4 Ser Regalus

24.12.2022

“Grandmaster, he’s here,” Ravalor said as he received the confirmation of the extraction team and Grandmaster Dasidevi looked up. He didn’t sigh, but the breath he let out seemed more heavy than usual. The Grandmaster shut down the holographic displays before him and picked up on the datatab from his desk before he stood up and followed Ravalor out of the office.

“He’s still the only one?“

“It appears so, sir,” Ravalor confirmed, letting himself fall back just enough that the Grandmaster walked next to him. He kept his distance and hands behind his back with the appropriate respect. He held no high ranking position within this division, but the Grandmaster usually kept him close by for any tasks he needed doing. Wildly speculative rumours had it that he may be grooming Ravalor for command but Ravalor would firmly doubt that, besides really dreading the idea. He had absolutely no interest in taking up command. He was fine where he was and people didn’t bother him too much about it with ample chance to work in peace and quiet. However, there had to be a reason for Dasidevie’s confidence in him, but Ravalor to this day couldn’t tell if it was just to keep an eye on him or merely Dasidevi’s idea of showing him a goodwill amount of trust. Chances were good it was both.

The division under Grandmaster Dasidevi didn’t shine with legends of skill or unmatched bravery, on the contrary, many of his fellow soldiers had histories that spoke of no such things, and yet they were the ones sent first to investigate situations that were potentially extremely dangerous. They were made most replaceable like that. But Grandmaster Dasidevi never let them feel that.

It was a duty and purpose that had to be fulfilled. Maybe they were easily replaceable, but never expendable.

“The lone survivor. That makes him either extremely lucky or very dangerous,” Grandmaster Dasidevi said more to himself, lost in thoughts, than to Ravalor. They passed two portdoors and reached the interrogation room. “Hold on.” The Grandmaster stopped him before they could have entered.

“Pull those sleeves down, we’re not going to threaten him. At least not yet.” Grandmaster Dasidevi said dryly and Ravalor did as he was told. He didn’t like the more constricted feeling around his wrists when he closed the cuffs but he wouldn’t complain.

“Sir, do you really think he might be involved?” Ravalor asked with a light frown as he resettled his arms behind his back.

“Involved,” Grandmaster Dasidevi repeated almost mockingly, but his face kept neutral. Ravalor knew he wasn’t making fun of the idea itself, but the speculative nature of it. “First we have to find out what exactly it would be he might be involved in. There is nothing of use from the Envoys yet.

“But, given his lineage and the long-standing loyalty of his family to Amuthon and the crown, it would seem unlikely. However, weirder things have happened when chaos wizards are involved.” The Grandmaster shook his head slightly.

Then he nodded toward the door.

Ravalor stepped into the room before the Grandmaster did. A safety precaution that should be unnecessary on the ship, but everyone adhered to it nevertheless. Though from what he had heard, Ravalor doubted there was any threat left in the person locked into this room.

The man, the human, sitting in front of him at a plain table looked ashen and shaken, but otherwise unharmed. The dark blond hair was slightly dishevelled, but that was about it. Yet there was trembling in his fingers and a still shocked shadow on his face. Nevertheless he looked up as they entered, and there was some glimmer of hope. Ravalor wondered what the knight thought there was they could say to make what had happened any better.

Fortunately it wasn’t his place to figure that out. He kept standing next to the door as Grandmaster Dasidevi stepped forward.

“What happened?” the man sitting at the table finally asked as nobody else seemed eager to start this conversation. He wrapped his hands around each other to mask the shaking.

“That is a good question. We might be inclined to ask you that, Ser Regalus,” the Grandmaster said as he sat down across the knight who frowned puzzled for a moment. Ravalor no longer could see the Grandmaster’s face, but he could observe Ser Regalus clearly. And he noticed the moment of shocked realisation.

“Do you— It wasn’t our fault!” he said breathlessly, his eyes wide. “It exploded! The whole moon exploded!”

