Benjamin Lehmann

Benjamin Lehmann was a German scientist during the latter half of the 21st Century. He is credited with being the inventor of the shielding technology that saved the German people from the nuclear war and stopped them from mutating like the rest of New Europa. He was the best scientist in employ of the German government; for this reason he was forced to head some of the government's more controversial experiments, including the Longevity Equilibrium. He was killed by Jeriah Batten~Reynolds at his own behest, in penance for the atrocities he had committed at the hands of the German government - he died at age 526, having been kept alive against his will by the Longevity Equilibrium.

Projekt Adler Anstieg
"Adler Anstieg" was the name given to the government project to create the shielding technology during the 21st Century; Lehmann was chosen as the project leader due to his first class scientific ability and knowledge of shielding technology. German scientists were already capable of creating shields with a small surface area, which they generated around uranium rods and other radioactive materials to contain harmful radioactivity, but the scale of the project was unprecedented - to generate a shield that would cover just over 400,000 square kilometres was deemed impossible by many. Lehmann refused to give up however, even after a vast amount of failures at the testing stage. Having run out of funding and seeing many of his colleagues deem the project a failure and abandon it, Lehmann and a small group of dedicated scientists worked day and night for an entire year to get the technology up and running.

On the 372nd day of the project the warning sirens sounded, signalling the arrival of nuclear missiles - Lehmann and his team attempted to activate the shield, despite the fact it was not ready for use, in an effort to save their country. During the activation the lab's main reactor went into meltdown under the strain of powering the shield, forcing Lehmann to divert all extra shielding power from around the reactors to the main shield to stop it from failing. His efforts paid off; the shield was a complete success, saving all of Germany from nuclear fire. However, many of Lehmann's team died in the process due to the reactor exploding or contracting radiation poisoning from the blast - Lehmann himself became infected after refusing to abandon the lab when it began to collapse around him after the explosion.

Radiation Poisoning
Lehmann spent the next two weeks fighting for his life in the radiology intensive care unit of the Charité in Berlin, having been exposed to approximately 1000 rads of radiation. Being responsible for saving all of Germany, the German government personally paid for his treatment, giving him the best quality treatment and care. Lehmann suffered from heavy bouts of nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and fever, and severe aplastic anemia - he underwent surgery for a bone marrow transplant and had to have many blood transfusions and a heavy course of antibiotics to combat infection. Surgeons were hesitant to operate on him as he was not yet in a stable condition, but they were forced to by the German government.

Due to the quality of treatment and care that he received, Lehmann slowly began to recover after surgery with the aid of blood transfusions. He would forever taste the metallic and acid essence of radioactive iodine in his mouth, and his body would be severely scarred from the burns he sustained, something which haunted him for the rest of his life. Lehmann would spend the rest of his life disabled and in a wheelchair, in constant pain.

Honours and Consecration
The German government, for his national service, honoured Lehmann by presenting him with the highest rank of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. He was also consecrated by all strands of Christianity in Germany as the saviour of the German people. Lehmann accepted the praise that was heaped upon him, not for himself but for recognition of just how important this new technology was. This fame inspired a new generation of German scientists; something the country very much needed if it was to survive in this new post-apocalyptic world.

Projekt Beleben
The German government appointed Lehmann as the chief scientific advisor to Germany, a role which he took very seriously. After observing the economic implications of not being able to trade with other nations for fear of contamination, Lehmann began to work on a scheme which would provide enough food, clean water and building materials for the German people. The government endorsed him with funding, a new lab and and a new scientific team. However, Lehmann's ambition to improve the living conditions and health of the German people was soon overidden by the government, who wanted to use the scheme to improve the wealth of the country so that it could invest in a new weapons program; if Lehmann refused to work to their demands his funding and resources would be removed. Lehmann had no choice but to agrees to the terms of the contract, which was named "Projekt Beleben".

Using techniques such as cloning, UV treatment, stem cell technology and vegetative propagation, Lehmann managed to achieve his set target, increasing the national food supply and cleansing the water supplied by inflowing rivers from outside the shield. The quality of life for German people soared, in turn generating wealth and support for the government. This wealth was then invested into a weapons program to combat the rising powers beyond Germany's borders. Lehmann himself was anti-war, but he was forbidden to speak out.

Vergeltung

 * "If they had pressed that button I wouldn't have been able to live with myself, knowing that it was I who created such a destructive power..." 

As part of Germany's nuclear enrichment program, Lehmann was ordered to design a bomb capable of destroying all of Eastern New Europa; this was due to the rise of the Imperial Bohemian Empire to the East. Lehmann initially refused to be included in the project, but 'changed his mind' after government forces kidnapped his family. By using his family as leverage, the government managed to incorporate Lehamnn into the development of 'Vergeltung' (Velgeltung meaning 'retribution' in German).

For the next five years Lehmann was separated from his parents, wife and children to ensure his cooperation in designing Vergeltung. Lehmann contemplated suicide at this point, but knew if he did take his own life his family would be killed for his failure.

Bavarian Independence
After Wilhelm Baier's rebellion against government rule in Bavaria started to gain popularity in the south, Lehmann was ordered to upgrade the German army's weapon schematics; the German arsenal was aged and needed updating to combat the threat of a social revolution. With his family still under house arrest, Lehmann had no choice but to participate in the project. It was then that he invented in the infamous Ionising Cannon, a weapon which fired highly charged ionising particles capable to causing near-instant necrosis of the body - victims hit by these particles would die a torturous death, decomposing before their very eyes.

With the aid of his deadly creation, the German army slaughtered many Bavarian men and women who had taken up arms against the tyranny of the regime. Many Bavarian attempted to flee across the border of Bohemia at this point in time, only to be gunned down by border control. Empress Xandra saw the injustice and brutality of the German regime and pledged the empire's support to the rebel cause, giving shelter to those fleeing Germany and sending soldiers into Bavaria to fight alongside Wilhelm.

Lehmann was kept busy with the war designing new weapons to increase the efficiency of the slaughter, much against his will. One night whilst working late in his study he was attacked by Bavarian spies who had infiltrated the building, hoping to steal the schematics for the Ionising Cannon. Lehmann forged and unease truce with his attackers, freely giving them the plans in return for the safe passage of his family to Bohemia - the Bavarians accepted his terms. Lehmann's family were broken out of their home in Hamburg escorted by Bavarian soldiers to Munich - his eldest son, Joahchim, was killed during the escape, aged 18. Lehmann did not find out about his son's death until five weeks later.

With the aid of Lehmann's schematics, the combined armies of Bavaria and Bohemia managed to push government forces out of Bavaria - knowing that they could not defeat the rebels, the German government agreed to a truce for the Bavarians. The treaty known as the Vertrag des Löwen was signed in Munich which ended the war. As part of the treaty the shielding technology created by Lehmann was to be withdrawn from Bavaria, leaving the newly independent state outside of the projection zone.