Relias: Uprising (12 page)

 The first of these devices is known as a Decimator. The Decimator is merely an explosive sphere (different from Chargers.) that a Durant can create anywhere within sight; assuming, of course, that a Durant who is skilled enough to create a Decimator is also skilled enough to use Furo anywhere they can see. Now without initiation, the Decimator is hazardous but ultimately harmless. However, something as small as a knife prick can set it off, resulting in an explosion roughly the strength of ten pounds of C4. But other things, such as fire or lighting will also set of a Decimator. While it is a typical explosion, the one creating the Decimator can direct the explosion in any exclusive direction, which is to say that he may be standing right next to it, trigger it, and not be harmed as the force of the explosion would be directed away from him.

We come now to the Charger, something that in many ways is quite similar to the Decimator. However, those differences make it unique and doubly dangerous. A Charger is created in the palm of the Durant’s hand. The longer they hold it the more powerful it becomes. Once the Charger reaches critical mass it can be launched from the palm of the hand like a rocket. It is self-propelled and can maintain its trajectory for an upwards of one kilometer. A Charger is extremely explosive and in unfettered by infantry armor, even the high-density alloys used by the First Legionnaire. The Charger may also be hazardous to the one who is firing it. Once it has been created, a Charger may only disappear through impacting on any hard surface. Once it has reached critical mass (a time frame of about ten seconds) it will detonate whether it has left the hand holding it or not. As such, if you can prevent any Durant with a Charger from releasing it, you can subsequently destroy them with their own weapon.

Healing is an ability that most are familiar with. It’s difficult to master but the results have saved thousands if not tens of thousands of lives. It accelerates the body’s healing process by stimulating and enhancing the growth and multiplication of healthy cells. By accelerating the Furo to a certain degree, there will be a recall of cellular memory, resulting in the repair of any damages and purging any foreign or destructive anomalies, such as cancer or immunodeficiency. Before the birth of the Commune Durants would make millions off of dermatology, while using this same method to reduce the visible effects of aging and even prolong life. Of course, those benefits are no longer readily available. It’s quite regrettable.  Only those who have the most intimate of knowledge of healing should attempt it. My exploits concerning healing have resulted in disaster. The frequencies of Furo acceleration between healing and a Decimator are minute. As such, if you get the healing process even slightly wrong then you make the one you’re trying to heal into an unpredictable human bomb. All human attempts at duplicating this process have been stopped until further notice.

We once again come to an area that is still in the process of being studied. Durants are capable of telekinesis. The process through which they do this is vast and complicated. I have my top physicists and biologists working on it as we speak. There isn’t much to say on the matter, but keep in mind that ability as it can be extremely deadly.

Now it’s extremely rare to find a Durant who can chain up endless Elemental attacks. Whenever a Durant uses Elemental they use up a certain amount of calories based on what ability they’re using and how long they’re using it for. Some of the more experienced veterans of Elemental, such as Luke Semprys, Thompson, and Ranjak, have figured out ways to take in massive amounts of calories with little to no harm to them using what they refer to as ‘Power’ or ‘Calorie’ packs. But again, Elemental cannot be sustained indefinitely, so letting a Durant wear themselves out is always a possible strategy.

And again I will stress the necessity for a Stabilizer. Without a Stabilizer the Furo in the air becomes volatile and pliable; the last thing you want to give a Durant is unstabilized Furo. When you introduce a stabilizer the Furo becomes secure and a Durant cannot manipulate it. However, if the Durant is not inside that field of stabilization they can still volley things such as Chargers into an area that
is
stabilized. Don’t think that just because you have a stabilizer you are safe. The Durant must be inside the field in order to be decommissioned.

I come to the point now where I am going to explain the most dangerous of our enemies, Luke Semprys. From what our intelligence has told us, the Darks for one reason or the other, despise Semprys. I found this fact to be quite surprising, especially since it was Luke Semprys who started the Dark movement in the first place. It just goes to show that being a hero isn’t a matter of action but rather a matter of good PR. And if the Darks can do it to one of their own then it shouldn’t be difficult in the least to sway public opinion against Luke Semprys.

