: Project Nexus (Classic), the Nexus Core Scientists appear to be unarmed civilians and are neutral to Christoff, altho some of them had been caught in the crossfire between him and Phobos' agents.

In MADNESS: Project Nexus, they are introduced in Story Mode's stage Deep Storage and are all armed with laser-based weaponry, typically the Laser Pistoleer with the occasional Laser Rifle, although they are still as weak as an AAHW grunt and unlike their Project Nexus Classic counterparts they will engage enemies in combat. They wear lab coats and visors with light blue highlights.

It is shown in some stages such as Deep Storage and Shakedown that they are often mistreated and labelled as nerds by security agents and they rely on them for protection, alongside releasing experiments.

### Agent

**Nexus Core Agents** are not particularly different from the AAHW's 1337 Crew Agents, althought they are deadlier as they can go in tactical packs to overwhelm opponents. Like the AAHW's Agents, the Nexus Core Agents wear a suit and a pair sunglasses, although they also wear a bandolier and an earpiece. They fight with a variety of weapons, randing from nightsticks to assault rifles.

### Scout

**Nexus Core Scouts** are agile Nexus soldiers introduced in Sleeper Labs who wear a grey balaclava, a red visor with a range-finder, and an ammo belt. They are very fast, and use light weapons, like pistols and submachine guns. They can dive away from enemies if they get too close and can make use of the Sniper ability, targeting an opponent with a careful shot that must be dodged.

### Support

**Nexus Core Supports** are heavily armored Nexus Soldiers introduced in the stage Deep Storage who wear a dark grey balaclava, a breathing apparatus connected to an air tank on their back and a metal mask with red lenses, as well as a heavy plate of armor and dual shoulderpads.

Due to their heavy armor, they lack in mobility, but can take a large amount of damage for the same reason, and dish severe melee damage as well. Their weapon of choice are large battlehammers and on rare ocassions they can charge up an attack to sweep at crowds of enemies.

### Engineer

**Nexus Core Engineers** are Nexus shock troopers first encountered in Sleeper Labs' last section and later appearing as a semi-frequent Nexus Core enemy in the later stages of the game. Nexus Engineers employ shotguns, possess TAC-Bars slightly better than that of their AAHW counterpart, are capable of using the Snipe ability to fire an accurate shot at their target and are overall a better version of what the AAHW Engineer is.

Nexus Engineers wear a mask similar to the AAHW Engineer's, except with a red-colored visor instead of yellow and a crest going across the middle of the mask. They also wear a red beret and a plate of armor protecting their chest atop of a red agency suit, in contrast to the AAHW Engineer's engineering suit. They also shed red blood unlike their AAHW counterpart.

### Android

Robotic units that can split in half.Seen in animations made by Shadz.

### Soldat

**Nexus Core Soldats** are the top elite soldier the Nexus Core has to offer and are first encountered in the Story Mode stage Climb! where a small squad of Nexus Soldats attempt to intercept Hank and Sanford after they are done taking care of waves of AAHW units on an exterior area of the Science Tower.

The Nexus Soldats have a unique gimmick that their AAHW counterparts lack; they are always seen dual-wielding weapons, usually melee ones, although Soldats dual-wielding firearms can also be encountered at times.

Like the Engineers, the lenses of Nexus Core's Soldats eyepieces are bright red, and they wear berets, a dark grey balaclava, an earpiece, body armor and shoulderpads. They also shed red blood unlike their AAHW counterpart.

### Quarantine Trooper

Heavily armored troopers send out to kill all Zeds in the residental Sector of Nexus City.

### Overwatch

Overwatch are heavily armored specialized unit.They are commonly seen in animations made by Krispr [DZ].They have bullet proof armor and special weapons.

### Riot Guard

**Nexus Riot Guards** are Nexus soldiers brandishing shields and padded armor on their head and body that first appear in Sleeper Labs under the name "Coreman". They are armed with riot shields which they use to block both melee and ranged attacks, and are seen using

### GO3LM

**G03LMs** (Short for **Generation 3, Limited Model**) are brutish clones originally purposed as servants for wealthy customers of Nexus Core before the city's fall into dispair. G03LMs without armor are a rare sight, only really making an appearance in Arena Mode's Sleepwalker Program stage as a boss-tier enemy spawning alongside AAHW units sent to "train" the player character during their stay within the Sleepwalker bed/chamber.

