Chapter 1: Trial for sanity

It's a sunny day in Portland, Texas, as one man goes about his routine jog in the morning, dressed for exercise sporting a sleeveless black vest and Khaki Cargo shorts he jogs past the crowds of passerby on the sidewalk, glancing in the windows at the café's as he passes on his way to visit an old friend, trying his best to ignore the awkward glances from people he passes by

Not far to go now, better check.

His shoelace comes undone, and he stops to fix them in front of the latest café window, glancing in the window as he stood up and off, he went again, and as he jogged off, his surveyor followed.

That makes 3, maybe they want a chat

He Jogged into the "Weary Soul" Bar on the corner owned by his old friend and as he made his way to the Bar, He surveyed the room, the interior was stylish, a single wood aisle path going up the center of the room with all other floorspace covered in a patterned carpet, a mix of different table shapes dotted the carpet, some round, square, rectangular all flanked by nice wooden seats with red cushions rivetted to them giving them a nice Aesthetic.

As he reached the front, he was greeted warmly by an older man in his 60's or 70's his greyed hair spoke volumes despite his impressive physique, wearing Jeans and a white Hawaiian shirt.

"Well look at this, bit early for a meet-up or chat, wouldn't you say Cayden? I heard you finally got a little thing going for yourself, eh?" he said as he started cleaning a glass.

Cayden let off a somber smile before answering "Yea Theo, things are looking up but I'm afraid I'm not just here to chat, I'm gonna need a couple of shots." Cayden sat on the nearest stool as he spoke.

Theodore Paused briefly before saying "If your certain, have anything in mind?" he pushed the door to the storeroom in as he asked the question.

Cayden thought for a moment, "Get me something with enough kick to put a horse on its ass."

Theo vanished into the back storeroom as 3 new people entered the bar,

All right let us see how this goes...

Cayden did not react as he listened to them approach towards him, one taking the lead while the other two spread further out,

Trying to stop me running, eh? No problem, an even spread of 3 people... is that all?

The one approaching was now directly to the right behind him, Cayden turned and tried to speak-

"So, what can I-" he was cut off mid-sentence as the man behind him immediately sent a punch towards Cayden's face,

Cayden narrowly ducked the blow and returned one of his own, landing his punch precisely on the assailants Nose, the assailants missed strike sent his momentum into Cayden's fist doubling the impact causing the attacker to stagger backwards as Cayden took a fighting stance and surveyed the room,

I don't see any firearms... why approach me if not to speak? One Live round to the back of the head and they wouldn't have this problem... A bit naïve to think they could apprehend me with only 3... well 2... wait.

The attacker in front of him has recovered, with 0 evidence that he had ever been hit... that kind of blow directly on the nose, was more than enough to tear Cartilage and rupture blood vessels... but there is not a single mark on him...

"Okay... that's new... and very bad." Cayden muttered under his breath.

The other two were still spreading out, the Bar was "L" shaped, Cayden stood with his back against the midway point of the long end, the one on his right was making their way around to the short end, they would have to hop the counter to get at him bare-handed so for now they can be ignored, the real hassle is the two still at his front, if all 3 are similarly durable then this is a disaster, one tackle will be enough to overpower me....

Just as he thought that the assailant to his left readied to charge at him, at the same time-

"Cayden, Your shots!" Theo came out of the back area holding a gun as he tossed a Remington 870 Shotgun towards Cayden.

Cayden reacted instantly after a slight glance back he reached and caught the shotgun behind him and as the assailant to his right started to run at him, he whipped the gun around, aimed and point-blank fired a round off into his assailant's face... ordinarily the head would be gone, and the body would drop like a sack.... but instead, the impact sent this assailant staggering back, where there used to be a face was nothing but a smooth metal surface, they weren't people, they were machines.

"IT'S NOT ON IT'S ASS" Cayden shouted as he fired another round off at the two approaching him.

"DOES THAT LOOK LIKE A HORSE TO YOU?!" Came Theo's smartass reply as he fired a few rounds into the third assailant around the other side, ineffective.

The third assailant grabs a barstool and chucks it at Theo, Theo avoids it but cannot react to the assailant hopping the countertop and injecting him with something, Theodore's loses coordination, his speech slurs as he staggers backwards and then he falls unconscious.

