Rise of the Crusader

It would be a lie to say that Aurora wasn’t left shaken from what she had just been told. She wanted to assume Raphael was bluffing, but that belittling look he had on his face, made her think otherwise.

Aurora’s mouth opened slightly, she wanted to speak but was soon interrupted by Raphael’s voice.

“Don’t bother asking because I’m not going to tell you anything about it again. As it is, I have already revealed more than I should, and that’s all you would be hearing about it.” Raphael said.

A smirk appeared on Aurora’s face, she then stared at Raphael for a few seconds before shifting her gaze from him and turning towards one of the machines in the room.

“Alright then. Let’s get down to business.” Aurora said, and walked towards the machine.

Raphael also moved as well with his hands placed inside his pocket.

When Raphael said that the academy invested massively in Aurora and the tech division, he meant those words, as the machine that was in front of him was a manufacturing machine.

Unlike any other manufacturing machine, this was specifically created for the purpose of nuclear weapons. A machine like this only existed in the core military zone, and outsiders were oblivious to its existence.

.....

Even Raphael only knew the machine because of the research he had once made on them.

“I have already informed you about the problem I’m having with the incendiary weapon, so how are we going to fix it and make it work,” Aurora muttered as she stared at the machine.

When Raphael heard Aurora, he circled the machine and stared at the materials that were being brought out of the machine, before then staring at the table.

Raphael paused, “It depends on the scale of the damage that you want.” Raphael responded.

There was an eyebrow raised from Aurora when Raphael spoke, and a second after, he began to explain. “The incendiary weapon you want to create is split into two types. Atomic and thermonuclear.” Raphael said.

“The fission of plutonium, uranium, and palladium would produce over two hundred radioisotopes and other radioisotopes will be produced by neutron absorption in surrounding materials. This is of course for the atomic.” Raphael paused, “With the thermonuclear, the radioisotope would be of small qualities.”

Aurora listened attentively to Raphael as he spoke. The prideful demeanor she usually had was no longer around her, and she was more like a student who wanted to absorb knowledge from her instructor.

“The damage level of the device we are about to create, should it be able to take down an entire city, estate, state, country, nation, or even the world. What degree of destruction do you want?” Raphael asked.

Aurora didn’t respond to Raphael immediately, she thought about the question very deeply before then saying, “A city should do. And I want a complete wipeout.” Aurora responded.

“Then this should be an atomic device.” Raphael said, “We will be dealing with fission, so there is also no need for palladium.”

“Why?” Aurora exclaimed.

“Palladium should only be used on a larger scale, and an explosion in a city isn’t one of them,” Raphael replied. “You simply have to minimize the use of uranium, and you’d be able to get what you want.”

Aurora scratched her head, “Hmm... I’m still going to need your help. I’m not entirely good at creating nuclear weapons, but you’re. So, you can create the weapon, and I would assist you in creating it.”

“No.”

A second after Aurora spoke and Raphael’s voice rang out.

“I already have Gus to assist me, so you can just watch. I consider this as repaying the favor that I owe you, and once I’m done, there shouldn’t be any other business between the both of us.” Raphael blurted.

A light frown appeared on Aurora’s face when she heard Raphael. She, however, nodded her head and glanced at Gus.

While Aurora didn’t want to admit it, it was still embarrassing as well as humiliating that Raphael would prefer an owl to assist him rather than her. She was after all the number one student in the tech division, so how could he possibly choose an owl over her?

“Gus, you know what we are dealing with, isn’t it?” Raphael asked, and immediately after he spoke, Gus nodded it head. “Gather the necessary tools and equipment we would be needing, and let’s get this done quickly.”

After Gus flew towards the room and pulled the items that would be needed for the incendiary device, Raphael’s voice rang out.

“I’m a little hungry, what about you?”

Aurora had first assumed that Raphael was speaking to her, but she was instead to see Gus nodding it head several times at him. Gus then began to hiss and snort, and after a few seconds of the owl saying the unknown, Raphael turned towards her.

