"What's going on?" The Chairwoman of the galactic assembly asked, stepping out of her private rooms and into the hallway. The windows overhead rattled and creaked as, outside, a sandstorm raged against the council building. Great billowing clouds of blue rolled in waves against the windows, and she could hear the sound of sand particles gently tapping against the glass.

The air inside was thick and hot, though it was beginning to cool off as the dust storm blocked the sun.

The hallway before her was a cacophony of people talking hurriedly in muted voices, though they hadn't been quiet enough to avoid disturbing her in her rooms. She stepped forwards and the group parted for her. She was not wearing the council drape, but almost wished she was as she stepped into the group of people.

As she walked she came upon a large sheet of fabric thrown over the floor, a lump underneath.

Someone stopped her, "Chairwoman, Perhaps you shouldn't go much further."

She looked down at the sheet a sort of sick feeling rising in her chest.

"What is this?'

There was a sort of shifting around the room.

She turned to glower at everyone, and they hurried to answer her question, one of the council pages stepping forward.

"It's Makam, ma'am. Someone found him like this not a few minutes ago."

"Like this?" She asked, though she already knew.

They looked down and shuffled their feet, "Dead."
"And do we have a doctor to verify.

A Rundi standing o the other side of the body lifted one of his hands in greeting to her, "I am ma'am. I examined the body. He had been dead for at least half an hour by the time I arrived." He trailed off waiting.

"Well go on, tell me what we know." She said

Rundi were annoyingly tight lipped at times, preferring only to answer direct questions in many case. She had been like that herself on a few occasions, but working with aliens for so long had rid her of that particular habit. Tesraki were similar in that they liked to speak in circles, but the Vrul and the Drev were unheedingly blunt.

When it came to humans, you tended to get a mix.

The doctor stood straighter, "As I was saying your honor, I determined the time of death was around thirty minutes to an hour ago and was likely related to a sudden and catastrophic collapse of the vascular system. Foaming around the mouth is indicative on ingestion of some sort of toxic chemical. Based on what I have seen in my travels aboard in the universe and a few medical documents sent over to us. I might assume it was some sort of poison.

There was a mummering I the hallway.

This was big news.

He had died very close to the chairwoman's personal chambers.

Had this been an assassination attempt?

Was someone gunning for her position?

Was it some kind of accident?

Was someone getting ready for something bigger and more serious. It was difficult to know of course.

The chairwoman herself doubted it. She did not know this Rundi which meant he was not particularly high up on he chain of command and would have had no way to get to her in time. Unless this was some sort of Demo of the poison, she was not sure how it could be linked.

She turned to look at the others, "What do we know about his behavior over the past few days. Anything suspicious, any health complains."

There was another pause and then one f her other pages stepped forward, "I knew Makam personally your honor." They paused and shifted their feet again as if looking for the proper words to put into place.

"Now that I think about it he WAS acting strange."

"Go on."

"Well he was actually in line for a promotion, your grace. He had been working unusually hard oer the past few weeks. In fact, I don't think I saw him resting at one point during that time. He would just rush everywhere any time I tried to talk to him, but he got so much done in that time. We sort of just assumed he was really gunning for that position."

The chairwoman nodded her head and looked down at the body.

The mystery around her was thick, like the billowing sandstorm outside, and she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something she was missing, but that could hardly be helped. She would have to leave the others to investigate while she continued with her work.

"Up security if you will for the next month or two. I don't want us taking any chances."

They nodded and she allowed them to get back to work, tapping the floor gently with one of her long, slim fingers.

Something was going on here, though she couldn't have been sure what.

***

Noctus Sat in his lounge on A1-36.

These past few years had been difficult for him.

He had been arrested, gone to prison, managed to escape, and had been on the run from the law for that intervening time, and yet somehow, he still managed to find his way back to A1-36, a den of thieves and slavers if there ever was one, and he loved it.

He lounged back on his chair and kicked his feet up as another Tesraki page ran up with a trey. There was a refreshing drink topped with a little umbrella which he took, and a small white tablet next to that. He picked it up between the two fingers of his right hand and popped it into his mouth closing his eyes as it dissolved under his tongue.

He leaned back with his eyes closed allowing the sensation to wash over him.

Pure, unadulterated bliss.

Oh how good it felt to be back on top again, back where nothing could touch him.

A strange warmth moved through his body sending him onto a pillow of clouds that roiled and churned inside his head. The tingling in his limbs brought with it an abundant sense of pleasure and piece that felt like it would never end. He felt himself spinning slowly in a pool of warm water. The sensation was one of pure joy and he based in the glow head tilted to one side as the world changed for his own pleasure.

Then the drug began to fade.

Far to quickly for his liking and he opened his eyes to see another Tesraki standing and waiting for him politely at the base of his chair. Annoyed that the Drug was wearing off so quickly Noctus snarled at his underling, "Well what do you want!"

The Tesraki flinched, "The fights are on sir. You told me you wanted to attend."

Oh, he had wanted to attend hadn't he.

He sighed and stepped down from his chair pushing the assistant out of the way and marching up the hall growing more and more annoyed as the drug began to run it's course in his system. He was going to have to get soemthing stronger and longer lasting at a later date.