"Shit." Cayden turns to fire at the assailant at Theo, he gets a shot off before he feels a thud at the back of his head, his vision blurs and the floor seems to be rising to meet him as he loses consciousness...

........

....

....

I've regained consciousness... I'm laid out on something cold and metallic; I can feel something strange moving along my sides from my knees to my hips... also cold, not restraints, my range of motion isn't impaired by whatever it is.... listen, some sounds can be heard but I don't recognize them, they follow a strange tuning, non-mechanical, no recognizable match with any animals... rare language?

Whatever never mind, the important questions first, those units, who possesses the capability to create them... no big players match up, Columbia is a long way off, and everyone else isn't much further... A new emerging superpower? No, I most likely wouldn't be a target in that case... Unless they just got unlucky... random kidnapping? Experimentation maybe?... unlikely, they would have been more covert then, regardless, I got to make some moves, wait... the utterings are getting closer, yea... I really don't recognize the language... they're getting closer... Wait for it... Wait-

With a sharp hiss and mechanical clink, the metal surface under Cayden fell away and he was in freefall,

Cayden opened his eyes and turned to see, at least 403 people also in freefall and then he hit the ground, Cayden was uninjured, by design it seems, as the surface he's landed in is a deep sand pit, more than enough to break his fall.

Looking to the distance he could see stands and he already didn't like the possibilities for what this is, the first issue being that this looked like a coliseum and the second being the audience, a majority of them were pushing the boundary of what could even be called humanoid, never mind human, from indistinct colored blobs to Skeletal structures that don't match up to any earth life.

Well... guess that answers the question of who could produce those units, Aliens is bad... Multiple aliens all co-operating together is far, far worse.

Looking up, it seems the metal surface he was on earlier was the interior of some kind of dropship which was now departing,

Cayden looked around the arena... a lot of scared faces, all civilians, not good, then again would soldiers even be calm themselves in a situation like this.

As Cayden pondered this, calling the attention of everyone in the arena, was an announcer of sorts airborne in the center of the arena...

"Ahem... Well met! We are certain you refer to yourselves as Humans, we are the Xenol Republic, a galaxy spanning Government manifested through the alliances of many races, you have the privilege of providing our entertainment as our latest contestants...."

"Cayden"

Cayden glances over and recognizes a friendly face... well... more than friendly.

"Looks like dinner will have to be put on hold for now Sera"

They both turn their attention back to the announcer,

"...for today's event, it has been decided by Vote that you shall all engage in a game of lives, if you successfully take the lives of 3 other contestants and avoid losing your own until only victors remain then you will be allowed to return to your normal lives, if you survey your surroundings, you'll notice various weapons of all shapes and sizes, taken from the historical literature of your world, grab a weapon and prepare yourselves, combat will be permitted to begin in 1 minute."

Cayden considered the weapons scattered all around them... all a mix of different types, eras and uses but nothing modern or ranged, they've considered this well, other contestants were in a myriad of different states, some rare few were already picking up weapons, Longswords, Sickles, spears... the rest were either maintaining distance from others, trying to band together in groups or just plain frozen still, one unlucky guy attempted to try and climb up the walls of the arena but it seemed some form of shell was preventing contact with the actual walls, a few moments later some form of current buzzed through the barrier shocking the man sending him reeling back, screaming in agony at the sight of his seared palms, that signalled an end to any escape attempts.

The closest weapon to Cayden was a stiletto shaped knife with a decent length blade, he picked it up and fiddled with it in his hand,

The announcer who was glancing through some documents displayed on his retinal visor turned his attention to Cayden just in time to see him toss his weapon onto the sand and walk towards the arena wall where he promptly sat down against it in the shade.

Interesting, seems we have a wildcard.

A few moments later Cayden found the dagger he tossed to the sand now pointed at him, in the hands of Sera, she was shaking, and it was obvious what she was thinking, not only did he not possess a weapon, but he also showed a lack of will to fight,

She asked anyways in a panicked voice, "Cayden, c-can I kill you?"

His response was immediate "I don't mind but I am curious, what's the plan after me? You are hoping two other people will lay down and let you kill them?"

Her arms stopped shaking and fell limp, the dagger falls to the sand, "I-I don't know, I'm just trying to increase my odds, why aren't you?"

