Sabra Boon watched as best as she could when the shuttle touched down near a modest sized covered arena. The same crew members helped the two news people collect their gear and opened the door. Sabra was not surprised to see that two young looking people stood waiting, as she and Tobias reached in and picked up their equipment. Legion troopers stood close by, but not too close.

“That will be stored in a safe place.” The young woman said in a pleasing, musical voice. “Follow me” The young man remained silent. Tobias and Sabra nodded together, they were unable to reply. The pair were clearly related in some manner to the Dark Lord and the Ladies. However, however they were as different from them as they could be yet were unmistakably humanoid. A wreath of curly black hair surmounted the head of the woman while short and straight black hair covered the man’s head. Other than the darkness of their hair the two could not be more different. The woman was tall and her skin was dark. In contrast, the man’s skin was yellow and he was considerably shorter with almond eyes. Neither of the pair displayed either the charisma of the Ladies or the power of The Dark Lord. The woman wore a blue shirt and a part of pants of a design neither Sabra or Tobias had ever seen before while the man wore a short sleeved shirt and pants, both tan coloured. Sandals covered both pairs of feet.

The foursome walked in silence to the arena watched by the crew of the shuttle. Looking around, Tobias saw that several other craft were parked close by, crews standing around or still on board. Exchanging glances with Sabra, Tobias indicated the parked space craft with a discrete wave. Sabra just nodded, it seemed safer not to talk although they both wondered who had been delivered in the shuttles.

Going into the building Sabra wryly observed that whoever designed the building must have been the same person who built similar structures in the empire. Tobias’ short bark of a laugh had no humour in it. Turning to their right they walked in renewed silence to a door which stood open. Although it was clear that there were many other people in the building, there was only a soft and barely audible hum, rather than the expected noise of many people holding a conversation. Both Tobias and Sabra found this disconcerting and they separately wondered at it in silence. Reaching the door that was their goal, the woman spoke for the second time and waved her hand at it.

“You may place all your equipment in here.” Her accent was clear but not unattractive.

Looking into the room, the two news people saw that there were several shelves, some already holding various items. They recognised several comm units and other general items. They also noted that there were some hand weapons and small daggers along with five swords. Picking an empty shelf, they laid their own comm units and other recording equipment onto it and turned to face their escorts. The woman stepped forward touching the shelf where the equipment was sitting. Turning to Sabra and Tobias, she told them that their equipment was safe.

“No one can touch it or move it except you.” She then nodded to her companion as she left them. He spoke for the first time. His “Come with me,” was uttered in a sing song voice of a kind neither Sabra nor Tobias had never heard before. To their surprise they walked back the way they had come, chased by the same barely noticeable hum. They passed what had to be closed shops and concession stands, before arriving at a dismal looking double door. This their guide opened with a touch of his hand. Stepping into the downward sloping corridor now revealed, the man waved for them to follow him.

Down the gentle slope they went, past machines of a strange type. Tobias would have stopped to examine them but he was urged on by both Sabra as well as their nameless guide. Coming to another set of doors, the two news people were unsurprised when these also opened at a touch. An area of flat concrete like material was revealed, clearly a staging area of some kind. Sabra was obscurely relieved to see that Lady Taryn was standing there. Sabra noted that she was not wearing her customary short, black off the shoulder dress, but a decorous dark blue, knee length dress. The young man nodded to Taryn, turned and left the way they had come.

“Chatty sort,” Tobias murmured looking back up the ramp that they had just descended.

“Not the time for chat.” Sabra muttered in reply as she walked over to Lady Taryn. “Lady Taryn,” Sabra nodded her head in greeting, Tobias following suit. “You will show us where we are to go Lady?”

Lady Taryn looked at the two of them for a fraction that seemed very long to Tobias. “You are not to speak out or interfere in any way with what is to happen soon. He will be here and will deal with the problem that you have been made aware of.” This confused Tobias and he showed it but he was intimidated by Lady Taryn’s grim demeanor, so unlike her usual self and was hesitant about asking. Realising this, Sabra stepped in.

“Tobias has not been told anything about the ‘problem’ as you call it.” Sabra said. “May I answer any questions he has, if I can?”

Taryn blinked then nodded. “You may. Now come, I will take you to where you are to sit.” Turning she stepped out onto the floor of the arena, sabra and Tobias following her.

*********

The seats they had been provided with were not at all comfortable Armistee Devonis, First Councillor – Designate had decided after just a short fraction, and they weren’t getting any better the longer they waited. She glanced at the man that she would be replacing in just under four months; there was just a small burst of envy as she saw that First Councillor Les Doman Resta was sitting quite calmly, eyes closed. Glancing around, she saw with a modicum of satisfaction that the High Councillors were as unhappy as she was. However the Star commander, the Admiral of the Legion and the three fleet strike Commanders were all sitting stoically silent, faces expressionless.

On the other hand, Assistant Steward Lea Cania seemed quite relaxed and comfortable. She was even looking around with a great deal of interest. Well it was rather interesting even if the Assistant Stewards relaxed air was annoying, Armistee felt.

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They were on a somewhat high, painted wooden platform located at one end of the arena in such a manner that that enabled them to have a view of another platform in the center of the arena but off to one side. That platform was larger but lower and had twenty five seats arranged in a slight semicircle; otherwise it was similar to the one that Armistee was sitting on.

