The escort mission was very basic. I had to protect some dignitaries from a group of assassins. They didn't expect me to be able to intercept the plasma bolts they fired and track them down. I restrained them with my powers and the other guards cuffed them to be processed.

I knew there were more, but they seemed scared that I was there.

I am a raider with very little public information and the powers are uncommon enough for the average person to not even know what those words mean. Although why people don't just look it up baffles me. Then again, me being a raider will definitely increase awareness of my powers.

After getting paid, a news crew started bugging me.

"Will! Can we see under your mask? What breeding class are you? Are you going to retake the combat test?" And more questions were asked by me.

I asked them a question to shut them up.

"I have a couple days before my next job. If I schedule an interview for tomorrow will you leave me alone?" I asked.

He nodded and I said "What are the coordinates?"

He gave me them and I was able to leave.

Within two minutes I got a ad for the program.

I am going to regret this aren't I?

"I regret this already." I mumbled to myself as I sat down in the custom made chair just for me.

The host was the very same one I saw talking to Kenny.

At least they let me wear my armor and carry my weapons. I didn't want to be caught off guard.

He spoke to the massive crowd excitedly "Welcome one and all! Today we have quite the treat! We have the newest Raider, Will!

Not much is known about him and we have a lot to discuss so let's get started with the questions! Our lucky audience member who gets the first question is........ seat 34 D!"

Weird..... I guess they want to use the audience to get common questions.

I saw where the light shone down and sitting there was a guy from Kenny's race.

He was much more stick like though.

He asked "Why are you so heavily armed?"

Everyone turned to me and I said "Simple. I'm a mercenary and I've already stopped several assassins. For all I know one could be in the crowd and aiming at me right now.

I am a bit..... paranoid."

I noticed that several people had screens in front of them translating what I said.

So not everyone has a universal translator huh?

Several people started talking before the host cleared one of his throats.

He said "How about the next question?

Um....... 72 Z?"

A guy who looked like a mole wearing a jumpsuit asked "What's your home planet like?"

I chuckled and said "It's in a time of change and turmoil. My people recently went through a mutation that changed what we believed was possible and the repercussions are ravaging everyone there.

If you meant the environment...... well there are forests, mountains, planes, desserts, all sorts of biomes."

He seemed satisfied with that answer and sat down.

The next question was "What classes are your species?"

"H-45 when it comes to what I eat, O-32-M for breeding, and G-2 for everything else." I told them.

The crowd of coarse had many mixed reactions to that. I imagine I crushed many fans dreams with the mating one. Although all three of those ratings were pretty uncommon.

If the crowd was a large enough sample size, most of the universe was covered in sentient bugs/spiders. Then there were sentient piles of goo. And then there was the rest. Many of them had breathing apparatus attached to dispense whatever they breathed as well.

I guess that makes sense. Bugs do outnumber humans by quite a bit even on our planet. Makes sense that that's the most common types of sentient lifeform as well. I'm beyond Glad that G-2 means most common environments on spaceships are fine for me to survive without needing special equipment.

The next question was "Can we see what you look like under the armor?"

I took off my helmet and teleported to the right just in time to not get hit by a railgun blast.

I picked up the sniper and the asker.

They both squirmed in my grasp.

I floated them over to me and asked "Did you think I wouldn't recognize your group?"

They both ignored me and continued to struggle.

I smacked them into each other before tossing them to security.

I knew one was sneaking up behind me so I swept his legs and pinned him to the ground with my blaster to his head.

Or her head rather.

I smirked and said "Bang!"

She flinched and I chuckled before I got up. Her species was bipedal like mine and seemed to be a mammal too. She wore a skin tight suit that seemed to be trying to camouflage her as I held her down with only her face being uncovered. Her face was angular, well defined, and a dark shade of red. Her hair was segmented and short, and she had five eyes. I kept her pinned with my powers until security came back and cuffed her too. As she was dragged away she yelled "I will end you! My name is Mars and I will have my revenge once I get out!"

I gave her a wave and said "You'll be trying for many years to come miss. I don't die easily."

I put my helmet back on and asked "Where were we?"

The sentient totem pole regained his smile and said "I see you're quite on top of things."

I nodded and said "That is a way to put it. Then again not much really surprises me anymore..... well not unless that thing wants some new painful holes free of charge."

I got a decent amount of nervous chuckles from that.

Although I could see many people got.... nervous at my words.

