12 Zenozarax V (Warrior)

02.03.2024

Zenozarax and Ravalor entered the command centre of the Edge of the Universe the very moment a flash lit up the room and Xaronzul appeared as his Engineer. He didn’t look very happy.

Moakatar and Sukatar were already present. All of them acknowledged Ravalor being with Zenozarax with not more than a glance, before ignoring his presence and refocusing on Zenozarax. They all met here because there was no private conversation to be had on the Dark Citadel. Or anywhere Quadirymir was for that matter.

Briefly he glanced back at Ravalor, now suddenly faced with three other chaos wizards, but if that made him nervous he didn’t show it by keeping that low neutral frown on his face, so Zenozarax refocused at the new problem at hand.

“What happened?” Zenozarax asked briskly into the tension.

“Fuck if I know,” Xaronzul said, noticeably (and understandably) agitated as he drove both hands through his short hair in a very clear this-is-so-bad motion. “The goddamn thing must have exploded right in my face.”

“We were running the maintenance on the channelling device as usual,” Moakatar added, being actually the one to answer Zenozarax’ question. “After Little Halo there was a lot of wear and tear in the system, it barely held as is. There was an explosion tearing most of the CC apart. We lost Xaronzul and Habib Fen.”

He heard all that, not much of it was new to him, and it still didn’t explain what happened.

“Quadirymir,” Sukatar said, like it would explain everything.

Yeah, there was that. But Zenozarax frowned.

“Why would he do that?”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Xaronzul paced restlessly through the CC. He was tense, nervous and primed for violence, seeking for something to lash out on. He had just lost a Part of himself — and they knew that was very bad in their current situation. Zenozarax also knew that in this state, Xaronzul would be bombarded with all sorts of impressions his mind could dream up, so he kept his own voice deliberately calm as he spoke again.

“Yes, I hear you, and I don’t question that he could and  would if he saw any benefit in it, but that’s exactly it, why?” Zenozarax said. He felt his own anger claw on his mind, but he kept it on a very short leash. “Keep in mind the length he went to get me out of Charon—”

“Yes. You,” Sukatar interjected, they all knew what she meant. Zenozarax continued, his frown deepening,

“Fair, but why would he attack us now? I know why he betrayed me on earth, he doesn’t want things to change. But he doesn’t stand to gain anything by attacking us now—” abruptly he fell silent and everyone’s eyes lay on him.

“Or does he?” Moakatar muttered.

“He gave me the location of this station the other day.” Zenozarax touched one of the panels of the centre command station and immediately the information of the target was displayed for all to see. Zenozarax noticed how Sukatar’s eyes narrowed, glancing at Ravalor who had kept perfectly silent so far, standing in the back like he was just a soldier on duty.

“He is dissatisfied with our current approach. Says it’s not sustainable.“

“Not if he starts killing us it ain’t,” Xaronzul sneered with a humourless laugh.

“This all is assuming it was him. Which we don’t know. Not yet, and I doubt he would have left clues to the contrary. He’s too careful for that. So for now let’s accept the fact that it happened and consider what has to happen next.”

“Just accept it? We lost Habib and Tash there!” Sukatar said angrily and Zenozarax felt her fury with every fibre of his being. It was comforting in a familiar way. Assuring him his own anger was far from unjustified. But they needed to be careful about this.

“I don’t like it either, believe me. But with the situation being as it is now, we can not afford to openly accuse him. If we lose access to the Citadel now we’re halfway in a death spiral we can’t recover from.”

“Why is that?” Ravalor had stepped up to them, mustering the still displayed target. A planet miner a little bigger than Little Halo, reporting six wizards on site.

“We have enough izthra to rebuild Xaronzul’s part. But not much more. Not to also fix Sukatar’s injured Part, or to fix your leg. Or my back. Quadirymir possesses a device that allows us to reliably reclaim up to a third from any Part. If we cross him now, and whatever we do next fails, if more of us die, we lose the power to reclaim what we need to rebuild.“

“Do you think it’s appropriate to tell him all this?” Sukatar said wearily meeting Ravalor’s eyes with a healthy amount of suspicion.

