Dead Star Dockyards

149 Montaug

"I shall begin Montaug's story by making a comparison to Holifel. Holifel and Montaug were, by and large, polar opposites. One was a magnificent warrior and man of knowledge, one was little more than a child struggling to stay alive. One found enlightenment in desperation, one found desperation in enlightenment. If one is to be considered the First Martyr, then the other must be called the Final Martyr.Montaug, unlike Holifel, grew up without a family. His father died in a war, his mother in child birth, and his adoptive father at the hands of a wound suffered in the same war that claimed his father. As a child barely twelve years old, his only option was to enlist to survive. Not even the orphanages could afford another mouth to feed at that time. He was, for the next five years, little more than a slave to a failing state. He would wake up every weekday at five, fall asleep at midnight, toiling away at meaningless and trivial tasks during the day.

That, it would seem, was not an uncommon practice at the time. With an economy in shambles, the only job available was to dig holes in one place to fill holes in another. They could not afford the ammunition for training, the rations for marches, the fuel for field exercises. The governments of the day were in serious trouble, and for a long period of time they experienced constant turmoil.

That much was irrelevant for Montaug. He did not care for a grander life. He, someone orphaned twice by the same war, did not believe there was another path for him. Montaug was determined to either become a successful soldier or die, they were his only real options. That did not mean that he was only a man of the military, he learned of Holifel by way of preachers and pastors. Montaug learned to read through them, and through reading the Compendiums he found a passage most interesting. A passage records say was largely ignored by scholars for a significant length of time."

"What was the passage?"

"I shall come to it later.

Anyway, I mentioned that he was in the military, did I not? Well, he was stationed on an island called Tiran, some hundred kilometers off of the mainland. It was a naval base, an airfield, a key component in defending his nation's seas. I am told that Tiran was an interesting place back then, having a harbor opening protected by two towering peaks of stone, while the rest of the island was covered in a thick jungle, the only solace being the sandy beach opposite the peaks.hough the Heavens may fall.""

There was silence once more, as both Father Andrew and Montaug recited the final line in the passage. The song had finished before that final line, leaving it oddly emphasized in comparison to the rest.

"You know, I think I finally found the answer to the problem our prophet couldn't."

There was a pause as a truly magnificent boom was heard in the background, the sound of guns firing.

"He was too focused on good and evil to look at the crux of the issue.

It doesn't matter what is good and what is evil. All that matters is if it is human and if it is just.

If it is just, then it deserves to exist. If it is unjust, then it must not deserve to exist.

That which is human in nature will be made. That which is not human in nature will be destroyed.

War is unjust, so it naturally does not deserve to exist, but it is human in nature so it will be created anyway.

Peace is just, but not human, so it will naturally be destroyed.

In order to achieve peace, we must stop being human, or we must tear down the heavens, that which defines what is just.

. . . 

The only way I can achieve peace now is death. I leave it to you to tear down the heavens."

Montaug, the one in the recording at least, was silent for a few seconds, waiting for death to come to him.

"My only regret is that I never got to kiss a girl . . . haha!"

- - - - -

Montaug stopped the recording as he sank further into his seat.

"Ranger Montint Roguess was not his real name. In truth, he was only officially registered under the last name of his father, 'Montaug', the names he had taken were undoubtedly thanks to his foster father, who shared the Roguess name. That is beside the point

What he showed us is it is only through the salvation of others that you may find salvation of self. That was something we understood well from the teachings of Holifel. Montaug taught us that by sacrificing your self, you may slaughter others. The slaughter of others may bring salvation of others. The salvation of others brings salvation of self. Therefore, by sacrificing self to slaughter others, one may Sanctify their self.

It is a concept, we believe, that Holifel understood. In fact we have testimony from the Arboreal Maiden that Holifel did kill after his revelation, he simply never got around to writing it. The Scripture of Vengeance is one of the final passages in the twentieth compendium, passages that would slowly meld into the topic of the next compendium. He used violence to save others on many occasions, even died fending off some number of bandits as a man well past a century of age.

We can only assume that what he would have wrote had something to do with Montaug's words. My people do not have anything with which to Sanctify their souls. There are no crises, no wars, nothing to save, nothing besides those living outside our borders, that is."

"So they wish to fight a war to save those oppressed by the rulers that surround?"

"Some of them, which is an ideal I have no issue with." Montaug picked up the model of the 'Scripture'. "However the conundrum I face is not determining which people will have salvation brought unto them, but which planet I am sending my people to die."

Diana sunk into thought, not entirely sure how to proceed here. Religion was a touchy subject, anything that dealt with a person's core values was, and she really didn't want to foul the mood after learning about the origins of their religion. She didn't believe the Montaug would take particular offense, but it was always safe to be careful.

"What if there was some group of people they could save going to war?"