“Yes it did,” the Grandmaster confirmed with a passionless nod and a faux-sense of amazement that struck Ravalor as unnecessarily cruel, whether or not this knight knew anything about it. “Now, how could that have happened?”

“I don’t know?!”

Ravalor mildly raised his brows as he watched the knight. There was anger rising in his voice, overtaking the shocked confusion which made him unfold his hands from his back. The last Knight of Amuthon didn’t know yet that this was his new title (though he might be suspecting it). He also didn’t know how many eyes were watching him now because of it.

“Then tell me what you do know. What did you see?” the Grandmaster asked. He leaned back, folding his hands on his lap, looking impressively relaxed. Ravalor however knew that right this moment nobody on this ship was anything close to relaxed. Not while they hadn’t found even a trace of Charon’s infamous prisoner. But of all warriors on this ship, Ravalor knew that he needed to be the last one to show how much that fact unsettled him.

Ser Regalus mildly shook his head, looking away, lowering his eyes with that pain filled expression in his face. Then he looked up again, meeting the Grandmaster’s glare.

“We were at full emission control to keep hidden from the enemy, but Earth ordered us to intercept the arriving fleet. Though unexpected, Grandmaster Borelius of course followed orders and so we mobilised. We launched the eagles, staying in the moon’s shadow till the enemy fleet came around it. We caught them by surprise,” Ser Regalus explained, an unsteady tremble in his voice. The Grandmaster just nodded.

“We flew smart, and quick, we were slightly outnumbered, we knew that, but we flew good.” Ser Regalus stressed adamantly. “We did everything right.”

“Did you see anything unusual? Any ships that didn’t show up on the scans before?” The Grandmaster ignored the emotional tone in the knight’s words as well as the desperate need for confirmation. To be told that yes, they did everything right, it wasn’t their fault.

“No. There was nothing. One Zantalus class destroyer, a few attack ships and many fighters. But nothing we didn’t know about.”

“What about their weapons? What ship fired on the moon?”

Ser Regalus looked at the Grandmaster, wide eyed, searching his face, then a miniscule shake of the head. “They didn’t.”

A short moment of silence.

“Then how did it explode?”

“I don’t know!” Ser Regalus’s hands slammed onto the table. The Grandmaster didn’t even flinch.

“Who received the order from earth?” He asked instead, catching Ser Regalus off guard by the sudden switch of topic. He blinked, frowning slightly.

“It was a high priority message for Grandmaster Borelius personally. Tight beam.” Ser Regalus frowned trying to remember. “Ser Altalus was on coms and security, and I think Ser Valeron too. It was his shift but I didn’t hear him.“

Dasidevi nodded ever so slightly, that much they knew, “Did you hear the message from earth?“

“I- no. I didn’t.” Ser Regalus said, searching the Grandmasters face again for the reason for these questions.

“Why wouldn’t this order be delivered by courier? Were these orders confirmed?“

The confusion grew into a stressed frown in Regalus’ face. “I’m not— As I said, we originally were supposed to stay hidden, we were on emission control, with the shield up, as to not show up on any scans. When the tight beam arrived, it was mere minutes till the fleet would have past us by, we’d have lost the element of surprise had we—“

“Ser Regalus, there were no orders from Earth to attack.”

“But…“

“Did the Grandmaster confirm the authenticity of this message? Did anyone else hear it?“

“I don’t know! I wasn’t there!” Desperation seeped through Ser Regalus’s voice. He wanted to help, and he didn’t want to believe what he heard. The implication that the entire destruction of his order, the death of all his friends, had happened based on a lie.

The interrogation continued for almost an hour longer, returning again and again to the same topics, the same details. By the end of it, Ser Regalus was a slumped over husk of the man had been before. He looked haunted, exhausted and distraught. There had been no words of comfort the Grandmaster had bothered to give him.

“Keep an eye on him,” Grandmaster Dasidevi said to Ravalor after he had stood up. “I’ll inform earth of his survival.“

Ravalor nodded quietly and the Grandmaster left the room.

