Kresnik Operator

The Kresnik Operator are the Bureau's answer to missions requiring supernatural capability. Few operators survive more than a year in the frame before madness claims them, yet their power is undeniable. The mockery of a human form houses a human brain, one often so marred by the hierarchy of command that they are nothing more than sociopathic killing machines loyal only to the Bureau.

To be denied the sense of touch alone is enough to drive even the strongest will to ruin. Subjects chosen for the Duša izlazi are brutally trained for years, much of which includes extended sessions in sensory deprivation tanks, conditioning that continues until a mission requires their implantation in the frame. These subjects are drawn from the Qliphah, operators whose injuries have made them unsuitable for field operations yet whose minds remain intact. The transplantation procedure from live subject to frame has a greater chance of success if the time the brain is removed from life support is reduced. The Bureau has perfected this process to a six-second procedure referred to as the Neurocranial Dehiscence.

All Qliphah are aware that Duša izlazi is a one way trip, one way or another.

When the Bureau commits its innovations to the field of battle, it does so with the full might of its technology in defence of that technology. Through the many leucotomies the Qliphah undertook in their life, they feel no pain nor fear. The Kresnik exhibits superhuman speed and enhanced strength. Even its components do not seem to scorch under heat or flame. It dances and leaps across solid surfaces with sinister grace rather than slow its brutal sprint with the viscous mud of No Man's Land.

It is unknown to all but the Bureau's highest masters what animates the frame, yet it has been said to exude a viscous deep violet blood if wounded. The Kresnik does not see or hear in the conventional sense, lacking the organs to do so after their severance from their earthly body. It is through this frame that more surreptitious senses are granted; vibrations are amplified, allowing them to hear beyond mortal capability. Likewise, through other mechanical implants of Bureau design, the Kresnik is granted the ability to see through solid surfaces.

Although it has never been clear if the ability is another innovation or part of their training, the Kresnik are intrinsically aware of when they have been observed, a feature of the Bureau's clinical efficiency in the desire to remain unseen. Loose ends only remain in situations where the Kresnik cannot divert its murderous attention to those that have seen it.

Yet perhaps the most profound mystery is the act of Bittul ha-Yesh, the ability for the Kresnik to pass through solid matter. Though accounts are sparse, given that observation itself marks one for elimination, in situations where expedited escape is required the Kresnik will pass through bunker walls or even great depths of soil to reach tunnels below. Firearms cannot follow it into this incorporeal state, though its twin knives pass through alongside it. The Kresnik cannot remain in this state for long, nor can it carry additional objects or attack while phased.

In 1911, a Kresnik infiltrated the command bunker of Heretic General Sariel, Third Prince of the Legion of Wrath. The assassination can be assumed to be successful as Sariel has since been replaced, despite no mention of his fate. A sentry raised the alarm during the assassination. There was a great deal of confusion and chaos within the fortress as the Legions of Hell thought to cut off the assassin within the narrow passages, yet continuously found themselves ambushed by a ghost leaping through walls. It was only when the Kresnik left the exterior foundations was it faced with massed rifle fire from the converging troops responding to the initial alarm. As the triumphant soldiers approached the twitching form to confirm the kill, an explosion occurred. The blast scattered the six approaching men like ash in the wind. Every Legionnaire within twenty meters experienced internal rupturing; three of the eighteen survived. No trace of the Kresnik remained.

This account reveals that despite all their blasphemous technologies, the Kresnik is not immune to harm. The frame, while armoured, is built for speed and flexibility. Its body can endure great wounds, yet that which is fatal to a human is fatal to the Kresnik.

No creature bound to Hell would offer validation of this story. If Hell has any stance at all against the Bureau, they do not advertise it.

Rumour persists regarding the left half of the Brass Vessel that went missing from Hell's vaults. Discussion of the theft is strictly prohibited within the Legions. Whether it was a Kresnik that was responsible will likely never be verified by either party. Yet we know, since rumours of the theft, every shipment entering and exiting hell gates and sphincters alike are meticulously searched. If the story is indeed true, the Kresnik may represent something truly anathema even to Hell. A soulless thief daring enough to penetrate the gates of hell.