Pegasus Fort

"Pegasus Fort"

- renouncing his allegiance to Leazas under its new king Rance and betraying his comrades.

About
Pegasus Fort is the former general of the Leazas White Corps and the mentor of Ex Banquet.

A long-standing veteran general, Pegasus loyally served his country across several generations of rulers. In his old age, Pegasus came under a large amount of pressure from the nobility to finally retire and pass on the title of general of the white army to another, which he stubbornly refused to comply with, claiming that he would only retire after finding a person who he deemed to be a worthy successor. Towards the end of the Gi era, Pegasus at long last stepped down from his position, leaving the future of both his unit and his country in the hands of his protege Ex Banquet. Despite being no longer officially recognized as a soldier of the Leazas Army, his stubborn refusal to leave his country in the hands of others has caused him to remain an active presence in its affairs, and he regularly oversees and advises Ex during strategy meetings.

During the events of Rance 01, Rance briefly encounters a grave marked with Pegasus' name when exploring the Leazas cemetery. As Pegasus was still alive and well during this time, and the grave was a single tombstone as opposed to the grandiose mausoleum built to honor the Province family, it can be assumed that the grave was commissioned as a means of further pressuring him into retiring rather than as a memorial.

Pegasus' only appearance to date was in the non-canon Kichikuou Rance, where, after Rance is crowned King of Leazas, he aids Ex in forming a rebellion against his reign, believing Rance to be a despot who would inevitably lead Leazas to total ruin. While Ex is officially recognized as the rebellion's leader, Pegasus is shown to have been a major influence on his decision to have started it in the first place, and consistently reassures his student that his choice to do so was the right one even as Ex becomes more pensive about it. He is the only prominent member of the rebellion who is required to be killed in order to successfully destroy it, and will dedicate his dying breaths to cursing Rance and his corruption when defeated. If he is killed before completely conquering the rebellion, his death will weigh heavily on Ex, who will question whether he genuinely wanted to fight against Rance or was simply following his mentor's orders, causing his performance in battle to sharply decline.

In the canonical timeline, Pegasus remains alive, and continues to oversee his student's progress as general. Despite this, he has made no appearances in any game since Kichikuou, making his current status somewhat unclear.

Personality and Appearance
Having already hit the age of retirement years ago, Pegasus is one of the oldest people currently alive and still active on The Continent, being 66 years old as of LP0006. While features typical of someone his age are easily noticeable on him, such as a wrinkled face, white hair and a receding hairline, his firm and fiery personality cause him to appear to be much younger than he actually is. He always maintains a steady and powerful stance and possesses a healthy body that is still full of energy even after decades of strenuous activity. During his sole appearance in Kichikuou Rance, he was seen wearing the steel armor of the White Corps, along with a large white cape and a white bandana bearing the Leazas emblem on his forehead.

A very stubborn man, Pegasus is a devoted patriot of Leazas who acts entirely based on what he perceives to be the best course of action for the future of the country. An incredibly passionate and strong-willed man who never falters or wavers in the face of conflict, he has no problem with going against the orders of others in order to do what he believes to be the right thing. Unlike his disciple Ex, Pegasus is a very obstinate person who refuses to change his opinions or even attempt to understand a point of view different from his own. This stubbornness proved to be Pegasus' undoing during the events of Kichikuou Rance, where he callously dismissed his former colleagues' attempts at pleading him to surrender, calling them fools for viewing Rance as anything more than a monster and futilely fighting against them until his death.

Over his long career, Pegasus trained many soldiers himself in the ways of strategy and leadership. He was noted to have been incredibly strict as a teacher, with nearly impossible expectations for his students to meet, resulting in almost all of them being deemed disappointments by him. Of his countless students, only the prodigiously gifted strategist Ex Banquet was able to successfully live up to his standards, causing Pegasus to recognize him as his protege and successor as general of the White Army. While Pegasus remains critical of Ex, often criticizing his strategic decisions and very rarely directly praising him, he acknowledges him as a gifted person who he is willing to entrust with the future of Leazas. In turn, Ex highly respects Pegasus as his mentor, and takes every suggestion he makes to heart.

Pegasus is also an old acquaintance of Barres Province, the Supreme Commander of the Leazas Army. Both men have dutifully served their nation across several decades, allowing for them to have developed a strong respect in each others abilities. Despite this, as Barres is a staunch supporter of the Leazas royal family while Pegasus believes that the citizens of a country come before their leader, the two patriots often clash over their conflicting ideologies.

Abilities
As the former General of White Army, Pegasus is very skilled in espionage, infiltration and tactical warfare, and has decades of experience in each of them. While he does not possess a Skill Level in any of these fields, he is a smart and prudent man whose dedication allowed him to carry out his duties competently over many years despite lacking natural talent. Additionally, thanks to his strong and fierce personality, Pegasus is a skilled leader and field commander who is able to take control over a large number of soldiers with unshakeable resolution. Even after his retirement, Pegasus retains a remarkable amount influence over many of the White Army's members, as well as several soldiers within the Leazas Army as a whole. This influence has resulted in several people within the army greatly valuing his words and opinions, to the point of joining him in a coup against the monarchy.

In direct combat, Pegasus is a competent fighter with both Sword Combat Lv1 and Spear Combat LV1 skills. While his army is not meant for direct combat, he is nonetheless a strong combatant with an above average Level Cap of 30 who has managed to keep his body in good shape even into his old age. Due to his retirement, his Level has gone down to 15, though his truly remarkable vigor allows for him to remain an impressive fighter regardless.

Despite his well-rounded and competent abilities as a commander, however, Pegasus' performance as a general is not nearly as impressive as other, more specialized generals within the Leazas Army such as Rick Addison or Barres Province, causing his military record to pale in comparison.

Trivia

 * He is one of the few non JAPANese characters known to possess a spear combat skill.