Cayden sighed and turned his gaze to the wider arena area as he answered,

"There are a few reasons, first, I'm more willing to be killed than to kill anyone else here, Second, what reason do we have to believe that they'll actually let anyone go after killing 3 other people? The simple answer is none, kill 3 innocent people so that they MIGHT let me live?, No thanks,

as far as I can tell they said what was necessary to get people killing each other, this is a matter of entertainment remember? If they really intended on being sporting, they would at least have offered 1 alternative but here I see none, they just want to watch a bloodbath"

It was at this point the announcer saw fit to intervene,

"An interesting proposal" He seemed to stare off into space for a moment before focusing his eyes back on Cayden,

"Cayden Hemlock, was it? How about this then, we will offer the alternative you suggested-"

He pressed his digit to the pad in front of his podium,

A loud hiss rang out throughout the arena and at its center a solid platform rose from the sea of sand they stood on, on this platform a towering figure of inhuman anatomy stood, Cayden guessed somewhere around 12 ft tall its skin was a sore looking light pink and scarred all over, at its base were 4 limbs similar in form to an elephant's legs,

Its upper torso was dense with thick muscle but also seemed to have patches of more rough darker colored skin that almost looked like a form of scales, but the patches were sporadic and didn't seem to make any sense,

It had 2 upper limbs, but they were more forward on its torso than a humans would be and after looking closer it seems he had an additional 2 upper limbs further back, but they seem to have been lost somehow, on its neck was a collar with some writing Cayden couldn't understand, if he had to guess? Either it's a slave or a prisoner.

"-if any can defeat this champion and open the gate at the end of the arena, then you may all go free... of course..."

The being in the arena center picked up its weapons, they appeared a moderate length when scaled with its body but to a human they were each roughly 5 ft long and had brutally shaped blades intended to grip, tear and shred that did not seem to match up with any human weapons.

"-your free to consider your odds."

Up until the champion raised it's weapons it looked like some of the bigger groups were going to try but one look at those weapons did it's job and they thought better on it, no one wanted to be the guy getting his flesh torn out on those brutal weapons of his, better to risk it with a fellow human who may show some mercy at least.

Any looks of hope were gone, most combatants turning away to decide their next opponents... but one had already decided.

Cayden stood up, plucked the dagger out of the sand, and started making for the center of the arena.

"You're not serious" was all Sera could manage to say in response.

"Oh good, for a second there I was worried I might be" Cayden nonchalantly said back as he walked off, flipping the dagger in the air as he went.

Seeing this the announcer kicked into action as he spoke up his voice rang out around the arena,

"WE HAVE A CHALLENGER; THIS ONE NAMED CAYDEN HEMLOCK WILL TAKE ON THE CHAMPION!"

A roar of excitement erupted in the stands and the combat came to a halt as all turned to face the dwarfed human approaching the titan armed with only a knife, the announcer continued,

"I would like to apologize to our viewers as our information on this individual seems rather limited, we know he has some past work in this world's military organizations however it seems the documents of his time spent there no longer exist, all we can say is that this particular human DID catch our eye when scanning the planet for unique brainwave activity, this will surely be no simple bout and perhaps we will witness something remarkable, we shall have to wait and see."

As Cayden drew closer to the center of the arena, the soft, loose sand beneath his feet gradually became more and more firm and coarse, he stepped up onto the platform and stopped roughly 10 feet from the giant which was now towering over him eclipsing him in its shadow.

"As a courtesy, I will ask, Will you forfeit?"

Cayden uttered the phrase as though it was the most natural thing in the world, this time not even the announcer had the wits to react, he, along with the other contenders anxiously anticipated the response Cayden would receive from the Champion.

However, it seemed the champion also could not form a reply, he was as shocked as any of them, Cayden took this as his cue to continue "Your actions are not your own here and neither are mine, all it would take is your surrender to rob the satisfaction from the ones who pull our strings."

At this the champion seems to recover from his shock, "The satisfaction of doing as you suggest is outweighed by the consequences of doing it, they are cutting a lot of time off my sentence in return for maintaining this event"

"Fighting me will cut off a lot more." was the cold reply that greeted the champion.