Damnit..... I guess dark humor isn't really a big thing here.... looks like most took it as a threat. Time for crowd control.....

I chuckled and said "Sorry, I didn't mean to threaten anyone. I guess my sense of humor is a bit uncommon too?"

While it didn't really get many laughs/equivalent forms of amusement, I could tell the people around me loosened up a bit.

Eh good enough.

Brque Alun said "It seems everything about you is."

That got quite a few more chuckles and finally seemed to break the tension. I still kept my guard up though.

Never can be too careful.

"Let's move on to our next question please.

X-28 what is your question?"

I saw one of those really big water strider creatures ask "Kenny said that you went through the combat ranking test with nothing on you and that you didn't skip any stages. Why?"

I sighed and said "The one who led me to the test..... Mira was her name..... she seemed to be in a hurry. I didn't want to bother her with questions on the test so I went into it knowing very little. I didn't learn you could skip portions until long after I had taken it. Plus I wanted to relax after that bothersome mission. Maybe I'll retake it after my next mission or two. It all depends on how well those go."

He bobbed up and down before going back to sitting.

"Alright! An interesting answer. Next we have...... P-29!"

A rather interesting combination of plant and fox asked "What are the courtship rituals your species go through?"

I blushed under my helmet and said "Well that depends on the individual. For some it's as simple as find an attractive mate and have fun. For others it takes years of dating, trying to impress, romance, cuddling, wooing, and you could still end up not mating even once. For most I'd say it would take a week to a month of testing the relationship before having sex. Even then there are no guarantees."

The creature asked another without prompting "What about you?"

My blush intensified. I took a deep breath and shrugged.

"I wouldn't know. I never got far in a relationship before we either drifted away or before it ever really started. I have had sex once or twice, but it was always impartial and for pleasure. I always used birth control and with partners free of sexually transmitted infections.

I guess you could say I crave a relationship beyond just sex for sex's sake, but it would take quite a while to build up such a thing let alone keep it going..... I don't feel comfortable talking about things of such a nature any further."

She seemed...... saddened by my response, but sat back down.

"Hmmm quite an answer indeed. C-1?"

A small floating sphere asked "So could you explain your weapons? They are quite interesting."

I smiled and said "Of coarse! Which ones interest you?"

He said "The smaller firearm first please."

I nodded and unholstered my trusty pistol.

"This is my pistol. It was known as a five seven. They're generally used in close quarters and tight spaces. However it was re-fitted with plasma technology. This allows it to have increased range and ammo capacity. The grip is custom to fit my hands. As I'm ambidextrous this makes it easy to use in tight spaces where one may be more advantageous over another. Pistols are generally the most common form of firearm my people wield and are best used for close to medium range." As I said this I shifted it through a few common positions and spun it around flashily.

I holstered it and he buzzed "Then the other one?"

I pulled out my shotgun and said "This is my shotgun. Formerly known as a Spaz 12 combat shotgun. It's been turned into a rail gun capable of shooting any metal that can fit into the chamber, but I can get some more standard ammo as well for a more.... focused effect. Shotguns are the second most common. You can use them for long or short range depending on the type of ammo used. They're best known for either one large slug meant to take down large targets at longer distances, or firing several pellets meant to shred close range targets with a wide spread of shrapnel."

As I showed it off I tossed it up and caught it in my arms perfectly.

I holstered it as well when it asked "The metal blade?"

I slid the beautiful blade out of its sheath and said "This is a sword. My people refer to this as a broad-sword referring to it's straight double edged blade. The length classifies it as a bastard or hand and a half sword."

I once again gave a little flourish and made the blade whistle through the air a bit before tossing it up, grabbing the handle in a reverse grip, and slid it smoothly back into it's scabbard at my left hip.

I pulled out my final weapon and turned it on. The glowing blue plasma blade shimmering like the sun as I got into a classic stance from a certain franchise.

"This of coarse is a plasma blade. I've always wanted one, but my people weren't advanced enough to make them quite yet. I say it's quite the accomplishment in my book I get to wield one. Let alone own one."

It asked "If your species hadn't invented it yet, how could you always want one?"

I was confused for a second before saying "If my kind has one thing, it's creativity. We imagined eerily similar weapons and had several science fiction stories with them as prominent weapons. Some such stories even included fighting styles with such weapons."

He replied "Highly unlikely."

