A man with pure red hair growled in anger, frustrated over his lack of progress. It had been three hours since the beneficiary, known as Crislin Dullvunnocha, had laid a deadline down. Many people went off to go brainstorm ideas, but James Bulvoochi had just tried to take what they already have. Energy. It was deadly, and that in it's own right was better than any explosive or grenade or spear or sword.
A sword...
It suddenly came with a strike, a piercing thought seared into Bulvoochi's brain. It was simple, yet would be the hardest thing humanity could ever face. Grabbing his pencil, he started to write.
"That guy is a dick!" Drake said, slamming his fist into a table. Most of the base was assembled around him, thinking up ideas. They watched silently, no one objecting, but knowing saying anything else would set Drake off on a reel of reasons which they knew would take time away from their goal of finding an idea. BD however knew Drake needed to speak, and gripped his shoulders.
"Look man I don't like him either, but we got work to do so we can be alive to call him weird, inappropriate names tomorrow. Let's get back on track alright?"
Drake stared into the wise eyes, and finally nodded. BD rose satisfied, and barked, "So, what do we got?"
"How about a type of bomb?" This thing has a lock of punch, let's use it!" A man called Arswatt proposed. A couple people nodded in agreement, but Big Daddy shook his head. "No good, it only has a one-time use then. We need something we all can wield, and use many times."
"What about a vaporizer?" Asked a woman named Armageddon. Thoughtful expressions all over until a scientist shook his head.
"No dice, the energy has to be stimulated with more energy to be used as a weapon, and even then it'd be detrimental to all of us, unless we were able to make contact with the enemy, and not set up a pulse of some kind."
BD rubbed his forehead. "Okay, let's stop going sci-fi for a moment. What type of weapons are there?"
"Guns."
"Knives."
"Swords."
"Axes."
"Bludgeons."
"Don't forget maces!"
"Bombs."
"Tasers."
"Pencils..." This got a round of laughter, and Mouse beamed at himself proudly. BD groaned. "There has to be something we can mold this into. How much energy is there for personal uses?"
"Personal uses to do what?" A man asked for elaboration.
"I don't know, to melt something!"
"How about someone...?" James asked, walking into the room. People smiled as he held up a bunch of papers and blueprints. "Let's get to work."
"And so, it burns at 4000 degrees Celcius, more than hot enough to melt through nearly any substance. However, it would be an even bigger drain on the battery, so don't melt anything or leave it out unless engaging."
"How long can we use it if we are just cutting up soldiers?" A few snickers followed.
James shrugged. "Probably an hour, it isn't exactly something that lasts forever. New units have to be forged very carefully, and even then whomever uses this weapon has to be very trained. The heat radiating from these is enough to negate any bullet, but you must first be able to see the bullet coming..."
"And that's our problem isn't it..." surmised BD. The scientists nodded. "The average reaction time for a human when faced with a projectile 20 ft away is 2. 6788839 seconds to discern the threat, have your nerves contract your muscles to move, and then actually move your body. A bullet however from a pistol, is capable of traversing that distance in miliseconds. Wielding this blade, you would actually have to move before your adversary got it in their mind to blow your brains out. We can't do that, so this idea is just in case we can't come up with anything else."
"Assuming we were passed the gun problem, how would we power these..these...energy swords? Battery packs?"
"Yes, something is also inefficient, and so I maintain that these would only be used for covert operations, not the battlefield which we sometimes deploy you in."
Alamo raised his hand. "This thing takes care of bullets, but can it stop other weapons?"
The people automatically shook their head. "No."
Alamo groaned. BD shrugged and said, "I'll take one." The room filled with furious whispering. Drake simply smiled as BD walked up to the scientists; he'd expected his friend to make a bold move. He stood up also, "Make it two, but mine with an energy point and a spear handle." The scientists simply stared at the pair, until James shrugged. I'll see what I can do. Come with me though so we can make the personal modifications." The two men followed James out, leaving the other scientists with the rest of the Shadows.
"Well since we have nothing better to do, what do you say we come up with a kick-ass name for these energy sabers?" Mouse nodded coolly as the room began to brain-storm.
"Make a choke hold with your hand. Yes just like that, wow you must be a good choker."
"I try." BD's grip was measured and the process began. A core vacuum would suck the energy back into a pure cache of diamonds at the bottom, which a reverse polar field would be activated to send the energy in the opposite direction. At the bottom of pommel would be a battery needed to constantly keep the polar field active, and then a tesla coil would be the channel between the battery pack and the device. The metal that then went around the blade was titanium with super-cooled lead to reduce the radiation that the energy may give off during usage, and then the lead was topped with basalt, at BD's request, that was painted with his symbol of a cougar coming through the trees. Next came the twenty-nine pound battery pack. Housed in it was enough power to run all the lights in New York for ten days, yet this device would use it up in little more than an hour. It may be inefficient, but anything to stay ahead of the game. Once it was fully constructed, BD twisted his wrist and shrugged the pack onto his shoulders.