"Bluffs are unseemly on the battlefield small one"

The titan lifted his weapon high overhead before swinging it down bringing it to a stop pointing at Cayden, the wind from the swing kicked up sand and dust from the ground illustrating the power behind his strikes, and yet... as the dust settles, not so much as a twitch the small being before him had his gaze still levelled directly at the champions eyes, as if his display had not even happened, but even more, there was a steel behind those eyes, a resoluteness that could not be mistaken, the opponent before him anticipates his inevitable victory...

"My apologies, I have misjudged you, that was an offer for me not yourself, is that right?" the champion re-affirmed,

"That's right but you will not change your mind, will you?" Only now did Cayden's stare portray an air of weary resignation... only, at his opponent's insistence on battle.

"I will not" came the champions reply and at that the stadium fell deathly quiet with the whole arena including the contestants gazing on, some in horror at the mauling that may occur before them, but they cannot seem to look away....

The announcer laid out the rules of the duel,

"Both fighters will walk to each opposing ends of the sandstone and once the signal has been given to begin, they are to engage in battle till either one concedes defeat or expires.... any questions?"

As he reached the end of the sandstone Cayden spoke up "Yeah, I got one, do you have something against words for death and murder or are you trying to use fancy words to feel better about ordering people to kill each other?"

The announcer seemed to let out his species equivalent of a chuckle and then moved on without comment "LET THE MATCH BEGIN!"

I must establish my ground.

The champion made for the center of the battlefield.

T'chur Kuld had not seen an opponent like this in quite a while, he had earned a reputation back home that cowed any who may think to oppose him.

But this one....

He considered the small biped who had shown such spirit even while having his blade in his face, nothing about it seemed concerning, save of course, for its behavior.

Cayden, was it?... its words were genuine, no malice nor Fear, the resoluteness in its eyes was... unsettling.

He had reached the center of the sandstone and leveled his weapons towards his opponent.

Now... if your words truly hold weight... show me its value... what will you do small one?

The biped had not moved yet, was it waiting for him to approach? no,

Waiting for me to finish preparing, is it?... very well then, I am ready.

As though it had read his thoughts it chose this time to begin approaching.... but... slowly? Was there any advantage to this? Its gait was graceful but unnervingly passive and.... though it was coming head-on... its stride seemed to... sway? back and forth, as though it was having trouble choosing to go left or right... and simply seemed to wobble back and forth as a result... but its gaze... not one thing had changed about it, it was still trained on him as though it was trying to stare a hole through his head.

It entered his range and chose now to speed up, gaining momentum, the swaying must be a maneuver for evasion, but a side swipe should render that pointless, he adjusted his footing put his full force into the slash only to see the unthinkable, the human chose to turn away from the direction the swing was approaching from, his back was now in the line of fire and completely unprotected.

Are you mocking me?! Nothing for it then, very well, I SHALL CLEAVE YOU IN TWO!

But just as his blade was approaching Caydens body, the human kicked off the ground and seemed to spin sideways in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the blade of his weapon.

What? But that can't-

It was at that moment that he saw the glint of metal, in his shock he was too late to react...

"Ugh! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" The small dagger that Cayden was once holding was now embedded in his right eye, the champion reeled away from his opponent and took up a defensive stance.

"I used the momentum of my spin to chuck the knife at you, is it so strange?" Cayden had landed on his feet and was continuing his stride; he was still running in for another bout.

The crowd in the stands were also awestruck by this bizarre turn of events, even though they had seen the full thing in plain view they could not understand that strange movement, was this a human ability?

"NOT THE KNIFE, THE DODGE, THAT MOVEMENT SHOULDN'T BE POSSIBLE!" He brought his weapon down in another swing, Cayden seemed to run towards it this time.

Cayden leaped forward into a roll, just barely avoiding certain brutal death as he passed under the blade, the whole crowd gazed on, wondering if the human would pull off another strange feat, he continued his stride to circle around the champion making some distance, then stood stock still...

As the champion turned, he saw it again... those eyes but it was different this time... before it had intrigued him how such a small being could possess such fire in his eyes... but now... now he was filled with a sinking feeling as he recognized it... those weren't the eyes of a spirited competitor... those were the eyes of a predator closing in on prey... And close in it did.

"Reality disagrees with you, it seems."

Saying this, Cayden took off at a full sprint straight towards the champion who seemed to flinch before committing his all to a third swing, he put absolutely everything into this... if it were just a bit faster earlier surely, he would have won by now, this cannot be allowed to continue any further than this,

I will not allow you to dodge this, I will make this the fastest slash of my life, for the sake of my life, I will end yours!