He didn’t move. Just keeping his hands behind his back, stance straight and head held high. He didn’t directly look at Ser Regalus as to not appear staring, but he kept him in his field of vision.

With the hard frown and sense of duty before it had been easy to see something of the one Knight of Amuthon he had ever really known. Now however the look in the narrow face just looked too young and too lost.

Almost 10 minutes passed before Ser Regalus looked back up to him. His voice sounded weak and hoarse as he asked,

“They are all dead, aren’t they?“

Ravalor now really looked at him. The shock had faded. Slowly the realisation set in. And the unimaginable pain caused by it.

He didn’t answer.

Yes, they were all dead. They both knew that.

And then there was silence again.

*

The door opened again, Ser Regalus reacted slowly, looking back up, but the moment he did his eyes widened.

“Ser Gordon? Altalus?” Ser Regalus jumped up from his seat, “You’re alive!” Endless relief filled the knight’s words as he came around the table.

Ravalor glanced at the two people who had entered and back to Ser Regalus, then back again. And he understood. The two wizards that had stepped in were warriors too, but not of his division. Ravalor didn’t know them, but he doubted their names were actually Gordon or Altalus. These had to be the warriors of some of the envoys stationed on Charon. Unlike their Envoy parts, these two were easily identifiable as wizards, at least to Ravalor. They didn’t wear their uniforms however, both had been given some unsuspecting and plain overalls, they carried a similar one too for Ser Regalus, as well as a bottle of water that should do wonders about the raspy tone in Regalus’s voice after an hour of talking. Some warrior had undoubtedly made a quick trip to earth or one of the colonies to even get that one on the ship.

“We were lucky,” Ser Gordon said as Altalus kept quiet. “Unbelievably so.”

Ser Regalus gave Gordon a heartyfelled hug before anyone could have stopped him. And Gordon actually patted the knights back, indulging the hug.

It was a strange picture, to see a warrior engaging in this kind of behaviour. But it was just how Envoys were trained to be.

It was something he could never see himself doing.

“How did you survive? They say they are all dead…” Ser Regalus asked, his voice sounded dangerously choked as Ser Gordon held him at his shoulders.

“I only remember waking up here.” Ser Gordon shook his head as he seemingly effortless and without words guided Ser Regalus back to his chair. He himself sat down, taking the Grandmaster’s seat while Altalus kept standing to their side, watching quietly. They had put the spare overall on the table, and Ser Gordon offered the bottle of water to Regalus who took it greatfully. “Altalus was in the security centre, the blast didn’t penetrated the room. They barely found him in the debris in time. Valeron… didn’t make it.”

Ravalor knew that all of it was a lie, the entire fortress and outpost had been vaporised. Nothing had survived. Quietly he glanced to Ser Altalus who hadn’t said anything so far. It seemed like Ser Gordon was much more comfortable keeping his Envoy persona up with another Part of him than Ser Altalus was. Ser Regalus probably would assume it was shellshock though.

Unexpectedly he met Altalus’ eyes.

Ravalor gave him no reaction that would blow their cover, but he was strangely taken aback by the look in Altalus’ face. For a moment he looked at him with a strange sense of familiarity. For a moment he felt like he knew this wizard even though they had never met. Then Altalus turned his head back to Ser Regalus who, after taking a generous sip from the water, had asked,

“What happened? Altalus, did you see anything?“

Ser Altalus shook his head. “No. There was nothing unusual until suddenly everything exploded.“

“That can’t be!” Ser Regalus said desperately. “Something must have happened. They asked me if any ship had fired a weapon but there was none, I swear this to you by my honour as a knight. It had to come from inside!” His hands were now tightly wrapped around the bottle in his hands.

“We will find out what happened.” Ser Gordon said quietly, Altalus didn’t voice an opinion.