 But Luke’s social situation is irrelevant. How he treats those on his side is his meaningless prerogative. Being his enemies though we should expect his treatment and regard towards us to be slightly different. Over the past six years I have come to know Luke Semprys on very personal terms. I was present at every psychological and physical examination he was given as I conducted quite a few of them myself. The results show that, despite what many have come to believe in the past, Luke Semprys is very human and he
can
be broken. So do not let those under your command come to any other belief then that of Luke Semprys being a man that they should feel no hesitation in engaging and arresting. He is not invincible.

 When he was first put under my supervision, Luke Semprys was an extremely idealistic man who had proven impervious to bribes and any form of threat. Not only did he seem resilient to psychological affronts but physical ones as well. Never before have I seen a man more tolerant of pain than Luke Semprys. I say this because I have never seen a man dissected alive and without anesthetic and not so much as flinch a muscle. I would take the blame for that conditioning, however, considering that when the initial research began Semprys would yell like there was no tomorrow. And luckily for us we had Vladmir Frenz available to heal Semprys’s wounds after each examination.

 Which brings me to yet vulnerability within Semprys. Before I explain, this vulnerability is also one of our greatest disadvantages as it is what is now one of his primary goals. When he was first put into the prison and made available for my research, Semprys was resilient. Over a dozen soldiers lost their lives just escorting him to the operation room. We tried sedation, but that numbed the body’s ability to obviously exhibit Durant characteristics, of course making it more difficult to examine him and study him. Eventually we sent in only Monoliths to escort him. Being eleven feet tall on average, a group of four found no trouble at all in getting him from point A to point B. Of course, there was the time when Semprys broke one arm free and crushed the tracheas of two Monoliths before paralyzing another and breaking the fourth’s neck. To this day I don’t know how he did it. But he was captured and we then resorted to beating him to submission. There were more injuries through that method, more so to the Legionnaires who escorted him than to him, but along with that came a complete absence of escape. Eventually Semprys ceased to struggle and actually came willingly. That, of course, came after four years of us beating him bloody on a semi-weekly basis. During the latter years of his imprisonment, Luke Semprys appeared to have lost any desire for escape. No longer did he speak of his companions the Ditrinity or of his daughter Tess (of whom he spoke often). He spoke less, moved less. Most of his time was spent hunched in the corner of his cell, staring into the darkness. I have video records showing instances where he would go several days without so much as moving a hand. In fact, now that I come to think of it, Luke Semprys ceased to talk at all, save the occasional passing word or phrase that he’d growl to a person immediately involved with his captivity. In every occurrence that I am informed of the words would involve death and revenge. The workers became extremely uncomfortable with being in close proximity to Semprys. I assured them their safety as Semprys was a prisoner in one of the most secure facilities in the world. So imagine their trepidation at his escape. I haven’t heard from several of my senior staff members since his escape. Seeing as how the city of Styne was captured by the Darks, though, I wouldn’t be surprised if the reason for that is due to their untimely deaths.

 Merely a few days before his escape, I spoke with Luke again. Our psych evaluations no longer consisted of us analyzing what he was saying. He had stopped speaking to us. Instead, we had to focus on what he was doing, and looking at that makes it unequivocally certain that all idealism that he has once felt has fallen by the wayside in favor of vengeance. During his imprisonment Luke Semprys became an extremely brutal man, sometimes inflicting more pain than he should and in violent and barbaric ways for unknown reasons. Semprys is not a sadist. That much is certain. It will be interesting to see what his future behavior is.