“Ravalor.”

The young wizard met his eyes attentively. He was bothered by this, Zenozarax could see it.

“You naturally don’t want us to attack this station, yes?“

“Of course not.“

“But, right now, based on the information you have, you can see why we should and have to?“

Ravalor stayed silent for a moment then nodded. “I do.”

“Quadirymir wants me to take them whole. Every part of them. Corrupt their minds and command them to be reclaimed. Six wizards there, averaging to about 18 parts, enough to have enough Izthra to rebuild six Parts in turn. It would be a great backup on ressources.“

Moakatar sighed. “If you say it like that it almost makes me think he’s right.“

“He is, in that regard,” Zenozarax conceded, “But for it to be true, everything has to work out perfectly in just two minutes before the Order arrives, quicker even if there is a vanguard. High risk, high reward. Our approach is saver, but less effective. We go in, cut them off from their other Parts, and collect them, and then can safely retreat in the cover of the disruption field.“

“And the rest of them stay alive,” Ravalor concluded.

“Indeed. They lose a couple minutes of their memories but nobody really dies. Afterall, they can just have their Parts rebuilt in Mezchinhar. We can not.”

“Hm.“

“If all goes well, six parts that would give us two in turn.” He gave Ravalor a moment to consider the conflict his own sense of order and rightfulness put upon this idea, then he asked, “If we were to do this, would you keep me from doing it? Would you warn them?”

He met his friend’s eyes again, the conflict was so plain to see. It wasn’t only a question of right and wrong, it was also the apparent fact that Ravalor, still, did not want to go back to Mezchinhar.

“No,” Ravalor eventually said. Of course, surrounded by “the enemy” he couldn’t say yes even if he intended to. Zenozarax was aware of that, and yet he didn’t want to believe that Ravalor would lie to him like this while meeting his eyes steadfast and unwaveringly.

“Good.” Then turning to Sukatar. “So to answer your question, yes, I think it’s appropriate to tell him. He needs to understand this.”

“Just like that.“

“Yes. Just like that.“

Ravalor looked at him again, and he knew they would need to talk about this more, later, in private.

“First things first. The Twilight needs to be repaired as quickly as possible. I suggest transferring the Engineering staff from the Dawnbreak, temporarily.“

“Oh I don’t like that,” Moakatar moaned dismayed. “Having them all on the Dark Citadel.“

“You’ll keep a skeleton crew here to ready the Dawnbreak, but if we are correct, this is probably what Quadirymir wants. Us taking action. I’ll inform him of our decision. They should be safe. If it really was just an accident even more so.” He paused looking at Xaronzul. “We should also start rebuilding you as soon as possible.“

Xaronzul just nodded, if he had any objections he naturally didn’t air them. Sukatar however did.

“That will take one of him out of our options for quite a while. Shouldn’t we wait till afterwards?”

“If he loses another part, he’ll be seriously compromised. I don’t want to risk that. He stays.“

Sukatar shook her head like scolding herself for not considering that in the first place. “You’re right.”

Zenozarax nodded. “We’ll use the Dawnbreak for the assault. Having the Twilight as an emergency port point in the back this time.” Xaronzul didn’t look too happy at the prospect that they would take his ship into battle without him. But he kept quiet and let Zenozarax continue, “Last time was too messy, we need to be on point this time. Grab what we need as quickly as possible, take no risks, and be out of there before the fleet even arrives. With the structural data we got from Little Halo we should be able to get this done much quicker.

“Sukatar, you oversee the repairs, get everyone where they need to be and keep an eye on them. I want nobody near that ship that we don’t know and trust. Especially not Quadirymir’s soldiers. You’ll be in the best place to find out what happened, but be careful.“

“Understood,” Sukatar said.

