Admadra's eyes are fixed on the stone wall before her, intricately carved with the menacing figure of a monstrous beast. Tiet and Erp drag the general through the gruesome hall littered with lifeless bodies, their grim task punctuated by the squelch of blood-soaked floor tiles. They throw the general with a rough shove against the cold, unyielding stone, positioning him between Admadra and the wall. The general, gasping for breath, immediately starts to plead, "Please, don’t kill me!"

Admadra leans closer to the general, her eyes narrowing with intensity. "Where is he?" she demands, her voice cold and sharp.

The general’s gaze flickers nervously toward the wall. "Beyond this wall," he stammers, "you’ll find his body, but nothing more. That’s all that’s left."

Admadra’s frustration mounts. “And how exactly do we get through this wall?”

The general reaches into his pocket and produces a strange device. It’s a crystalline artifact, split into two interlocking halves, shimmering with an otherworldly glow. Admadra examines it briefly before tossing it back to Erp, who fumbles but manages to catch it.

As Admadra’s spear presses against the general’s throat, he croaks out in desperation, “I won’t open it. Your friend is already dead, and I won’t free that beast!”

Admadra’s lips curl into a cold smile as she prepares to end the general’s life. “Then you’re of no use to me.”

Just then, a commanding voice echoes from the hallway they had entered. “Stop!”

Admadra freezes, her spear hovering over the general’s neck. She turns to see a man emerging from the shadows. Though he’s not particularly tall, his presence is striking—a blend of authority and calm. He stood with an almost regal aura to him, a stark contrast to the general who laid whimpering on the ground. Admadra couldn’t tell what it was about the man but something seemed almost sinister about him.

The mans face was obscured behind the shadow of the wall he appeared behind. His body was draped in what appeared to be a velvet coat compared to the cheap cloth the soldiers wore it was clear he was of high importance to the inhabitants of this planet. Admadra demanded “Step forward so I can see the face of the man I am talking to!”

The man raises his hands above his head and steps slowly into the light of the grim hall. The mans skin was a pale white and had long brown hair as well as a well maintained beard.

Admadra looks back to the general and observes his gray skin before turning back to the unknown man and asking “Who are you? Clearly, you aren’t from here.”

The man senses the Admadra serious tone and holds in a laugh and states “I have gone by many names throughout my year. To these creatures I am known as God but to our people I was simply known as Ken.”

Admadra feels a sense of curiosity arise in her ask she asks “What do you mean our people?”

Ken pointed to his right side pocket and stated “I have something that would explain all of this in my pocket.”

Admadra nods giving a look of approval to ken. Ken reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece paper that was worn and tattered it had clearly been aged by generations of weathering.

Ken holds the paper out and offers it to Admadra. Admadra shouts over to Tiet “Grab that from him!”

Tiet stumbles over the bodies that lined the floors and grabs the paper from Ken. As Tiet eyes look over the paper he expression turns to one of shock as he quickly backtracks towards Admadra. Admadra Looks at Tiet and ask “Well, what is it?”

Tiet holds the paper up for Admadra to see it. The paper had writings on it that were written in the scribblings of earth and was headed as follows “USS Draxia, Orders for intergalactic conquest.”

Ken slowly drops his arms to his sides and states “I too am from earth.” Ken points to Admdra’s spear and suggests “Maybe we can have a conversation where I am not at the edge of a blade.”

Admadra holds her spear firmly and demands “First you must allow us through this wall.”

Ken shows a disappointed look on his face and replies “My friend Sterrack over there does speak the truth. Anything you want beyond that wall is long gone it’s best you forget of its existence.”

“The man behind this wall is far more important than any of your followers. I will kill anyone who stops me from getting to him.” Admadra shouts as tears roll down her cheeks.

Ken looks over toward Sterrack and asks “What does she mean by man?”

Sterrack buries his face into the stone floors and replies “We captured one their men, he demanded to speak with our leader.”

