Chapter 32: "Priority: Graduation"
-Alcatraz Solitude Station-
The Alcatraz Solitude is the largest station in Alcatraz system orbiting the sun. On it is exactly 100 000 isolation cells, each is 5x5 meters (16.4x16.4 feet) and has 1 bed, 1 chair, 1 toilet, 1 mirror, 1 small table, 1 small sink and 1 small cabinet for clothes. Everything is completely white, even the prisoner's clothes, and the room is lit up brightly from 6 AM to 8 PM by 2 strips of white light. The room is 100% sound proof so there will be cold silence all the time.
Only the worst of the worst criminals and most hated enemies of the UNE are kept here. Zoral and Calvus are the only 2 prisoners from Falmart being kept here. Food will be delivered to the cells by automated drones. There will no human contact at all as they are not allowed to leave the cell at any time and the door is going to stay opaque unless there's a visitor. The best, cutting-edge, medical technology is available on the station to make sure the prisoners live as long as possible and never go completely insane. Once a prisoner shows signs of mental breakdown, they will be monitored and will be brought back to sanity as soon as they break.
Zoral is sitting on the bed, his head is down and his blonde hair was cut to 3cm short as standard for all prisoners. His eyes are closed as his mind is buzzing with thoughts of what had happened. The empire was his, the greatest army Flamart had ever seen was his but how did it come to this? How did he lose? This man still cannot comprehend the scale and power of the UNE, since he was captured in Sadera, he has seen many things as he was being transferred to this prison. Many things but nothing he could gasp, there are things that even the excuse of magic doesn't make sense. What are these people? Are these gods? Evils? Or perhaps, they are the gods of the gods?
A long and loud beep sound goes off as the door flashes green twice and then displays Pina who is calling from the throne room all the way from Sadera.
"Brother…" Pina can see that Zoral is well physically but in his eyes, his spirit is broken.
This is the first time Pina is allowed to see Zoral since his capture, she wants to inform Zoral about the trial herself. Hearing his sister's voice, Zoral looks up slowly, his eyes are stone cold void of any emotion. He hates his father for being a coward, he hates his brother for being a cunning snake who was not there to help him. Most of all, he hates Pina for being a puppet of the enemy, hand over the empire to these dishonorable people. He was willing to sacrifice his own humanity to defend Falmart but everyone in his family was against him.
"What do you want?" Zoral says slowly, cold, he pauses for a moment and then continues sarcastically "My…Empress".
"Brother…you know I have no other choice, I…" Pina says, trying to stay calm but Zoral interrupts her.
"There's always a choice! But you chose to be a coward like our fool father, you chose to hand over the Empire to these barbarians!" Zoral stares at Pina.
"Look around you, brother, you saw what they're capable of, what they've built, how could you still be calling them barbarians? If anything, we are the barbarians to them, had the war continue million of people on Falmart would die!" Pina leans forwards on the throne, her voice is raising as she speaks.
"So what? They would die with their honor rather than live in shame like they are now. We! We could've been the royal family that goes down in history as the defenders of Falmart against the most powerful enemy since the foundation of the Empire!" Zoral stands up and shouts.
Pina sinks back into the throne and feel like her heart misses a beat "So that's it? You're willing to sacrifice your family and millions of innocents just because of fame? For you own ego?" Pina says almost cry.
Zoral steps closers to the door and stare directly into Pina eyes "Yes" he replies, cold and calmly which send chills down Pina's spine.
"My brother…" Pina could not find the word to say to Zoral, she decides to go back to the reason she's calling him "I want to inform you that you will be given a fair trial as soon as the plague is over".
"Plague?" Being in the prison Zoral does not know what is happening with the Empire.
"Yes, a plague is swiping through Falmart. The UNE is doing everything they can to stop it" Pina replies.
Zoral starts laughing "The gods are punishing you all for being cowards".
"The plague is a dark magic spell; however, it is no god. The royal scholar just discovered that a few thousand years ago the darkling used to dark spell against us, luckily those who were infected died before they could spread and the darkling was defeat before they could try again" Pina replies.
Hearing that Zoral understand what Pina is implying, not wanting to admit his mistake, he changes the subject "This trial, tell me about it".
"UNE supreme court is going to judge you based on the evidences of all the actions you did, there will be an attorney…someone who defend you in court, appointed for you and all the pro-war senators" Pina replies "I will also be there".
"To see me being humiliated and murdered? This is no fair trial, they've already made up their minds, this is just for show and humiliation" Zoral punches the door "I've heard enough, live me alone, sister".
"Brother…" Pina is about to say something but changes her mind "I wish you well".
After the door return to normal, Zoral resumes sitting on the bed with his head down and contemplating his fate. It is over for him.
-Ava's room, Rondel Inn-
The council reserved 4 rooms for the group, Ava gets her own room while Lelei and Laura staying in another. Grey is staying with the 1st squad in a 10 beds room and the 2nd squad is staying in another 10 beds room. Big rooms are more common in the inns similar to the ones in the history of Earth as they are usually used by groups of traders who just need a place to spend the night and sleeping together to better protect their valuables.