 I have been reprimanded for keeping Semprys alive and healthy. However, some of the greatest breakthroughs in technology have come from studying him. Anti-gravity and battlecruisers based around it are a part of those discoveries, as are the long-distance plasma rounds shot by the miracle-weapon, the Forge tank. We can now influence weather and even teleport in some cases. (I will not take credit for the teleportation, though. Those devices, formerly known as Dimenisors, are reverse engineered pieces of stolen Durant technology responsible for the Ditrinity’s formerly unrivaled mobility.) But I digress.

 Luke Semprys’s skeleton is reinforced with Eternium. For those of you unfamiliar with Eternium, it is the densest metal known and is considered to be nearly indestructible; it’s our most rare mineral that, with great effort, we mine from the world’s inner core. In most cases this kind of skeletal enhancement would prove superfluous though it is completely necessary considering the next fact.

 In some cases a Durant is born with an innate ability to manipulate Furo in ways that are unavailable to any other Durant. These abilities are known as Singularities. I’ve heard of Durants who’s bodies heal themselves at accelerated rates (in fact I believe one of the members of the Ditrinity is capable of this ‘hyper-healing’, though she is only half Durant.)And Luke Semprys has a Singularity of his own; he has the ability to increase his strength in excess of one hundred times over. To put that in perspective, that gives him the ability to bench-press over twenty one thousand pounds and give him the ability to throw a punch packing over forty thousand pounds per square inch. Without a skeleton reinforced with Eternium his skeleton would turn to dust under the impossible stress that he puts it under. All the bones in his hand are completely incased in Eternium as are the bones surrounding each joint as well as his neck. His skull is only framed with Eternium, the framing arranged in such a way as to let the stress travel along those areas as opposed to the whole of his head, consequently crushing his skull. The way that this magnification works is Luke channels Furo through the part of his body that he wishes to strengthen. That Furo works to increase the mass and density of those muscles, the amount of enhanced strength he possesses changing depending on how much Furo he is channeling. It should be obvious when he is accelerating his strength. The part of the body he is channeling Furo through will exude a thick, bluish glowing steam. Caution with Semprys should be exercised in all scenarios, but if you see this blue steam rising off any part of his body then you must drop whatever you are doing and formulate your way out. If you run, he will catch you. If you fight, you will die. We are working on a way to defend against those attacks and will relay them onto you when new information yields itself.

 This next fact will come as no surprise to any of you and should recall some interesting memories of our Mr. Semprys. He is an incredible swordsman. Under no circumstance should you approach Semprys by yourself or in a small group when he has his sword in his possession. His excellence with hand-to-hand combat alone has been enough to prompt President Lynch to increase the Legionnaires demand for Skirmishers, our devoted close combat soldiers.

 Lastly, never pursue Semprys alone. In nearly every situation you find him his entourage of warriors, the Ditrinity, will always be somewhere nearby so you should again proceed with caution.

 When they are available, never patrol without a stabilizer. If no stabilizer is present any Durant worth half their spit will tear you to pieces. While there are less than ten known Durants in the world, only one of them is on our side and it is in your best interest to practice caution wherever you travel.

 But the things I have presented here are facts. They are meant to help with your strategies and campaigns against Luke Semprys and the Darks. Any further questions can be mailed to me through the Communal Subnets.

Good Luck

-Doctor Rowlings

Chapter 8

 Heavily bound, Luke was ushered into an armored car. The back thrown open, Luke was shoved roughly inside and forced to sit down. Before he sat down, the soldier closing the door pointed to a plain white envelope resting on the seat, immediately proceeding to slam the doors shut and lock them firmly behind him. With his hands bound closely together, Luke picked up the envelope and tore it open, revealing a hastily scribed letter inside.

 
Sorry we couldn’t be there. Sounds like you kicked your fair share of ass. Alighieri’s sending off battlecruisers, keeping one behind. Also refortifying Styne with two-thirds Praemon’s troops. Yeah, we’re angry too. And don’t worry about the trial. We’ve got your back.

 -Hendrick

P.S. Dropped cigar on couch, burnt hole in cushion. Morlo laughed so hard, broke other couch. Our bad.