“Gus wants buffalo wings, and you can get chocolate chip cookies for me,” Raphael muttered.

Aurora’s mouth opened slightly with shock then written evidently on her face. She was still in a stupefied state when Raphael spoke.

“The buffalo wings should be in bucket size and should also be tossed in classic spice, that’s how Gus likes it. If it’s not spicy, don’t bring it over, or else you’re going to be the one eating it, as Gus won’t.”

Suddenly, Raphael’s eyebrows furrowed as he saw Aurora hadn’t moved. He turned to Gus, who was apparently just as perplexed as he was before the saying.

“Aurora, what are you waiting for, we don’t have all day. I can’t work on an empty stomach, and the same goes for Gus.”

Aurora shook her head, and with her hands then clenched into a fist, she walked towards the exit door. Aurora paused when she got in front of the door, she turned towards Raphael, seeing that look he had on his face, she bit her lips hard and then left the room.

.....

Time passed very quickly, and after approximately eleven hours, Raphael was almost done with the weapon.

“The uranium bullets,” Raphael mumbled, and a second after Gus passed him a hollow bullet.

Raphael placed the hollow bullet in front of the conventional charge, and then stretched his hand out again. Gus then repeated its earlier action and placed a tool on Raphael’s hand.

After the interior part of the device had been made, Raphael moved on to the exterior area, which was the casing.

The first move Raphael made when he started working on the device was to create the casing. While most people would have preferred to make it the last item they create, he chose to make it the first.

Since the core of the weapon was already made from uranium and a percent of plutonium, Raphael didn’t choose to make the casing uranium. He used highly reinforced aluminum to make the exterior part of the weapon.

After a few minutes, Raphael was done putting the weapon into the aluminum casing. He took a deep breath and then took off the helmet he was wearing.

In the process of making the weapon, Raphael had to make use of a helmet as uranium was reacted with fluorine, and heated until it became gas and then decanted through several thousand fine porous barriers.

“The bolts, Gus,” Raphael said.

Once the bolts were in Raphael’s hands, fixing them inside the casing and tightening them wasn’t difficult and that only took about ten to fifteen minutes.

When Raphael was done with the weapon, he took a step back, and after admiring the piece he had just created, a smile hung on his face. He turned to stare at Aurora, who also had a dazzled look on her face and heaved a deep breath.

“Aren’t you scared?” Aurora’s voice rang out a few seconds after the weapon was created.

Raphael was untying the apron around his body when he heard Aurora. He raised an eyebrow and said, “What do you mean?”

“Aren’t you scared that I might use the weapon against you? What if I find the place that you come from, and I decide to use the weapon there.” Aurora said.

For some reason, Raphael didn’t react in the way that Aurora had expected him to. He flashed a smile at her and said.

“I’m going to wish you best of luck then,” Raphael responded.

The smile Raphael had on gave Aurora the impression that he must have tampered with the weapon in some way, or how else could he not be disturbed by what she said?

“I have no such interest in harming those around you.” Aurora paused, “The same can’t be said to you though,”

Aurora circled the twenty-five-inch weapon that was on the table, and her lips curved into a smile. As she then placed her hand on the weapon, the smile on her face widened.

“Thanks, Raphael,” Aurora mumbled.

She raised her head and peered into those blue, mesmerizing eyes that Raphael had, and she nodded her head.

“Thank you too, Gus.”

Gus was already on Raphael’s shoulder when it heard Aurora. And responding to her, it let out a long hiss.

“I have repaid the favor I owe you, so that’s going to be all. Goodbye.” With that said, and, Raphael walked out of the building space.

As Raphael left the space, he wasn’t aware that Aurora had her eyes fixed on him the whole time, and it was only after the door closed that she took her eyes off him.

...

AN- Support the book if you like it.

I will have an artist illustrate the characters in the novel faster this way... Thanks in advance.