G03LMs have slightly pale skin, with a darker body compared to that of a grunt, and stitches all across their face and body, with some visible flesh. A G03LMs most notable features are their gaping mouths with yellow-ish teeth, and their slightly orange colored blood.

Despite their lack of armor, armorless G03LMs are still a force in the field, being able to take many shots from weapons and being deadly at melee range since they don't flinch when hit and often wield blunt weapons such as sledgehammers. G03LMs attack with a delay when using melee, and if hit by melee or H2H in a short span of time by an enemy the G03LM will thrash at enemies in a fit of rage. After this, the G03LM enters a dizzied state where a player can climb on it's back to first remove it's helmet (if it has one) and then subsequent executions allowing the player to kill or damage the clone.

### GO3LM Mk1

**G03LM Mk1s** are G03LM clones dressed in padded armor, wearing a mask with red lenses in the eyeholes and a metal frame helmet, and a padded vest that protects the G03LMs front, leaving a bit of the back exposed to danger. Despite the armor, Mk1 G03LMs are still damaged by weapons like any other enemy, although their high health and armor may make it difficult. They can still be defeated the same way as other G03LMs by forcing them to enter a tantrum that leaves them dizzy, where characters can remove it's helmet to allow for more damaging shots to the head.

### GO3LM Mk2

**G03LM Mk2s** are G03LMs dressed in bulletproof chrome armor, which renders them impervious to bullets and also makes melee attacks very ineffective. The only way to begin hurting these brutes is by forcing them to throw a fit of rage and then executing a helmet-removal to expose their heads.

These kind of G03LMs are more common than their Mk1 and Mk0 counterparts in both Story and Arena mode.

### Tower Guard

**Tower Guards** are slightly bigger G03LMs who have been trained to act and fight like medieval knights and guard the Science Tower, only showing up within said structure and becoming a threat starting in the stage Base Jumping, acting as mini-bosses. They all possess armor similar to that of an Mk2 G03LM, but colored and with the additon of colored crests on their helmets and capes.

### Robutler

**RoButlers** and their derivatives are robotic creations from the Nexus Core, labelled as Generation 5 (G05) and serving as mindless servants to replace G03LMs in non-combat situations. Despite this, RoButlers are present during Base Jumping and subsequent stages engaging Hank and company the moment security forces are alerted of their presence in the Science Tower.

RoButlers have metallic, connected limbs, a big chasis chest, a small "head" and pair of legs, an energy storage unit on their back, and bulky arms they use to punch intruders when engaging their security mode. Some RoButlers wear cosmetical buttler attires in the form of red ties on their chasis chest, glasses and carrying trays with glasses and drinks. Due to their robotic nature and limitations, RoButlers cannot walk and turn simultaneously, making them take longer to reach targets across rooms with a lot of turns.

RoButlers attack by throwing glasses off the tray they may be carrying or by punching and are often accompanied by organic Nexus Core units. RoButlers are notorious for being hard to fight at close range because of their lack of pain, meaning their attacks can't be interrupted by counter-attacking, and their punches can't be properly blocked with bare hands. RoButlers explode upon death, although this is purely cosmetic and doesn't count (Unless we consider a Conduit's suicide dive)

### Conduit

**Conduits** are G05 robots that have been charged with dissonance, making them quite unstable. Physically they resemble their other non-dissonant counterparts, but they have a black and purple coloring. They have a defining, deadly ability where they charge at an enemy and dive into the ground, blowing up and releasing a very damaging dissonance explosion that knocks friends and foes alike away. It's important to note that destroying a Conduit won't result in a dissonant explosion, as this only happens when the Counduit performs it's suicide dive attack.