Cayden made no attempt to turn away this time instead he jumped forward, not rolled, not flipped, just a simple leap straight towards the champion whose blade was now on a path to take his legs from him but then he pulled his legs up and kicked the blade at an impossibly perfect time, this extra boost combined with his built-up momentum from earlier now has Cayden at head height with the champion.

As T'chur looked into the human's eyes, he now saw a solemn sadness in them and at that moment, Time seemed to slow for the champion.

Ah, I see... those were not lucky near escapes earlier... you had predicted them and purposely dodged at the last moments... you were leading me on... That is correct, isn't it? I really... Did not have any hope of hitting you... Did I? Mighty One.

Cayden brought his fist up; he hammered down putting his full force into the handle of the dagger sending it sinking into the champion with a sickening wet sloshing sound as the dagger tip now exited the back of the champions skull....

Cayden's momentum impacted him into the now deceased champion who collapsed backwards onto the hard sandstone, with Cayden now falling backwards using a roll to break his fall.

As he regained his footing he turned and stared up at the announcer with clear malice on his face...

"Now that that is over, you will uphold your agreement, right?" Cayden's eyes narrowed as he stared down the announcer.

"But of course, contrary to your thinking we are not savages..." The announcer clicked his digits and the arena seemed to change; at one end he could now see that one of the sides had morphed into an exit but...

"-but it seems only right, that you FULLY complete the challenge... I stated that should you defeat the champion AND open the gate... the contestants will be allowed to leave; you are halfway there Cayden Hemlock... now there is only to open the door..." as the announcer said this halfway to the door another platform raised out of the ground.

This platform was not sandstone but clearly a metal of some kind and appeared to have a podium of its own at the center with a human shaped handprint on it.

Ten guesses what that is... seems simple enough... but...

Cayden turned back to the announcer who uttered a questioning response "Hm?"

"Do not play with me, what's the catch? This would not be considered a part of the challenge without one" Cayden accused as he glared up at the announcer.

The announcer conceded "You're correct, the metal plate is live with an electrical current carefully tuned to test your will... on first step onto the plate it will be no more than an irritant however as you continue taking steps the current will increase until your legs are completely unable to move, of course we've taken some steps to ensure your life will not be in danger... for a while.

You may have already taken note of the protective guard in place at your hips, it will take quite some time for the current to be able to punch through the guard so your upper body should be unaffected until either your legs have been paralyzed or you have successfully pressed your hand to the plate...

...of course, should you fail to open the gate we will have to resume the curriculum as normal, you understand right?" the announcer gestured back to the contestants of the arena, who were all now staring on towards him some in amazement, others shock but in all of them, hope.

"Completely." Cayden turned back to the new platform and approached... looking at it closer the platform was quite the distance; it must be 12 meters to the podium... it was circular so no minimum distance... he would have to start with a leap...

Cayden walked quite a bit back from the platform, he would need a running start to get the best first step possible, there is no way this would not be rigged against him, he took a breath and after a moment took off at a full sprint and leaped at the edge of the Platform, his momentum carried him a solid 4 meters in before his feet touched base, he used the remaining momentum to carry him in another stride, landing 1.5 meters,

Cayden felt a buzz all over him, like he had picked up a lot of static but no pain yet,

He began walking, with each step the buzzing increased, 4 steps in he was starting to experience muscle spasms making taking steps much more difficult and as he kept walking he gradually felt the buzzing turn to zapping like someone had shot a low power tazer into his legs and as he kept taking steps he felt the guard at his hips give way as the electricity now started causing the same effects on his upper body,

Just a bit further, couple more steps, this is nothing

With each step the intensity of the pain and muscle spasms seemed to double, now in front of the podium, every muscle in his body was experiencing severe convulsions due to the current,

Done. Cayden slammed his hand on the podium and as the current shut off and the door at the end of the coliseum opened, Cayden collapsed.

......................................

