[Erick Sanders]

The woman smile remained. “Well, you have certainly made more of a splash than most of the hopefuls that come through here.” She tapped on the console. I waited without speaking, my feet shuffling on the floor of the tent. “You can go through,” She said, without looking back up at me. I pushed the chair out and slid from the seat.

Hesitant, I slung my bag and walked past the woman. Through a flap in the back wall. On the other side was another room. A flat metal pad sat in the centre, a circle of pulsating lights running around the outside.

“Ah, another one” A small portly man piped up, hopping from his too high stool and shuffling his short legs towards me. His dark grey skin and perfectly circular eyes were the only thing that stood out on his otherwise human features.

“Welcome, please, take off your clothes,” He said, slapping me on the arm before tapping on a console terminal beside me.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes, Yes. You Humans sure do have an aversion to nudity. You can leave your undergarments on if it will make you more comfortable.” His high pitched voice sang from his little mouth.

I shrugged off the bag and my jacket before stripping the rest of my clothing, leaving my underwear firmly in place.

“Onto the scanner please” He gestured to the pad on the floor. I stepped up into the centre of the circle of light. The man tapped once on the console. “You can get off, and put your clothes back on, If you want to,” his toothy smile flashed my way. I quickly pulled my clothing off the floor and tugged them on.

While I dressed the man started muttering “five point three four percent body fat, seventy-three kilograms, one point seven four meters in height. You have a slight muscle imbalance between right and left legs, right arm is half a centimetre longer than left.” He tapped away without looking at me.

“Two implants...Creators! Where did you get that time dilation implant?” He stammered. Looking up at me, his irises shrinking.

“From a slave lord,” I said, unsure on how much I should reveal. I need them more than they need me, I reasoned. “I call it payment for my enslavement”

“You must have been an expensive slave, I’ve only seen five of these in my life. You have heard the stories about why they discontinued manufacturing?” He asked, rubbing his temple.

“I have, and I'm assuming you have heard about what happens when someone like me dies?” I countered.

“So you already came to that conclusion, how long did it take you?”

“A few minutes”

“You should still be careful. No one knows what effect it may still have.”

He turned back to the console and added more notes.

“A prize, if used in moderation, Fren will want to know about this” he muttered.

I stood there uncomfortably for a minute until I spoke again. “Is that all?”

The man jumped, a small squeak escaping his lips. “Oh yes. My apologies, You are cleared to proceed, go on through” He said, like the woman before, he didn’t look up as he dismissed me.

I moved through the room and out another tent flap.

This time there wasn’t another room, but a walkway into a Grey ship.

The ship itself was large, my view of the sides was obscured by the thick rare wings that were squashed between two other tents. The tip of the doorway that loomed at the top of the loading ramp stood at least six feet over my head. Everything inside the loading bay was various shades of grey. A set of bunks were set in rows at the back of the loading bay. As I strode through, my booted feet clanging on the metal floor, another short grey-skinned man shuffled out from behind a supply box, his holo-screen floating in front of his face.

“Erick Sanders? Grab a bunk, do not leave the loading bay. Do not leave the ship.” Before he could shuffle away, I lightly grabbed his shoulder. “What am I meant to do?” I asked.

The man squeaked, brushing my hand away and muttering to himself. “Always more idiotic than the last,” before raising his voice to address me again, “Find an empty bunk, No leave, you stay here!” He spoke loudly, enunciating every syllable.

He shuffled away as I walked over to a bunk, throwing the bad down and sitting on the edge of the bed. “Did he say anything about how long we’ll be here?” A voice said, snapping my attention to a dark-skinned man laying on the top bunk across from me. My eyes widened at the distinct bullet hole scar on his temple, Its Jacks teammate from the Slave lords moon.

“He didn’t say,” I said, hesitantly. Is there a ‘sorry I killed you’ card?

The man seemed none the wiser to who I was, grunting and rolling back over to stare at the dark metal ceiling. If he is here… My suspicion was confirmed when I stood up and looked over the man's legs at the figure sitting on the bunk behind him. Jack sat, his legs folded under him, tapping away on his scanner screen.

“I thought the Grey Scarred Company was for the best, but apparently they let fuck ups like you try out,” I said loudly.