Ava is sitting on her bed with a holographic screen being projected in front of her by her watch. She is talking with Admiral Ruby, her mother. She was about to go to sleep but her mother called.
"Mom? I thought your fleet is on the frontline" Ava is surprised because the front-line space is a vast distance away, while military communicate is smooth, personal call is almost impossible not to mention a security risk.
"Hi sweet daughter, it's nice to hear you too! I'm fine, thank you" Ruby sarcastically replies while smiling.
"I'm sorry, how are you mom?" Ava smiles.
"I'm alive and kicking, how are you?" Ruby asks.
"I'm well, we discovered some interesting stuffs today" Ava replies then continues "did they send you back? Are you getting a promotion?" she asks because usually an admiral only be recalled from the frontline to attend a big propaganda promotion or do something else of great matter.
"A promotion, yes, but not what you think. The Reaper attacked a major system of the citadel council, our fleet was sent to reinforce a large council fleet that was already engaging the Reaper. Our objective was to help the council's forces to cover for the evacuation of dozens of billions of civilians" Ruby says.
"What happened?" Ava asks.
"When we arrived, more than half of the council fleet was destroyed. The other half was leaderless and was on the verge of routing. Fleet admiral Adal assumed command and reorganized the line. We managed to hold the Reaper at bay for a while but they just keep coming, more every time, at some point the council forces lost heart and fled the system, leaving UNE forces alone to cover the evacuation of THEIR citizens" Ruby continues "But we steadfast and stayed true to our vows…until we couldn't anymore"
Ruby stops as her face looks full of sadness, Ava doesn't know what to say "Mom…".
"Our shields started to fail and our marines on the ground were being overwhelmed, by the end 91% of the fleet was destroyed but there are still billions of civilians stuck on the planets. Admiral Adal and the flagship went down while trying to cover a group of transport ships, the command of the fleet fell on me. With only a little over 6% of combat strength, there was no way we could've fenced off the Reaper anymore, so I gave the order for the fleet, what was left of it, to retreat from the system and left 4 marine divisions as well as billions of civilians behind to die" Ruby says as she looks down and her eyes are getting teary.
"There was nothing you could do mom, if you didn't withdraw the rest of the fleet would die for nothing. Those men and women on those ships survive thanks to you. Besides, I didn't bust my ass rescuing you so you could die" Ava says.
"It still doesn't take away the guilt, sweetheart. Anyway, enough bad news, here's some good news. They gave me command of the Uros guardian fleet" Ruby stopped right there and just looks at Ava, smiling.
Uros guardian fleet is the fleet of guardian line warships stationed in Uros to ensure the safety of the Excalibur Project. It is as powerful as Sol guardian fleet but has the extra supplemental fleets from other allied races. Being in command of the fleet is being in command of all those supplemental fleets as well. The system's priority is now even higher than that of Earth because if it fails and Excalibur is destroyed then there is no hope against the Reaper.
"Mom! That's a great honor! Congratulation" Ava says.
"Thank you, sweetheart" Ruby replies with a smile, she pauses for a short moment and continues "Listen, I know it is late down there but I just want to hear your voice after everything…you know".
"It's ok, mom, I'm here for you" Ava replies.
Thank to training and genetic enhancement, every SIFs can go without sleep for weeks at a time and can push this limit by using drug if necessary. In addition, they have finished scanning the Grand Library and a tech team was flown in to work on the newly discovered underground room. All that's left is Lelei's test the next day so Ava isn't concerning about staying up late to talk with her mother.
-Council Chamber, Rondel-
The next day.
The chamber is now full of people who have come to witness the rise of a new mage or a failure. This test is not just important for Lelei but also for Cato because if Lelei fails, it will translate to the inability to teach of Cato and, therefore, reduce his credibility among the master mages of Rondel. Because of that, a master must place a lot of trust in his or her apprentice to request the test.
"Are you ready, little one?" Cato asks.
"I am, master" Lelei replies while still staring at the platform in the center of the chamber.
Cato leads Lelei to the platform and stops when they've reached it. He raises his staff and emit a wave of blue light followed by a boom sound that catch the attention of the entire room.
"The test of my apprentice Lelei shall now begin with the authority of the great Council of Rondel. Should she pass, she will ascend to the status of full mage, if she fails, then shame she shall carry for the rest of her life and mind!" Cato speaks to the chamber.
He then looks at Lelei "Up you go, little one, make me proud".
As soon as Lelei steps on the platform, the light dims out except for the rays of light shining on the platform. Cato returns to where Ava and the SIFs are sitting to what her performance. There's nothing he could do to help Lelei from now on, she's on her own to complete the test.
When Cato sits down, Ava leans over and asks him "For the rest of your lives? That sounds extreme for just a graduation test".
"Oh no, not at all. You see, commander, magic is a powerful tool and a dangerous one as well. If an apprentice can't control the most basic forms and spells then they should not be trusted with magic and their master should not be trusted to teach anyone anything as well as his or her ability to develop the art of magic. That's the whole purpose of this test, to see if Lelei can control magic, only when she does that, she is allowed to study advanced and specialized magics" Cato replies.