From up on high in one of the executive booths a panel is reviewing what they have witnessed,

"Well what do you know, they pass, suppose it had to happen eventually." Speaker 1 stated blankly,

"More importantly are we certain that nothing can be found of his military record?" Speaker 2 asked,

"We've been through all of humanity's Digital and Physical documentation regarding their military and the only times his involvement is mentioned is via 3rd party information, no documentation on his unit, its members or his history is anywhere to be found, the only connections to him that could be found was a reference to an operation called "the miracle" and a gag order by multiple governments of earth stating he is not to be approached." Speaker 3 re-affirmed,

"We'll have to enquire with earth's governments as to what the nature of his situation is, moving on then, his accuracy and speed in the fight with the champion is an interesting surprise, could it be connected to the unusual brain scan he pinged back? Furthermore, there seemed to be no point at which his muscles experienced paralysis from the will test, he was still able to take steps long after the guard we put on him was overcome by the current. Is that also related? His nervous system clearly is not typical of a human" Speaker 1 had his eyes trained on the collapsed human as he spoke,

"More specifically, the brainwave activity was strange in that while he pinged back from the scan fine, the scan that returned showed far less activity than other humans not more, his brainwaves showed as almost nothing, if he were not before my eyes functional I Would assume a faulty ping from a Brain dead human, yet here he stands." Speaker 2 let out the Xenol equivalent of a sigh,

"Regardless, they pass, we will have the chance to ask him directly in time, we must report this and prepare for the ceremony, some will not be pleased at the Battle Apes finally entering the open galaxy"

They all agreed and vanished from the room.

.....................................

I... am having a really difficult day, second time regaining consciousness and now with the added benefit of every muscle in my body aching...

As Cayden thought this, he surveyed his surrounding and took note of the situation, no longer in the sandy coliseum he is in some kind of plain looking metal room, he was strapped in on a seat that seemed to mold to his form, he wasn't being restrained at least in no clear manner but he couldn't determine how it is that the belt is undone, there's no buckle, no clear seams or clips, just a harness from some undetermined material that seems to just be fused to the seat.

Suddenly a voice rang out from right beside him, but there was no one there,

"Seems our guest is awake, do not panic that seat is specifically designed for safety purposes, don't want anything getting lost or ripped off in transit" Cayden could swear the voice originates from right in front of him,

"Who is speaking and why does it sound like your right here?" Cayden questioned,

"Ah right, you are speaking with the pilot of the ship, as for the proximate origin of the sound, sorry if it is a bit jarring to you our intercom system is more advanced than your own, I am just the designated driver so I cannot explain too much but basically the intercom records the sound waves being created by me and re-generates them at any point within the ships interior, so I can make it sound like I'm right beside you or on the opposite side of the room if I feel like it."

"You said pilot, where am I being taken?" Cayden did not think there would be any good or positive answer to that question, but it needed to be asked.

"See for yourself, we're currently on approach" the pilot seemed to say from across the room.

Moments later the interior changed, as if it had been cut in half allowing him to freely see what lies beyond and Cayden understood just how dire his situation was.

Displayed out before him was space, but "the empty void of space" did not fit what he was seeing, bustling traffic of all different ships ranging from smaller clearly civilian ships to massive behemoths that would cast a shadow over the whole of New York city and in the distance, he can see they were on approach to a station of some kind but not like anything earth had, for one thing the station was of such magnitude that it looked like someone had just decided to build a country in space and the fortifications? massive armored plates covered varying parts of the station and what obviously looked to be mounted cannons of some kind dotted all over, How far had he travelled?

"Alright well I hope you enjoyed the sight-seeing, but this is our stop coming up" The wall returned to its normal metal look as the pilot announced this.

Suddenly a wall section formed a seam and opened as three armed enforcers of some kind stepped in,

The straps keeping Cayden rooted to the seat deformed and retracted, they seemed to split with most going and fusing back into the chair and the rest seemed to wrap around his wrists, hardening and generating some kind of link between the two wrists, he now had shackles he had no idea how to remove.

"Cayden Hemlock, come with us" the enforcers ordered.

.....................................

Xzan-thell was anxious for the first time in he could not even recall how long, it was finally happening, humans were joining the galactic stage, when news of this inevitably broke out into the wider republic there would be... conflict, already there are signs of pressure building in the out-post systems over just the result being post-poned, everyone would be looking for a sincere decision from the X-5,

He travelled down the myriad hallways at a brisk pace on his hoveil, oh how wonderful it was to not have to actually walk anywhere, a simple destination and he's along for the ride, still it's unfortunate that he, along with the other X-5 couldn't rely on their lower extremities for anything more than a short pace around a room,

He entered the council room where the other X-5 had already arrived, they all knew the situation though some seemed less concerned than him,

"So, you took your time Xzan-thell, it's not like this is at all important" one remarked as he approached.