The dark man jerked his head up, assuming I was talking to him, his mouth curled into a snarl and his hand wrapping around a pistol at his waist. When he realised I wasn’t looking at him his grip relaxed and he followed my gaze to Jack.

Jack frowned at me. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same”

Jack jumped down from the bed and rolled over the one in front of me. “We didn’t have a choice, Oceanic navy sent a few of us to try gain contacts in the guilds” He said in a hushed tone.

“Is that some kind of secret?” I whispered.

Jack shook his head. “Who knows how many armies will be doing the same.” He looked around the room, paranoid.

“No one else even flinched when you said that, I think you can relax,” I muttered.

Jack looked confused until I tapped my head. He grunted, “Right. Erick, this is Keg” Jack slapped the black man on the leg.

I stretched my hand out and shook Keg. “Nice to meet you,” I said, internally wincing.

Jack smiled at me as if to say ‘He is gonna be pissed when he learns that it was you that offed him.’ I grunted and flopped down on the bed, which was only slightly more comfortable than the patch of grass I had slept on the night before.

“We were attacked you know” I said, I had been meaning to send him a message at some point this morning, but seeing as he was right in front of me, the opportunity had presented itself.

Jacks head jerked up, “What! When!?”

“Last night. Two of Carltons men. What do you know about the Lord's Fangs?” I asked.

“That they are a ruthless group of enforcers and assassins.” He said. “What happened?”

I described the fight, being sure to give Cam the credit he deserved for his pillar of flame. When I was finished Jack stared at me. “So what, you’re here looking for protection?”

“I can’t take on Carlton or the Slave lords alone,” I said, rolling onto my back and stretching my arms behind my head. “I realised I needed help”

I looked over at Jack as he watched me silently. “Do you think you could get someone to go check on Rose and the others. Tomas is there but I don’t feel great about leaving them.” Jack nodded and began sending out messages on his scanner.

We waited for forty-five minutes. The loading bay rarely echoed with the stomping of another hopefuls boots.

We were given no instruction, no updates, Keg described it as being standard practice for any military. The warning we had that we would be moving was when the doors hissed, and then clattered closed. “Looks like our last chance to go home is gone.”

The ship shuddered and we were pressed into our bunks as the ship jerked vertically. A moment later a voice echoed through the hall, “We are currently en route to the Grey Scarred System vessel in orbit, ETA twelve minutes, opening the viewing screen for visuals.”

I followed Jacks view up to the ceiling where a large panel was sliding away to reviled a view of the sky, the blue morphing into dark purples then black as we rocketed out of the atmosphere.

The stars shimmered into view, as though igniting one at a time in the encapsulating darkness. They flew across the glass as the ship twisted, in front of the sparkling backdrop was a grey space ship. It was hard to tell the size when the only reference point are stars millions of light-years away, but as we drew closer the massive ship made me feel like an ant. Its enormity was something I had never seen in a man-made object.

“Have you guys seen a ship that big?” I asked jack.

“Earth has one, and only one.” He said, his eyes flicking across the exterior of the ship.

Just how powerful were the Grey Scarred Company? I asked myself. They owned a ship to rival the best that a whole had. I now began to understand why earths navy would be interested in creating contacts withing the Grey Scarred. at first look, their resources looked significant. Maybe enough to help turn the tide in the war.

We slowed as we approached a gaping loading dock, a white haze across the threshold. It fizzed over the glass as we passed through it. Then the ship twisting again to land and the door hissed open. “Please exit and follow the green lines to the staging area” The earlier voice reverberated through the speakers.

I followed Jack and Keg out from the row of bunks and down the ramp. The loading bay stretched as wide as multiple football fields end to end. Rows of identical ships sat in designated bays. As we watched, another slid through the white haze of the forcefield. It floated through the centre of the loading bay, turned and parked in an empty space, blending into the line. The back panel opened and more mismatched armoured men and woman filed out, joining us as we followed the green highlighted floor panels through a wide hatch on the far wall.

Jack kicked my foot as we stood at attention, in wide hall. I looked at him in annoyance. Jack nodded down at my feet, then down at his own. I shuffled my feet wider to match his stance and grabbed my wrists behind my back. My heart rate had spiked as we entered the wide hall. A hundred men and women were standing in an even half-circle, the floor covered in golden sand.