“Moakatar, you get the Dawnbreak battle ready, make sure the channelling devices are all set up and ready to fire. Without Xaronzul there will be extra strain on the system in the initial wave.“

Moakatar nodded.

“Xaronzul, meet with me on the Dark Citadel as soon as you can. I’ll prepare the creation chambers once the current situation is handled.“

“I’ll go right away. I can lend a hand.“

“Alright. I’ll also go and speak to Quadirymir. Dismissed.”

He formally dismissed them more out of reflex than any sense of military order. He had been a Warrior, and a commanding officer at that, for millions of years. It was a habit that was hard to get rid of. And it did still serve him well.

The other wizards disappeared, Xaronzul and Sukatar by portal, Moakatar, staying close by, teleported directly.

Leaving only himself and Ravalor in the command centre.

“You trust them a lot,” Ravalor noted as he leaned against the console. A move that seemed at first oddly unfamiliar and too casual to Zenozarax, before he realised Ravalor was probably just resting his still hurting leg.

“More than I’d have imagined possible out here. But they are loyal. They may not be very orderly wizards, not as you’d like them, but, yes, I trust them.“

“But not Quadirymir. Who is he? The name sounds familiar to me,” Ravalor wondered.

“I’m not surprised. That’s probably one of your impressions again. I felt the same.” Zenozarax smiled weakly, joining Ravalor at the console. Resting for a moment. At the raised brows he added “We fought him at Funnix. The name would have been kept from the basic reports.”

“I see.” Ravalor crossed his arms, looking to the ground for a moment, but not really looking at it. “I haven’t really thought about Funnix in a long time.“

“I have,” Zenozarax said grimly. “It’s where all of this really started.”

Ravalor looked up, the question clear but unspoken, Zenozarax answered it naturally.

“Funnix happened and Quadirymir told me I left an impression. My demotion and fall from grace followed. Then…“

Zenozarax abruptly fell silent.

“Then what?“

“I… have told you about Atladin before. But you don’t remember that,” Zenozarax admitted. “Atladin, as you know the scion before you, was tempted by chaos. And it was my fault, or so I thought. Atladin found his way to Quadirymir. Not by chance mind you, that wizard kept an eye on me. And I’m now no longer sure if Atladin’s fall to chaos was entirely his own choice. Quadirymir can be very persuasive.

“It was Quadirymir who sent Atladin back to earth. I took chaos into me to defeat him and save us. And everything fell apart. I should have suspected it.

“Quadirymir found me afterwards. Naturally. He took me in. Showed me the ropes so to speak and kept me safe even. Helped me rebuild this Part… ” he trailed off. A lot had happened after that too.

“But yes, it all started at Funnix. A chance encounter. Drawing the interest of a wizard you don’t want interested in you.”

He looked back to Ravalor. “He can’t know about you. You are my weakness, and he knows that — he will bring us only suffering should he learn of this.“

“Why haven’t you…” Ravalor frowned, maybe surprised over what he had wanted to ask.

“Killed him yet?” Zenozarax finished the sentence with a wry smile. “With the current development I’m no longer sure if that is just your horribly pragmatic nature or the staggeringly uncharitable view you have of me.” Then he turned more serious again. “Quadirymir is a problem, I have always known that. But he’s been doing this for a lot longer than I have. He has means and tendrils across the multiverse that have kept us safe and healthy so far. A vast network of information and contacts that is too valuable to lose. And that’s besides the value of the Dark Citadel, which is life linked to him. If we kill him, we lose the Citadel. If we try to tamper with it, he’ll know. So—“

Zenozarax rose up from his leaned back position, standing up straight again and turning to Ravalor. “– This is a textbook case of keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

“Is that what we’re doing now too?” Ravalor asked, his voice was calm and steady.

Zenozarax shook his head ever so slightly.

“I would never consider you my enemy.”

“I tried.“

“I know.”

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