Ken pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out a heavy sigh before shouting “And you didn’t think that was important to tell me!” Ken takes a few more breaths and regains his composure before stating “Sterrack hand me your Transceiver key.” Sterrack points over towards Erp. Ken looks at Erp and says “I would appreciate if you handed me the crystal that you got from Sterrack.”

Erp throws the device to Ken and says “Try anything and I promise you will be painted onto these walls.”

Ken catches the device and surveys the piles of corpses and says “Lucky for you I have no intention on dying for Sterrack’s lack of judgement.”

Ken rotates the two halves of the device revealing a inner glowing needle-like structure. He presses his thumb on the needle and winces in pain. The device begins glowing a deep red and a loud rumbling emanates from the wall. Ken holds the device up and fascinates over it “Isn’t it crazy what a little bit of earth intellect and otherworldly materials can create. Essentially its an over complicated garage door.”

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The wall collapses into the ground revealing a large giant beast laying on stone floor covered in silk and gold and Hamund sitting on top of the beast.

Hamund smiles and looks excitedly towards his crew before asking “What took you all so long?”

Admadra’s gaze locks onto Hamund as she turns her body. Admadra drops her spear and a loud clang could be heard echoing through the chambers.

Ken finds himself frozen in awe of the man sitting atop the beast that he had lived in fear of for years.

Admadra rushes toward Hamund at her top speed each step pounding against the stone floor the gold from her leg threw sparks and shards of broken stone through the air as each step was fueled by a blend of worry and excitement to see the man she had fought with for so many years now.

Hamund climbs down from the beast and lands with a hard thud on the ground as his feet hit the stone. Before Hamund could turn around Admadra lifts him off his feet and shouts “If you ever scare me like that again I will kill you!”

Ken found himself feeling a sense of excitement for the sights ahead as he begins talking with himself “A leader who could kill even the tallest of goliaths.” Ken looks over at Admadra and observes her clear overpowering strength and continues with “A woman who by all means is definitely the strongest of the batch despite her physical handicaps.” Ken walks up to Sterrack who has remained on the ground still hiding his head hoping for those around him to leave. Ken pats Sterrack on the back and asks “What do you think of our guests we have here?”

Sterrack looks up temporarily noticing Erps strong composure blended with his high tech suit which was more complex than any other suit in the group and he replies “He has to be the smartest of the bunch.”

Ken smiles as he removes his hand from Sterracks back and reaches under his velvet coat and firmly grasps a rubber based handle that he had stored in his belt line. Ken chuckles and looks into Sterrack’s eyes. Sterrack’s eyes radiated his fear with rapid eye movement and constant blinking. Ken asks Sterrack “Do you know what we would call you back on earth?”

Sterrack shakes his head and replies “No, sir.”

Sterrack feels a cold metal cylinder pressed against his temple as Ken answers “An ostrich, isn't that hilarious back on my planet you wouldn’t be seen as anything more than a pathetic creature who hide from any threat leaving everything that is vital to them vulnerable.”

Sterrack begins to beg “I am sorry, sir please don’t...”

Ken covers Sterracks mouth and says “I trusted you to protect your people. Years of the cloning and this is what I am left with a pile of whimpering shit. I will make you better.” Ken stops his thought as he looks up at Hamund and says “With help from that man I will make you the strongest you could ever be.”

Sterrack can hear a low clicking sound as Ken presses the trigger of the gun he held against Sterracks temple. Sterrack noticed a menacing smile on Ken’s face and heard him whisper “Goodbye dear friend I will see you again one day.” followed by a loud bang that echoed through the bloodied halls.

Tiet and Erp stepped back raising their weapons towards Ken. Ken dropped his gun on the ground and quickly raised his hands above his head. Hamund and Admadra rushed over towards Ken in fear that that loud sound that rung through the halls was towards one of their crew. Ken slowly stands regaining his regal posture and turns giving Hamund an almost lustful stare. As Hamund and Ken stand staring down one another Ken smiles and says “I am sorry for my actions. I understand they may seem unpleasant but I assure you that was a necessary evil.”