"Huh, that makes sense. Though, hypothetically speaking, she could try again if she failed, right?" Ava asks.
"Yes, absolutely. However, her reputation would already be damaged and her voice would matter little among the mages. Like I said, shamed for the rest of your life" Cato says then he looks over to Lelei on the platform "But don't you worry about Lelei, she's the smartest student I've ever had, she'll pass this test easily".
The test consists of 3 parts, each part tests a different set of skills that a mage needs to master. The first part is rune test, in this part the apprentice will be asked to enhance appointed objects with different types of runes then the council will examine their effectiveness. Next part is magic spell test, the apprentice will be asked to create elements such as fire, water, wind, earth, metal, etc. Depending the apprentice's skill with these spells, these elements will have different quality which will be judged by the councilors. Lastly, the endurance test, the apprentice will be asked to use telekinesis to hold up a heavy object while generating wind and fire elements for as long as the council deem necessary. The council will randomly attempt to disrupt these spells to create inconsistency. This last test is to determine the apprentice's mana management skill.
Lelei passes the first test quite easily, she casts very high-quality runes for an apprentice. Especially her concealment runes make it quite difficult for the council to reveal the hidden object, which makes Cato so very proud of her.
On the second test, thank to the time she spent working with UNE scientists and got access to scientific materials, Lelei understands the basic makeup of the elements and modifies the spells slightly to increase the quality of the end products. Her elements have higher quality than many master mages could produce and with less effort as well as practice. The council is greatly amazed by this impressive display of magic from Lelei.
Moving on to the 3rd part, applying the same scientific knowledge, Lelei understanding of physic and chemistry allows her to fully understand how these element and gravity works. Therefore, she manages to generate fire and wind with minimal mana usage while combining telekinesis spell with gravity manipulation spell to a great effect. Instead of constantly generating fire, which is very mana consuming, Lelei constantly creates just enough cooking oil to keep the fire burning. This effectively makes the fire a class B fire or grease fire, so when the council tries to disrupt the fire with water it burns even bigger which is very impressive.
When the council decided that Lelei has passed the test, she was given the option to continue if she wants to show how good she is in managing her mana and she did. Lelei set a new record in the duration of this final test, no one before her could held even close to her duration. The whole chamber stand up and hold their breath the entire time and break out in celebration when Lelei finally gives up. The SIFs are the ones that is cheering the loudest.
By the end of the test, Lelei could barely stand straight anymore as she holds onto her staff for support. Kristar tabs a finger on her staff as it releases a wave of light blue and boom sound similar to what Cato did, the whole chamber immediately return to order and everyone stay silent. All 4 councilors stand up and walk up the platform toward Lelei. Usar walks forward, in his hand is a small blue stone.
"Present your staff" Usar says to Lelei.
Lelei stands up straight and hold out her staffs with both hands. Usar put the stone on the handle and chance a spell which makes the stone shine brightly and stick tightly into the staff's handle. He step backwards to stands in line with the other councilors. All of them bow lightly to Lelei, which she bows back.
"Congratulation, mage Lelei" Oasar says, calmly.
That night in the inn, everyone is gathering in Ava's room to celebrate Lelei's success with the test. They replicated a lot of food using the replicators on board the vehicles as they taste so much better than the inn's food. Master Cato is also invited and it is his first time tasting Earth's thousand of years food cultures.
Just as everyone is having a great time, Ava's TACNet notify her that there's an incoming call from general Nguyen.
"General" Ava greets him.
"Commander…" general Nguyen stops mid sentence and then looks around then continues "are you guys celebrating something?"
"Oh, yes, Lelei passed her exam and we're celebrating that" Ava replies, she then remembers something and quickly continues "No alcohol".
"Lelei, congratulation" general Nguyen says.
"Thank you, general!" Lelei replies from across the room.
"Commander, we've reviewed the intel you sent and decided that the Valley of The Gods need to be investigated. These 'gods', if the tales of the natives are truth, are powerful magic wheeling. Your mission is to find these beings, investigate them and, if possible, convince them to join our fight against the Reaper. You'll travel by land vehicles, detail is in your TACNet. Question?" general Nguyen says.
"By land sir? It would take days" Ava is surprised.
"That's correct, there are 2 villages you need to stop at first and see if you can find anything helpful, maybe another secret room like the one in the Grand Library. You'll leave tomorrow without Lelei and Laura, another team and a diplomat are going to work with them to finish your previous mission" general Nguyen replies.
"Yes sir" Ava nods.
The cheerful atmosphere of the room sinks down after Ava turns off the call. It is not because of the mission, the guys just got to know Laura and Lelei was finally got to travel with the people that saved her and her master from the dragon. The time they spent together was so fun that they forgot it is not permanent.
Wanting to break the sadness, Grey raises his beer mug "Let make the best of tonight for we shall part ways tomorrow. Let make a toast".
"Hear hear!" Everyone else raise their drinks for the toast, Grey is the only one that drink alcohol.
"I saw the light fade from the sky…" Jimmy starts singing an ancient song 'The Last Goodbye' as everyone else join in.