Retvik rubbed his eyes as he sat up and looked at his communicator, which, for some reason, was ringing. Ringing, but not with a number Retvik was familiar with. Rethan phone numbers were particularly long and consisted of their ID numbers randomly scrambled, an area code and a planet code, plus an extra status code. Heck, Retvik was still struggling with his new phone number, which had been changed when he was repatriated.
Not knowing who it was, Retvik decided to answer. Sure, it was 4am, but time zones meant that was kinda maybe working hours for Kuta? Maybe Kuta was calling from a new number. As he picked up though, he heard a familiar, utterly deep and booming voice.
“Captain Retvik, how are you?”
“Ah, uh, General Gath, I am… please excuse me, I literally just woke up.”
“Oh. Uh. Apologies, captain, I forget that time zones for neutral worlds are off. I need to speak with you, somewhat urgently.”
“Of course, General. One moment, please.” Retvik was going to get up and turn the light on, but decided to just summon one of his little motes of light instead, by snapping his fingers. He turned up the air con though, as it was a tad warm. “Sorry, just needed a moment. Is everything alright? Is Relkir alright?”
“Not a problem. Relkir is absolutely fine, properly back on their feet and out of hospital now. A question for you though, Retvik. Do gladiator battles representing an entity, whether it be a government, charity or something else, count towards a gladiator’s win streak?”
“Um… it depends…”
“Well, uh, admittedly, I did not need to ask you that question. I already had one of my other captains look it up, and if you are representing a government in a genuine match, it does count.”
Retvik slowly realized what his boss was trying to tell him. “Are you saying that a match has been picked out for me, and I am to represent the Rethavok overall?”
“Yes. The Torr are rather… unhappy… Do you mind if I am blunt with you for a moment, Retvik?”
“No, of course not, General.”
There was a sigh on the other end. “Alright, firstly, you do not need to call me ‘General’, Retvik. You saved my dear partner’s life. As far as I am concerned, in private, we are equals. Secondly, the fact that the Torr are making almost war-like demands is greatly concerning me, since THEY were the ones that created a stupid telepathic clone Rethan assassin and tried to kill US. And a bunch of other people. Thankfully, your sibling has managed to calm things down somewhat, but the Torr want to… try and embarrass us, and have made a deal. A gladiator match, to settle who should, uh, cover the costs for recent events.”
Retvik thought for a moment. “Why is this coming from you and the 1000th Legion and not General Kaiga and the 798th Legion?”
“Like I said, they want to embarrass and undermine us, and they specifically requested to fight someone from the 1000th Legion, that they want to ruin a Rethan hero.”
“Are they… not aware of my, uh, well, everything?”
“Clearly not. But, well… you are literally perfect for this gladiator match. And I thought it would be a nice… birthday present. The match is to be on the 18th, and, well, you have beaten pretty much everything people have thrown at you. I do not think whoever the Torr will pick to represent them will be too much of a problem.”
“Will I be fighting a Banikan or something, representing the Torr? Or will I be fighting an actual Torr gladiator?”
The flicking of paper could be heard. “Hm… From the looks of things, they are choosing a “Torr Champion” but I am unsure what that actually means.”
“A Torr Champion?”
“Yes.”
Retvik thought to himself, then smiled.
“Is that a problem, Retvik?”
“Oh, no, I do not think so. But this seems somewhat suspicious. I have fought and beaten two Torr Champions in the past, and my Dessaron team defeated the Golden Charge not too long ago… Are you SURE the Torr do not know that I have been repatriated and am a captain now? Because, well… I feel like I am being set up in some way. It feels too convenient that they demand to fight a 1000th Legion soldier in a bid to demean us, when I am a 1000th Legion soldier myself?”
“You raise a good point, especially when every 1000th Legion Rethan’s identity is publicly known and available. But at the same time, if they specifically wanted to fight you, I think they would have called you out by name. According to Captain Ksaber, who looked up a lot of nice information up for me, every other time the Torr have challenged us, they have called out someone in particular. Frankly, I am surprised that they did not ask me directly.”
“Because they are scared of you, General.”
Gath grunted. “To be fair, most vok are. Even though I am in somewhat poor health, I am still three metres of armoured muscle.”
“That is very true. And I will be honest, even I was a little scared of you at first, before I got to know you!” Retvik chuckled. “Either way, I will accept this challenge. Win or lose, I cannot think of a better opportunity for my 300th fight, representing my fellow Rethans. And if I will be fighting an actual Torr, then I am not scared in the slightest!”
“Ah, good. Thank you for your cooperation, Retvik. I, uh…” Gath trailed off and remained silent for a moment. Eventually, he started speaking again. “Apologies. Was… distracted for a moment. Is there anything you need? Any questions?”
Retvik thought to himself briefly. “I… I have a few questions, actually. Firstly, I assume you asked the Raptor about this, yes?”
“Yes, General Rethais spoke to the Raptor, as did the Torr, and after that… bastard Prime Minister left the call, Rethais directly asked if we could nominate you to fight for us, and the Raptor said to get confirmation from you first.”
“Ah, alright. Good. Secondly, I want to wear my Lightbearer getup, not 1000th Legion or 798th Legion armour.”
“That should be fine.”
“Thirdly… I want to speak to Kuta.”
The line went silent again. Retvik could hear whispering, but he couldn’t work out what was being said. Gath did quickly come back though.
“I am sorry, Retvik, I do not have any information about what is going on with Kuta right now. All I know is that they are still recovering in hospital. Has Kuta not messaged you?”
“They have, but every time I try to call Kuta, the call is cut off and Kuta messages me back saying that they are not allowed to take phone calls currently. Part of me is even wondering if Kuta is even alive, and if I am being lied to or something.”
“I will make some calls myself and I will speak to General Rethais then. It is a little outside of my jurisdiction but at the very least, I will make sure that Kuta can speak to you properly. Is there anything else?”
Retvik sighed, not liking his boss’s answer. “No, that is everything.”
“Very well. I will send you all the information proper in a few hours. The match will be on the 18th, a bit short notice, but, well… the Torr government are not exactly nice.”
“Thank you, General. May I go back to sleep now?”
“Oh. Of course. Good night, Retvik.”
The line went dead, and Retvik sighed to himself some more. Annoyingly, although he did want to go back to sleep, there was a weird, nagging sound in his head telling him to get up. One that was followed by a knock on his bedroom door. Retvik frowned, then got up to see what was going on.
“Oh, hello, Nyssi. Did I wake you?”
“Nah, it’s all good. You alright?” Nyssi immediately asked. “I heard you talking on the phone and wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
Retvik took a deep breath. “I am fine. I am just worried about Kuta.”
Nyssi put an arm around Retvik. “I get that. We’re all a bit worried about Kuta. Do you want to talk? About whatever you want. Doesn’t have to be about Kuta if that’s bothering you right now.”
“I… I would appreciate that, Nyssi.”
Nyssi smiled. “No worries, Ret. You want some hot chocolate?”
“Hm. Yes, sure, why not. I could do with a pick-me-up…”