Tiet shouts over Ken “You killed that man for no reason! What part of that was necessary.”

Ken looks around at the piles of corpse and replies “Aren’t we a bit contradictory. You kill my men, and you see it as doing what is needed, but once I do you assume I have no reason.” Ken looks down at Sterrack’s lifeless corpse which now has blood pouring from it and says “If you must know, that man there was a traitor to my overall cause to unite this once utopian world. When I arrived on this planet the slaxions were almost extinct. Through decades of genetic cloning and a little bit of mental manipulation they now thrive.”

Tiet interrupts once again “Failure doesn’t make him a traitor.”

Hamund steps forward and places his hand on Tiet shoulder as Hamund looks into Tiet eyes he gives him a smile and says “although naive, Tiet is correct you can’t expect us to look at you as an ally when you treat your own people like nothing more than slaves to your goal.”

Ken laughs as he observes Hamund’s hesitant stare as if he was avoiding something being said while hiding behind his words. Ken smiles and says “I see I am not the only one who has secrets to hide.”

Hamund remains hesitant and silent as Ken looks over his crew. Their faces were dumbfounded as they looked around trying to decipher what Ken had meant by his statement.

Admadra steps forward still grappling with her excitement of finding Hamund and the relentless and ruthlessness of Kens actions. Broken between emotions she looks down at Sterrack’s lifeless body she feared what Ken was capable of and whether or not her and her crew could meet the same fate.

Admadra despite her better judgement asks “You speak of secrets and then remain silent? What is it that you are implying?”

Hamund interupts as he pulls Admadra back and shouts “Admadra, Stop!”

Ken’s smile widens, a glimmer of dark amusement shines in his eyes. He takes a slow but calculated step towards Hamund. The space between them shortening but the air seems to thicken and crack through the tension of two forces colliding.

Hamund cracks a smirking smile as if he was playing the same game Ken was.

“Oh, nothing, just a mere observation.” Ken turns his face towards Admadra and asks “Admadra is it?” Kens smile holds strong as he continues with “We all wear masks after all. We all have a greed for power or maybe even hidden agendas of our own. Friend or foe we are all just using each other to meet our own ends.”

Hamund steps further into Kens space strengthening the tension between them and asks “And what role would we play in your agenda, Friend or Foe?”

Ken slowly turns his attention back to Hamund and replies “I see no difference. Friend or foe are two sides of the same blade both ready to stab you in the back at any given chance.”

Tiet steps forward still envisioning the grusome death of Sterrack and says “Ken, you speak of masks and secrets but you showed your hand you use your people as tools to play to your twisted vision of how things should be. You couldn’t possibly except us to trust you.”

Ken chuckles and says “Correct, you shouldn’t trust me. After all trust is earned, I have never made a claim to righteousness. I have been the only honest one in this room, I only seek to achieve my goals even if that means making a few difficult decisions along the way. The question you must ask yourselves is what are you willing to do to achieve yours.” Ken gives Hamund a quizzical stare and says “And what about those around you?”

Hamund bangs his hand on his chest and a loud whizzing could be heard through the chambers halls. As his sword and shield reach him the smell of death follows now encircling the group even more thick than before.

Hamund raises his sword to Ken’s throat, and you can hear an audible gulp come from Ken. As Ken fights with his desire to have the last word and his fear of being at the edge of a blade he attempts to hold his commanding composure.

Hamund with a new feeling of confidence says “To come between a man and his family is an act that only leads to death.”

Ken smile returns as he tries to break the tension between him and the group “I mean to do no such thing, I am merely a man of philosophy.” Ken beckons the group to follow him as he turns his back to them and disappears into the shadowy halls.

Having been abandoned the group now looks amongst one another before turning to Hamund for guidance. Hamund follows the man and slowly each member of the group enter into the halls.