Banks of seats rose up from about two metres above the arena floor. While she had no idea what use had been made of the building in the past, Armistee was not unfamiliar with the construction of such buildings. Her practised eye estimated that about twenty to twenty five thousand people could be seated in the stands and an additional one or two thousand accommodated on the main floor if necessary. She could tell that the building was not full and, from what she could see, there was about seventeen thousand people in the building.

Unobtrusively scanning the closest seats the First Councillor – Designate noted that all those who were seated and that she could see, looked to be close to the same age within five to ten years, all appeared to be in their early to late twenties with the difference that most of the women appeared younger than the men. This she guessed from her experience, limited though it was with the Ladies of the circle and the Dark Lord, was not natural and all these spectators; witnesses; were somehow connected with the Dark Lord and the Ladies.

What also intrigued her was, from carefully studying those that she could see clearly, the make-up of those in the stands was clearly of many different racial backgrounds. Yet there appeared to be no animosity between these different people, even though the tension in the air was palpable. Armistee noted men and women with straight hair, curly and in between while some of the men had their head shaved clean. Of the majority, their locks were coloured black, blond, brown, red and some that had obviously been dyed a colour not to be found in nature. And that was just the hair. Almost half of the men had grown beards or some kind of facial hair, unusual compared to the empire where most men went clean shaven. Thinking of her husband, she took note of these, which to her amusement ranged from neatly trimmed mustaches to solid bushy growths, but there were also a number of variants, some intricate with parts of the face shaven bare. She wondered if she should suggest such a change to Ingre Devonis, but rejected the thought.

The various styles of the clothes that she could see were just as different, both men and women. Some in the stands were so covered as to leave only the face and hands exposed while others went as close as possible to nudity while still remaining modest. The colours displayed also covered the spectrum, some being so vibrant that they clashed with what others wore and while a few favoured just a single colour, many wore several shades of many colours.

This was not so surprising to the First Councillor – Designate, indeed she somewhat expected it. Likewise with their bodies the women and the men appeared in very different forms. The men ranged from the tall and muscular to stocky and slim with many varieties in between. The woman likewise also varied in their forms although, from the ones that Armistee could see, there were few muscular women such as Lady Luca and a number tended towards voluptuous. All appeared to be, in one form or another, striking in their looks. None appeared in any way to resemble the Dark Lord, either in his looks or his aura of danger.

One thing above all others intrigued the First Councillor – Designate, it was the lack of background conversation that would normally be present in such a gathering. Instead there was an almost inaudible hum which ebbed and flowed around the building, however she could not put a source to it. Carefully and as unobtrusively as possible she studied those sitting on the benches. She could not see any obvious sign of them exchanging conversations although the looks and glances that she saw the people in the stands exchange gave her pause. Finally she put it down to the peculiarities and unknown abilities of what were clearly the Dark Lords people as she thought of them.

Turning again to Les Doman Resta she decided to ask a question. “Do you have any thoughts for me?” Even as she asked, she realised how trivial the question sounded.

The First councillor didn’t smile as he opened his eyes, it didn’t seem the right time and place for anyone to smile. “Very little I am afraid. This situation is as foreign to me as it is to you.”

“I was afraid of that.” Armistee sighed. “And it is just the 23rd Augar, I have been here barely two weeks!” Les just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. It worked just as well here. “Yes I know,” Armistee half grumbled and half sighed. “You had treason and rebellion dropped on your plate along with an out-of-the-blue return.” At a sound she looked around and saw Sabra Boon and Tobis Nenna approaching escorted by Lady Taryn. The Lady pointed and said something to the pair, who nodded in obvious agreement. She then turned and disappeared back the same direction that the three of them had appeared from while Sabra and Tobis approached the platform.

*********

Staring about as they mounted the platform via the steps provided, the two news people shivered as they realised that the group on this platform were going to be the only members of the Empire to witness whatever the Dark Lord had planned. After giving nods to the other witnesses, and taking the only seats left, they both wondered, along with the others that they were sitting with, who was going to occupy the seats on the other platform. Looking around as they approached Sabra noted that she would be sitting in the front row and beside the First Councillor – Designate, something that did not reassure her. She had given a brief outline of what had actually gone on in this galaxy, stunning Tobias. She now considered asking one of the others if they wanted to swap, but decided that if someone had wanted the seats, they would have been taken already.

Looking back at the platform halfway down the arena, Sabra realised with a chill that they were to have an excellent view of whatever was to happen there. Her thoughts were interrupted by Tobias who seemed to have made a quick recovery.

“I am not sure but I think that this place has had a violent past.”

“What?” Sabra shook her head to clear it. “What makes you think that?”

“Floor drains.” Tobias pointed out several. “There, there, there.” Sabra looked and nodded. “And that’s just the ones I can see.” He sat back and mused a bit. “I have to wonder what went on here.”

Sabra shrugged. The history of this arena, however bloody it may have been, was of less importance to her than what its immediate use will be. “Maybe you will have the chance to interview some of the locals, find out who the current hero or champion is.” Her smile was forced, “Be careful if he or she offers lessons though!”

With a soft laugh Tobias agreed. “I will be careful.” Whatever else he was going to say was lost in a sudden upswing in tension and the background barely audible hum ceased completely. The seats on the other platform were now occupied and in the center seat sat the Dark Lord. The ladies of the circle were gathered behind these seats, so many that it seemed to Lea Cania that every one of the ladies were there.