"But not impossible. The universe is nearly infinite and holds nearly infinite possibilities. And if there are multiple universes then who knows what is truly possible. If they exist do they run on the same rules of physics? Is there a such thing as magic or souls? Could someone be guessing what's happening right now and writing it off as fiction? Who knows! I noticed many species are just starting to consider such a theory in my research. I personally can't wait to see how far your advanced technologies come to tackle this puzzle that has vexed my people for the past couple decades."

Everyone seemed to be in an uproar over my words.

I'm.... confused. What has them soo worked up?

The orb angrily said "How can your people be that far along or guess such an advanced theory? Are you saying that we aren't as far along as some primitive creatures like your kind back home?!"

I stood up and said "No!"

Another yelled "That isn't what it looks like to me! You're saying your kind just guessed a scientific theory that we're just now begging to see the merits of?!"

"No! What I'm saying is...."

Once again I was interrupted.

Oh fuck this!

I shot into the ceiling and everyone finally shut up.

"I was not trying to discredit anyone! My kind just developed differently! You wanna know something? Humans are weak, gullible, and greedy. At the same time we aren't worthless. For whatever reason we were given an innate curiosity and imagination. We sought many esoteric answers even when we didn't have the knowledge, technology, or experience to tackle such questions.

At the same time I, like much of my kind, am incredibly inferior to all of you in the scope of technology. We can't make it to the closest planet let alone the near light speeds you casually fly at. We don't have plasma weapons that can be feasibly wielded by a person. Hell I was baffled by the cushions and floor that's how far behind we are in that aspect!

Every species has it's strengths and weaknesses.

I am not nor will I ever put my species on some pedestal. Especially not with all of the wonderful things I've seen and witnessed in my short time as a part of the Galactic Union."

I sighed and took a deep breath.

"That is all for now. I'm done with this interview."

I stormed out back to my ship, put all my stuff in the proper compartments for cleaning and maintenance, and flew off towards my next job.

Ugh.... I can handle fighting for hours on end, a King fit to rule over nothing, and gruelling training, but politics is the thing that exhausts me the most.....

When I finally arrived at the job the gray slime I was on the phone with greeted me.

"Hello! I am quite pleased that you were able to make it here on time with such short notice!"

I smiled under my visor and said "I'm not sure how well I'll be able to do this, but it's for a good cause."

He burgled what I assume was laughter and motioned for me to follow him.

We were led through several chambers until I was in a medical ward.

The gray slime said "We need a small tissue sample to test your comparability. If you are an acceptable match you will very much save our Queen's life and you shall be rewarded handsomely."

I nodded and held out my right arm. They put a small device that took a small skin sample and took it away.

I sat and waited before he came back in and excitedly said "You'll do just fine! Please come this way."

I nodded and followed him.

In a massive room was a massive slime. Her form was nearly spherical and a constant creaking sound emanated from her outer layer.

The one that escorted me explained "As we told you, our kind is susceptible to a strange and dreadful disease. This disease clogs up our...... waste ports..... and makes it so we cannot dispel the accumulated moisture within our bodies. This leads to a horrible condition where we swell until we burst.

Until a hundred years ago we believed the disease incurable. So, when a scientist researching your race discovered he had the disease, he threw caution into the wind and tried an illegal act. He tried to eat a human, as they looked tasty and he would die long before he could be tried.

He was surprised to not only find humans inedible, but that the horrified man had survived inside him without any issue barring psychological damage.

After many weeks, the disease not only halted, but he was eventually cured!"

I finished "Because of the mixture of humans having micro-organisms in their digestive tracts that destroy the virus, humans being unable to digest the organs of your kind, and that our waste products are harmless and even beneficial to your kind.

Making them a natural biological filter of sorts.

However, it's illegal to do the procedure most of the time due to the fact that humans aren't ready for other races, and subjecting them to being a cure is unethical without consent."

The infected queen whined "Quickly! If you know the situation get in and cure me! Every minute is torture!"

I nodded, undressed, and slowly penetrated her outer membrane.

As her body creaked and my lungs and stomach filled with strange tasting slime, she let out a gasp saying "Oh my! He..... he does taste weird! At the same time not unpleasant..... I can already feel some relief from him in there....."

I decided since I was going to be here a while and her body gave me extra resistance to work with, I decided to try and get some training done.

She seemed tickled by my movements, but it no doubt would make me work all the faster if my body's metabolism was actually using some of this extra fluid and nutrients.

The things I do for the universe..... and a nice paycheck......