From Introduction: A combat endoskeleton is a framework of high-tech metal alloys reinforcing a human skeletal system. It must be implanted through surgical means or bonded to the bones by forcing compounds of liquefied metal through the recipient’s skin and muscle tissue. Either technique involves extreme pain and risk for the subject. The technical and financial means required for such operations is staggering, involving multi-millions of dollars and next-generation medical science. A combat endoskeleton is implanted with one purpose in mind: to transform a human being into a nearly invulnerable fighting machine. Covert factions of the federal government, hostile foreign powers, and far-reaching criminal organizations are the agencies most likely to make such attempts, hoping to create super-soldiers or impervious assassins. Such groups rarely relinquish any successful test subjects they produce, at least not without considerable struggle.