They walked into the next room where the sound of chanting could be heard coming down from one of the tunnels.

He followed the noise as his assistants and underlings bustled around him, trying to keep him comfortable as he walked.

He liked having all of their attention, it made him feel good about himself.

Made him feel like a king.

He passed out of the tunnel and onto the back balcony of a large room. There were many stairs and tiers upon tiers of benches which rolled down from above. Hundreds of aliens sat in their seats chanting and slamming their fists against the metal railings. It seemed as if there was a representation from almost every species and he smiled to himself as he thought it.

Just like a meeting with the galactic assembly it seemed.

He pushed his way forward and into his box, where a human bodyguard sat down just outside the cage.

The man was big and dark and mean with a large scar across one eye and even more scars covering his massive biceps.

Noctus liked to collect things of interest.

He liked collecting people of interest.

And this included humans of unusual size. This particular human was one he had appropriated from the Turma prison on Noctopolis.

He was big, mean and owed Noctus a favor.

Noctus flopped down in his seat, kicking his feet up do drape over the edge of the chair, lounging upon the chair like a king might upon his throne.

That's what he was, wasn't he, a kind of A1-36.

He did own more than half the planet anyway.

Or at least he had until the GA confiscated his deeds and land once he was imprisoned.

He intended to get all of it back at some point.

He watched a few of the fights, placing bets on contests he already knew were rigged in his favor. The drug itself had completely worn off by now, and with a bark he ordered one of his underlings to go grab something stronger.

Down in the cage below him, two human fighters were grappling angrily with each other. The matt below their feet was stained in blood. One of them had it dripping down her nose and onto the floor, while the other had it smeared all over her chest and neck. As h watched, the two lunched towards each other, one kicking the other in the back of the knee sending her to the ground.

She pounced on top of her opponent, drew back her fist and began to hammer at her face with a scream of feral fury.

Noctus chuckled before turning to look over at his bodyguard.

"Bring out the champion."

The man did not respond but unfolded his arms and walked away.

Noctus waited as the fight was finished in a bloody brawl before the two women were dragged apart, one of them unconscious, the other one spitting blood through her teeth. People were sent out on the matt to clean the blood before the next round.

They didn't do a particularly good job of it, but so was life.

He waited for a few minutes before the man returned dragging a chain behind him, followed by a large hulking Drev.

The Drev was dragged into the small box where Noctus sat and forced to kneel next to him.

The Drev did not look up his bright green carapace glowing in the overhead lights like a beacon. His color was astonishing, and it was a wonder that nature could make something so vibrant.

He patted the Drev o the shoulder, "Hazad, so good of you to join us."

The Drev did not look up.

Noctus ignored his silent brooding, "I hope you are prepared for another rousing fight this morning."

The Drev said nothing resting his hands against his knees and staring at the ground.

"The strong silent type eh. Well no matter, I am thinking another championship, double or nothing. If you win you get a few credits towards your freedom. By my calculations, you should be allowed to leave in the next twenty or so years. Still be in the prime of your life at that point."

The Drev still said nothing.

Noctus sighed and shook his head, "You are going to win this fight for me."

The Drev looked up his bright yellow eyes distant and faded.

"If my opponent cannot match me."

Noctus shook his head, "No, that's not how that works. You are going to win for sure, you want to know why?"

Hazad continued to stare at him with dead yellow eyes.

Noctus held up a hand, and inside there was a small green pill.

Hazad stared at it.

"What is this."

"It's a.... natural supplement that is going to help you preform to your best ability. Just think of it like taking a vitamin."

Hazad reached forward and Noctus pulled back a hand, "Now hold on a minute, not just yet." Hazad paused and looked up at him.

"This little thing acts fast, so you are going to have to take it right before the fighting starts and no sooner, you got that."

Hazad paused and then nodded, taking the pill in one of his large hands and wrapping his fingers around it. The pill vanished under his fingers and Noctus leaned back in his seat with pleasure, "There we go, that should do just fine, now make us proud."

Hazad was hauled to his feet and then dragged away with the pill still clutched tightly between his fingers.

This was going to be interesting.

Hazad himself was an interesting story. Notcus had picked him up on A1-36 after the Drev had tried to hitch a ride to earth or one of the GA space hubs. He claimed to be looking for the omen where he said most of his clan was.

Some rambling thing about an apology he had to make to someone.

But who cared what that was about.

The crowd cheered as Hazad was shoved into the cage, and they cheered even more when and Even bigger, meaner Drev was thrown in with him.

This bastard was big and scarred with a brown carapace the color of freshly made mud.

Hazad glanced nervously over at Noctus who waved a hand at him.

Just before the bell rang Hazad discreetly put a hand to his mouth and swallowed.

Noctus leaned back in his seat and grinned a self satisfied grin at what happened next.

The floor was covered in blood,.

The screaming and cheering of the crowd only great in intensity as Hazad screamed and lept towards the other Drev Bare hands clawing and wrenching at the other creature who seemed surprised at the ferocity.

The more they screamed the more Violent Hazad became until the front two rows had to move back away to avoid the spattering blood.

Noctus sipped his drink, and shooed away the assistant as they brought him another trey.

He took the little white tablet and popped it into his mouth, falling into extract to the screams and shouts of those below him.