I focused on a patch of dark wall, taking measured breaths until a pair of footsteps grinding on the sand grabbed my attention. A Tall woman walked through to the centre, her pale blue eyes scanning the group of hopeful humans before of her. She shared all our dominant features, though her translucent skin showed a shifting pattern of blue and red blood vessels beneath the surface.

That wasn’t the most astonishing thing about the woman, she dominated my electro-magnetic sense like a blazing fire surrounded by dying candles, I pulled it back in close. What the fuck is she? I wondered.

She pursed her lips and surveyed us. My eyes roamed over the others standing with me. Many were dressed in military fatigued, all in groups, the patches on their shoulders displaying multiple countries, the man beside me was Australian, while two woman across the sands were from the Philippines.

“You have passed our first and most basic vetting process, though your trials are far from over” She paused, likely for dramatic effect.

“There are one hundred of you here, The first of our intake from Earths oceanic region. Congratulations, you woke up early, and aren’t complete fuckups, every one of you is rank ninety-six or higher, you’re among the best this system has to offer.” She smiled, “I’m sure your all very proud of yourselves, that your parents tell all their friends about how special you are. If you want to count yourself amongst the Grey Scarred, that isn’t good enough!” She barked as we watched her silently.

“Now. There are too many of you. So to remedy that, you're going to kill each other, whoever remains will move on” white teeth flashed beneath her smile “Go!”

The room exploded into motion, no one taking a second to contemplate what was just commanded of us. This was a room full of killers, all itching at the heel to show what they were capable of. “Stay with me!” I said to Jack and Keg.

I drew both Havars swords and with the same motion sliced through the arm of the man beside me, His metallic augment hand dropped to the ground. The man stared down at the stump of his wrist, his main weapon lying bloodied on the floor. I sliced into his neck before darting directly into the middle of the mass of bodies.

Most of the fighters were armed to the teeth with rifles and pistols. A few of the smarter ones had drawn knives and begun slashing, but the majority were too reliant on their firearms. They were at a disadvantage as I dashed through the group, my blades slashing left and right, cutting into necks and removing limbs that drew weapons. I kicked out at the centre of the bodies, sending men tumbling into one another. Jack was right behind me, and fired point-blank into the face of a stocky woman who stabbed out at me with a knife. I let my sense free and felt the people around me as any feeling of unity between countrymen disintegrated.

I pulled Keg to the side as a bullet pissed his face and slammed into the man behind. There are so many. I twisted the dial in my mind, just a touch, giving me an extra moment for reactions an action. I stabbed out behind me, my sword sinking into the chest of a man. He dropped to his knees and received a knife to the temple.

No one spoke, the air was dominated by the grunt and cries of dying warriors, mists of blood-stained faces and clothes.

Only half the contestants remained when I jerked around. My sense picking up a lone body that moved away from the fray.

A woman had jumped away from the group, her teeth bare as she pulled a thick barreled machine gun from over her armoured shoulder. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel I though, unsure if our higher rank would protect us from the large calibre weapon. I jumped, kicking off from a dying man and launching myself overhead of the fighting. A bullet bounced off my armour before hit the ground outside the fight. Rolling toward the woman.

She kicked out at me and I twisted. Grabbing her leg, I dragged her off balance. Stabbing down cutting into her knee below the patella. She screamed and I pulled her off her feet, tossing her back into the fight with a strained grunt. She landed with a crash, people tumbling to the ground with her.

I took a second to survey the scene, a majority the people lay dead or dying. The sand a sickening blood red I was too familiar with.

I crouched down, ready to leap back into the fight when an ear-splitting screech ripped through the room. Fighters dropped to their knees, clutching the sides of their head. On instinct, I activated my helmet and covered the external microphones. The sound reverberating through the metal still. '

Then it stopped. Men and woman stood slowly, gasping and rubbing their ears.

“That will do! Thank you!” The woman stepped forward, from against the wall.

“Congratulations, you have survived and will be allowed the honour of continuing. Some of you have even showed an aptitude for altering the flow of the fight and seeing the greater battle around you” Her eyes lingered on me for a moment. I swallowed, hoping this wouldn’t be unwanted attention.