### Liftbot

**Liftbots** are G05 robots employed in lifting crates and heavy equipment as their name implies. They behave exactly the same as RoButlers but have a grey, dull color theme and seem to be slightly less polished, rusted versions of RoButlers.

### Crusher Bot

**Crusher Bots** are decommissioned G05s originally employed in the Mining Sector to help MERC with crushing stone operations, but the robots' shockwaves and autonomous nature resulted in a severe raise in the number of workplace accidents, so they had to be removed. They look like a combination between a RoButler and a Turret, having the structure of a G05 but the targeting "eye" of a Turret, and being almost twice as big as other G05s.

There are only three active Crusher Bots present in the game: COMB-O, CRUSH-R and PUSH-E. They are all fought sequentially during the Story Mode stage The Rush. All Crusher Bots attack by shooting sonic waves at their enemies, damaging and pushing them back. Since the area they're fought in is filled with liquid dissonance, Hank and the rest must avoid being pushed off the arena's edges. During the Cursher Bots' fight sequence, they are assisted by robotic arms that appear from the ceiling, RoButlers that fall from above and Counduits that come ready to charge from the dissonant liquid.

### Sleepwalker Patient

**Sleepwalker Patients** are test subjects or asylum patients who have gone through the process of Phobos' vision of Christoff and Hofnarr's Sleepwalker Program. First seen in Sleeper Labs, Sleepwalker Patients are resillient enemies who are trapped in a state between sleeping and being awake as they relive combat experiences through their face masks.

Sleepwalker Patients have bandages across their torso and head, and are outfitted with a backpack that supports a pair of tank-shaped batteries that connect to a metallic mask with a red uni-lense. When their mask is removed, it is shown that Sleepwalkers have hollow eyes due to the forced and prolonged use of Sleepwalker chambers for storage and training.

Sleepwalkers engage enemies with melee or ranged weapons per usual, although their masks provide them with a special ability: when a Sleepwalker dies, it comes back to life, and every time it revives, the Sleepwalker gets better at fighting. This only happens twice, as the third revival triggers a chest bomb to explode and kill the Sleepwalker and damage anyone surrounding it. One way to kill the sleepwalker is by damaging it's head to the point it is destroyed or the Mask is shot off clean. Another option is to dizzy the patient and make a takedown, where the character will forcefully remove the sleepwalker's mask, this way preventing the sleepwalker from reviving further.

### GO3LM Sleepwalker

**G03LM Sleepwalkers** are G03 clones who were put in the Sleepwalker Program. Much like their average size counterparts, G03LM Sleepwalkers wear bandages and a metal mask, although G03LMs wear a custom version with metal plates at the sides to properly encase the larger head.

G03LM Sleepwalkers behave almost the same as regular G03LMs with the additional ability to come back to life via an electric shock **so long as they are still wearing their mask**. Executing a takedown on a dizzy Sleepwalker G03LM makes the character remove it's mask and subsequent takedowns damage or kill it.

### Unfinished Mag

**Unfinished Mags** are Mag agents who haven't gone through the entire process of being built and are released early in an attempt to stop Hank and his allies. They are first encountered in Sleeper Labs, where a group of scientists release some of them despite their current state, acting as mini-bosses.

They have exposed flesh with a metallic frame covering some parts of their body, a big gaping mouth with sharp teeth, a metallic plate on their chest and a mask with red lenses with tubes that connect to their back. They are also slightly smaller than the average Mag agent.

The Unfinished attack by sweeping, kicking and slamming their fists, although all of these attacks come with a delay and telegraphed by a wind-up. Despite their unfinished state and lack of armor, these Mag experiments have three corpus blocks and are quite hard to take down. On death they slowly collapse to the ground,

## Gallery

CadetAgentScoutQuarantine TrooperSupportEngineerAndroidSoldatOverwatchRiot GuardGO3LMGO3LM Mk 1GO3LM Mk 2GO3LM Mk 3Tower GuardRobutlerConduitLiftbotCrusherOrderlyHarmacistHarmacist Jr.Sleepwalker PatientGO3LM SleepwalkerUnfinished MagScientist