"Apologies Xzon-Thekk, I was enquiring as to the state of things in the fringes" Xzan-thell explained,

"Hmph to think you of all of us would suddenly grow spineless, there is nothing to be truly anxious about, Humanity has had this long overdue and any who would argue otherwise will be dealt with by whatever means necessary" Another chimed in,

"Now, now, both of you there's no need to resort to conflicting stances, we've yet to even go through with the ceremony, Xzan-thell your concern is warranted but we must focus more on what we do know than what we do not and as for you my memory has not appeared to have gone rusty, you know as well as I why he speaks as he does Xzin-Thimm" corrected the fourth member present,

"Thank you, Xzen-Tholl I do intent to do everything in my power to assure a successful assimilation" Xzan-thell stated.

"If your all quite done, I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible, as momentous as this is there are other pressing concerns that need addressing" the final member of the council stated as he moved for the entrance to the commune room.

"Of course, chair master Xzun-Thekin" The other members repeated in unison as they proceeded to the entrance,

They all entered and took their council seats, Xzan-Thell surveyed the room, all the other species under the republic have taken up their booths up in the walls looking down at the entrance the human would enter through, The Veltruvi guard are at their appropriate positions between the council seats where they are and the podium where the human would be, not that any sane creature would come this far and try something but precautions exist for a reason, especially when a member of a war-race was involved, war-races are actually quite uncommon in the galaxy and this war-race was one of the oldest that the Xenol had encountered and had been monitoring for quite some time, to say they were infamous for war would be no exaggeration, tales spread of them killing each other in the millions, hence why some places get.... tense at the inclusion of Humanity among the republic's ranks,

And then it happened, the door at the end of the massive hall opened and in walked the infamous "Battle-Ape" flanked by 3 armed guards and with its extremities bound as per procedure, he really would have to address the treatment of representatives at some point in the future but this is the current state of things,

As the human walked down the center aisle he surveyed the room, no clear signs of surprise nor any hint of anxiety whatsoever, he just seemed to be observing the room and then his eyes fell on us as he reached the podium, now... how by the book would this be?...

Xzan-Thell glanced over at the center chair, the Chair Master speaks first and so he stood and began to speak,

"Cayden Hemlock, you have been chosen to represent humanity and to test where humanity's place would be should they join the Xenol Republic,

Within the Republic Humanity will be provided an embassy on this very station,

They will also be afforded representation in votes as you can see,

The republic will not interfere with internal conflicts such as Civil wars, or political parties within your own species,

We do reserve the right to dictate how business will be conducted and trades associated between various members of the republic,

We also are responsible for resolving any conflicts between two members of the republic,

Do you have any Questions?"

Xzan-Thell could tell that the chair-master was rushing things, what he told was all the major points to let new member species be aware of their rights, but it was abbreviated, this was only acceptable since a formal document of rights and responsibilities will be made and issued to humanity soon after this,

Xzan-Thell said nothing and awaited the humans response,

The human paused before asking "For what reason was I chosen as a representative of humanity? What criteria did I meet? And what are my options with regards for abdicating from representing humanity?".

Great this was my field, I stood,

"Cayden hemlock you were subjected to a test disguised as a blood-game, let it be known that humanity is viewed as a hyper-violent war-race that can and will attack at any moment, as such our main criteria were 2 things, first a scan of the planet selecting only humans that had brainwave signatures that were associated with being able to empathize and co-operate with a kind not of your own,

and secondly a test of will, to see if humanity would reduce itself to in-fighting and violence against comrades should the situation require so, hence the blood-game.

Your brainwave scan is what selected you to be put in the Blood-game and both your refusal to turn blade against a fellow human, along with your willing-ness to fight a more dangerous opponent and endure great pain for the sake of others, It's these criteria that you met that made us select you as a representative." I sat back down and took a breath, and the chair master answered the only remaining question,

"Cayden hemlock, you have two options, you may work for us... or you may work for someone else who works for us."