"Okay Big Daddy, try it out."
"Okay." BD pressed the button, and...nothing happened. At first, until a blast of green shot three feet out of the handle, and the graviton beam activated, holding it at that range. From the entering of the air, the energy made a whoom sound that gave Big Daddy chills.
Few things gave Big Daddy chills. His face broke out into a wide grin and he swung, the change in stance causing a low pitch to erupt. As he brought the blade to his face, BD noticed that the blade shimmered, electrons moving in a constant stream as they bounced around, and gases reacting when the two met. It was then that BD noticed his output.
"Why is it at 300 melkrypes when it says the top is 1000?"
James scrambled forward. "Your blade, accustomed for the way you swing and move has been deemed most effective at that power output. Too little power and the blade won't slice paper, but too powerful and not even the lead can protect you from the sure-fire gamma rays that will result. Also, do you feel a constant tugging at you?"
Big Daddy said he did. "That is the energy actually pulling at your electrons. This is wierd because according to atomic laws, electrons repulse each other, that''s why we have induction. But these electrons seem to be calling to each other, trying to meet up and grow stronger. At 1000 mk, the force may be so great that it could literally rip you apart, or at the very least particles of you would start to invisibly tear away. The maximum safety for you before such a thing breaks through the outward graviton beam, or what's pushing you particles back to you, is 790 melkrypes. Do not exceed this, or you are at the liberty of whether Death chooses to take you. Understood?"
Big Daddy said he understood, and then launched into a flurry of swipes, cutting down scores of poorly equipped soldiers. The lightsaber flashed and whirled, a thin trail following as it adjusted and met the wind head on. The green always made a low throaty hum, and when Big Daddy finished half an hour later, with a body count of thirty-seven thousand, six hundred ninety-four, and about to finish off the ninety-fifth, he glanced at the blade again. He could not see his reflection, and although he knew this blade was trying to take his electrons, he could not help feeling a connection with the weapon. They were connected, by attraction, by power, and by the need to make the Universe better. It just so happened that the blade was focused solely on how to improve its universe. BD switched it off, the blade retracted, the power gauge was at 78%, a scuooop as the vacuum closed, and Big Daddy smiled.
"You are now my lightsaber, and your name, is Ravage. Yes, Big Daddy and Ravage, like two bad comic book names." Booming laughter followed, and Drake walked up to James, ready for his lightsaber.
Drake was not able to get a spear, but James said he would work out the mechanics later. The blade however was drastically different from Big Daddy's solid green. It was a deep teal with gold lines running through the beam, due to Drake asking for a different power source, and energy emitter. BD's had run on hydrogen fusion, but Drake decided he liked a pure electric source of power instead of a store that could be depleted. His lightsaber was solar-powered, with capturing photons and using photonic fission. Because no photons reached out or were around Drake's lightsaber, it was always shrouded in a dark aura that was impossible to see into. Yet somehow, Drake could see his lightsaber, and admired how it looked. Sleek, bound in black marble with the inscription, Death should've have tooken you before. Now, you have met me!"
Yes, he had much to admire. His max output was 1300 melkyrpes, significantly higher than Big Daddy's, but his blade was a full three inches smaller in circumference, making him think back to broad swords and rapiers from the pirate days. He had a rapier, and so he practiced moving quickly and exploiting his enemies weak points. Twist here, poke the liver and let the victim die from blood poisoning, scratch the heart, nick the Achilles nerve, which is rarely known but found where the nose meets the eye, behind the bone and cranium. There, if stimulated, the nerve caused total blindness for both eyes. He moved on, twisting, making sure his pack was secure: It had an incredibly dense object, which while nowhere near as powerful as a black hole, had an enhancer that increased the power, and targeted only protons. The lightsaber, unlike Big Daddy's which made a vroom as it passed through the air, was more high pitched, and made an electronic grr sound. Drake spun and dove his light-saber straight into the heart of an invisible opponent, and glanced his power. The setting current at 570 melkrypes, and he felt the tug slightly more strongly, but he just used this and made himself determined to be in control. As he downed his fifteen-thousandth opponent, he saw others file in, and fill the bleachers of the briefing room. Drake retracted his lightsaber that he had programmed to sound like: "You were not worth my elegance." whispered. It was quiet, so only Drake could hear it, but it too sent chills down him. Glancing down at the weapon, which was still dark, he soothed,
"You are my sentinel, my reaper, my ally...My Ghost!"
And with that is the end of Chapter 3
-LLL