Secret War: The Annihilation Plague (Part1)

Chapter 7

'So, Veltrain sent the prince off to a foreign nation right on the cusp of a full-scale invasion?' said Tathe; he knew this already but this fact had always bemused him, and he hoped Attelus would know the answer to this. 'Why?'

'Perhaps because he somehow knew Royd would return a one-man army?' said Attelus.

'Cannot argue with that logic,' said Karmen.

'But...how?' said Tathe. 'Despasia was known for its martial arts masters but...'

'I don't know,' said Attelus. 'The general seemed privy to information no one else did at the time; some say he even knew the true identity of Royd's mother, which is even a mystery to this day. Unless-'

'Yes, yes, unless more information has been found. So they travelled to Despasia...?'

Attelus opened his mouth to answer, but Tathe silenced him with a raised hand. 'Wait! Adrassil was a mercenary right?'

'Yes. According to the records.'

'So why did he happen to be there on time to save Royd and the 1st regiment?'

'Hmm, good question. The main theory is that Veltrain managed to figure out Royd's plan or got the answer from General Tollos, who attacked the border, after "going rogue" as a distraction, so the 1st Regiment could infiltrate Maranger. So he hired Adrassil and sent him into Maranger to help.'

'Makes sense,' said Tathe. 'But how did Veltrain know Adrassil?'

'That's another good question. In all honesty, that's still a strange mystery because there's no mention in any record the continent over of any mercenary named Adrassil until then, you'd think a warrior of his incredible ability would be known of somewhere, right?'

'Right,' said Tathe, his eyes narrowing. Didn't Dellenger mention something about legend, not mentioning much about his "people"? 'They travelled to Despasia, then what?'

Attelus hesitated.

'What's wrong?' and much to Tathe's interest, Karmen leaned forwards suddenly more interested.

'There's something else which was found out not long before the Chaos Invasion happened,' said Attelus. 'Something strange happened during Royd's and Adrassil's trip to Despasia. They made a brief stop at the border and in the barracks there, the barracks of the 28th regiment something went wrong.'

'What happened?' said Karmen.

Attelus shrugged yet again. 'They don't know, just that the barracks was left in utter ruination and most of the 28th regiment was killed in some battle. So much so that the few survivors left with Royd and Adrassil as some kind of honour guard into Despasia.'

'How?' said Karmen. 'Wasn't it far away from the front lines?'

'As far as one can be without going into Despasia itself,' said Tathe. 'Could it have been assassins from Maranger?'

'Could've been,' said Attelus. 'Anyway, then they went into Despasia, were there for two years, then Royd returned with Adrassil and thanks to them joining with the scouts and rebel underground; they managed to free Velrosia from Marangerian occupation and killed Voltarin, Royd avenging his own defeat and father by slaying the corrupt king in single combat. Then Adrassil went and disappeared. That's all there is about him, I'm afraid.'

Tathe nodded. 'Anything else about Adrassil? No details about him?'

Attelus' eyes narrowed. 'Why do you want to know this anyway, Commissar?'

Tathe shrugged. 'Just interested. After the deaths of so many of my men, thought I'd be a bit patriotic and learn more about our history.'

Attelus and Karmen shared glances neither looked at all convinced, but neither seemed to want to press the issue after all the shit they'd put Tathe through which was what he wanted, Inquisition agents weren't the only ones who can be manipulative. Tathe was sure they'd find out soon about Dellenger's claim of being Adrassil, he just wanted to get on their nerves.

'Hmm,' said Attelus as he mused his chin again. 'Not much; it'd have been great if Royd or anyone with him had kept a diary or notes or something. I think...he was awkward and weird but could also highly be charismatic and could say a damn good speech. He was a strange contradiction, to say the least.'

'Where did you get that information?' said Karmen.

'A few from the diaries and accounts of members of the rebellion,' said Attelus. 'Also despite apparently being very, very good looking he was terrible with women and had to go to prostitutes a lot.'

Tathe nodded, that did sound a frig-ton like Dellenger except going to the prostitutes bit.

'And no...sexual diseases?' said Karmen.

Attelus grimaced. 'Frigged if I know.'

'Anything else?' said Tathe.

'Uhh,' Attelus' eyes rolled to the ceiling. 'Hmm, yes, actually, there are a few anecdotes of both Adrassil and Royd recovering from mortal wounds and a quite fast as well.'

'Like they might have an enhanced metabolism, maybe?' said Karmen, her narrowed gaze fixed on Attelus.

Attelus didn't meet her gaze; he just pursed his lips and shrugged. 'Perhaps.'

That sounded like Dellenger as well, especially now.

Tathe became lost in thought, and silence took over again.

'Y-you want to talk about anything else, Commissar?' said Karmen.

He shook his head. 'No, that's everything for now. Although there are more things, I wish to discuss later.'

'Hmm, fair enough,' said Attelus. 'We're going to call a de-briefing tomorrow, just so you know.'

About frigging time, thought Tathe. 'Yes, understood,' he said.

Both Attelus and Karmen gave him thin smiles and small nods, a subtle indication they wished he'd leave.

'Well, excellent, yes,' said Attelus. 'It's been...fun talking about history and stuff with you.'

Tathe nodded and started for the door. 'Thank you for being so informative,' he said over his shoulder as he left.

'What do you think that was about?' said Attelus.

Karmen shrugged. 'I don't know, was pretty interesting, though. I knew you were into history, but not into that much detail.'

'Royd was my hero as a kid, Estella,' said Attelus. 'You knew that.'

'He was every boy's hero,' said Karmen. 'Captain Saria Rotasia was mine. My brother idolised Royd, too...'

Her sentence drained away, and her eyes glazed over as the memories of her long dead brother seemed to come back.

'You learned Valisuth instead of the halberd, though,' said Attelus, which made her snap back into reality.

'I did,' said Karmen. 'Mostly so I could spend more time with my father as he was a blade-master of note, but that was a long time ago.'

She looked at Attelus. 'You made me a promise.'

'Yes, but-'

'No, Attelus. Enough time-wasting, go talk to Kalakor.'

Attelus sighed and muttered, 'That's if I can even find him.'

'What?'

'Alright, fine, Emperor damn it,' he looked at her. 'You want to come with?'

'What? For morale support?'

'No...well, something like that, Estella, you just seem the most frigging curious of anyone.'

'You know I don't trust him.'

'So, you don't think he'll just lie, then?'

'Maybe. I hoped you would be able to see if he does.'

'You seriously think I can tell if a Space Marine is lying or not?'

'Good point,' said Karmen. 'It seems as per usual, my faith in you is misplaced.'

'Ouch...'

'Attelus, that was a joke.'

'...I knew that.'

Karmen sighed and rolled her eyes. 'Okay, I will come with you by the Emperor. But if Kalakor is not comfortable with my presence...'

'Yeah, yeah, got you. Let's get this over and damn well done with, then.'