As Ser Regalus spoke again, his voice had become quiet too, almost whispering as if he feared speaking the words out loud would make them true. “Did you hear what they said about the orders? That they were false?” He looked back to Altalus. “You must have seen it, right? They had to be valid!”

Ser Altalus’ shoulders dropped, it made him look a lot younger and uncomfortable. “There were no orders, Regalus.“

“What…“

“We never received any message. When we got the command to lower the barrier we assumed the Grandmaster to have gotten the order directly. We didn’t–“

“What are you saying?“

“I don’t know.“

“You don’t think—” for the first time since the other two wizards had entered Ser Regalus’s eyes briefly twitched back to Ravalor. He was an outsider in this conversation, at least as far as Ser Regalus’s would perceive it. “—The Grandmaster?“

“It seems insane but… possible,” Ser Gordon said grimly. “There were many eager to meet that force head one. Maybe Grandmaster Borelius acted on his own, maybe it was planned. We just don’t know.“

A short silence followed before Ser Regalus asked crestfallen, “Do you think… he escaped?“

“I don’t know.” Gordon shook his head.

“I don’t see how. The explosion killed everything,” Ser Altalus said, hanging onto the idea that it was simply all to blame on one man making the decision to fight. He didn’t sound very convincing.

Not everything.

“You’re still alive, though,” Ser Regalus noted, confirming Ravalors thoughts even though they meant completely different things, and at that everyone fell silent again.

“Are you alright?” Ser Gordon asked.

“I’m not. But… I should ask you that. I’m so sorry, your family—” Ser Regalus looked back up, but Ser Gordon looked away.

“I know.” And for a moment there was genuine grief in the faux-knights face that was attempted to be hidden behind dutiful stoicism. He was very good and for a moment Ravalor had almost forgotten that he was not the griefing human he pretended to be. “We all will realise how much we really lost soon enough. I still can’t believe…“

Silence again.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Ser Regalus’s voice was weak and heartbroken.

“Earth needs us,” Ser Gordon answered quietly and Ser Regalus scoffed bitterly. But before Ser Regalus could voice his thoughts, Ser Gordon continued,

“No, listen, they do. Earth needs the Knights of Amuthon now more than ever!“

“They’re all dead!“

A brief moment of silence.

“Not all. We three are alive. So are the rookies still training on earth. And the memories and legends of the Knights of Amuthon will always live on. Your family always kept it alive! And earth needs this beacon of hope now more than ever. We’ll give them that hope again. Give them the heroes they remember. But you need to be there too. Show them that the Knights of Amuthon do survive!“

Ser Gordon sounded passionate, genuinely worried and caring alike. Ravalor wondered how much of what the wizard now said was actually true or even how they really felt. Envoys were usually prolific liars — there would be nothing in his tone or body language that would give away any pretence or falsehood.

It was impossible to tell if this were his own thoughts or what he was told to do.

Ser Regalus didn’t know that though.

But Ravalor choose to believe Not-Gordon to be genuine. Even though it was only because he did not see why Mezchinhar would bother with this, given their impassive actions in this war so far. And he felt a sense of sympathy for that wizard. Maybe even pity.

Of course, Parts of him were glad to see at least someone caring, but he also knew that getting this attached to the fate of humans was a pointless endeavour that only would bring this wizard pain. And he would have thought especially an Envoy of all wizards would know better than this.

Ravalor did not care much about the prophecies written that had doomed this galaxy, but he saw the actions taken because of them. It wasn’t his place to question it, it wasn’t his place to change anything about it. The fate of this universe had been decided upon, and no single wizard could do anything to change it.

The only thing of importance was now to find out what had happened to Zenozarax.

A great burden had been lifted from his shoulders the moment of Charon’s destruction. It was a sense of relief, as if the knowledge of the end of this torture on his once best friend was a badly needed aid on his own mind. However, as one burden was taken from him, he knew it couldn’t last. It wouldn’t. And so he had to find him.

It was the only thing that mattered.

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