Author: Hey guys, would have posted this chapter friday but something was wrong with so...

Anyway, before reading this I want to tell you all that I got no clue just how long chapters will be done in the future. I got another fic that needs to be writen, but again, I just dont know how things are gonna get. Its been times that I wrote an entire chapter in a day, while a week has passed without writing a single word. But I will try to writer chapters at...reasonable time.

Anyway, hope you all enjoy and please review!

The Holo-Training room was roughly the same size as the one in Lurian station, although this one had no stairs or crates or anything. Just a simple room, square shaped. It's floor and walls were completly black, but were covered in small yellow squares. An odd electric buzzing sound was everywhere, as if the entire room was one big electric chip or something.

"It may not be much to look at now, Exalted One, but that will soon change once I start the program," turning around, Cain saw Daggoth standing next to the now closed metal doors they had walked through to get in, pressing some buttons on a panel, before turning to Cain, "I was planning on fighting against Seeker opponents. Is that...acceptable to you?"

For a few seconds Cain said nothing, then nodded.

"Very well," Daggoth pressed some more buttons, and suddenly the entire room became distorted for a split second, then everything cleared up.

"Whoa..." Cain breathed. The room was no longer a room. Instead, Cain was now standing in what looked like a starport, except it was much bigger then what he was used to, plus it was all so...alien-ish, and the sheer detail of the place was so well done, it made the what was on Lurian station just laughable, "...what is this place?"

"A Seeker hangar, Exalted One," Daggoth answered, and while he pressed some more buttons, Cain noticed two big hangar doors, one at each end of the hangar, showing the sky with some clouds. Wondering just how big the Holo-Room could project, Cain turned around and-

-and nearly bumped into a Seeker.

Cain nearly choked in surprise but instinct took over imidiatly. Jumping a bit back, Cain reached for his pistol, only to remember that he had left his weapons at their room. But he had taken his knife. He was about to reach for it, when Cain noticed that the Seeker hadn't moved a muscle, nor was it even looking at him. Instead it just stood there, twice as tall as Cain, not moving or making any kind of sounds.

"I was merely making a system check, to see if there any errors in the training simulation before we would begin. I deeply apologize if I startled you, Exalted One," came Daggoth's voice, right behind the Seeker.

"No, no, its...its okay," Cain lied as he side-stepped around the Seeker, keeping a close eye on the thing in case it would attempt to try anything, "But why is it...why is he standing like...that?"

Daggoth looked puzzled for a moment, untill he realized what Cain meant, "Ah, perhaps you are more familiar with this stance?" Daggoth pressed a button, and the Seeker fell forward. But instead of landing on his face, he landed with the extra limbs that Cain finally noticed he had on his longer legs. The fake Seeker now stood on all fours, a stance Cain had seen the real Seekers to often be in.

Slowly, though trying not to make it obvious he was on edge because of a simple hologram, he walked up to the Seeker, who now seemed to be breathing but did still not acknowledge Cain's presence.

It, he, or whatever, is so...real. Hell, he even smells.

"Why was he standing on two legs, if he's just as capable of using all his legs?" asked Cain as he slowly looked over the Seeker, now for the first time able to actually study the species that had all but exterminated his race.

"A Seeker on all fours is considered to be a somewhat aggresive stance, Exalted One, though not necessarily hostile. More likely that the Seeker is on guard, ready for quick action. A Seeker using two legs enables him to run fast straight forward, while on fours he is somewhat equally fast, though the other two legs give him more mobility to move in other directions, quicker to react or evade."

Cain nodded more to himself then Daggoth, as he remembered the Seeker with the long spear, back when he and Colonel Harks and their unit were defending the evacuating civilians.

Harks...did he think I was dead when I didn't come or responded any transmission? Or gone AWOL? I wonder...

Cain stood in front of the Seeker, and even though he was on his four legs now, he was still head and shoulder's taller then the Human. Cain slowly reached out and touched the muscular arm, surprised that it was warm, when he had thought the Seekers were literaly cold-blooded. Or maybe they were, since this was just a hologram.

"Would you like to select your weapons now?"

"...yeah," a distortion sound was heard as Cain walked passed the Seeker, similar to the sound that came when the room formed into the hangar, though this one was on much smaller scale. As Cain approached Daggoth, he noticed the wall next to him had changed into what looked like a small armory, severel types of guns ready for use.

It took him a few seconds to realise that all the guns were types he knew, "Hey, those are all Federation weapons," he said, still not believing what he was seeing.

"Correct. When your government send us the large data containing your history, culture, literature and science achievements, it also contained some schematics of your weapons."

That, without a doubt, was incredibly stupid of High Command. Still, can't really blame 'em, I mean, the ship they arrived in was the biggest thing anyone had ever seen, so I guess they all figured "This is it. Let them know everything about us and keep our fingers crossed." I think I heard one of the senators got so furious of the decision, he was sent to the hospital with an ulcer...

Cain reached out and picked up a FAUST C-41, the gun looking like it had just got out of the assembly line. It was the perfect replica, even the weight was right. He carefully inspected the gun, untill his eyes reached the barrel of the gun, and Cain paused as he just stared at it.

For a bit too long, Daggoth thought, as he cleared his throat, "Will you be taking any other weapon, Exalted One?"

"Hmm?" Cain blinked as his trance was broken and looked at Daggoth for a few seconds, untill he remembered what they were here to do. He quickly holstered the gun and picked another, then automaticly reached for the sniper rifle, but then paused and glanced at the hangar. One look and he could see he would be at serious disadvantage with a sniper rifle, so he instead picked the ROCKWELL YOUNG XJ9 assault rifle, "Aren't you going to pick any weapons, Daggoth?"

What resembled a grin appeared on the Aurelian face as he placed his helmet back on, "I already have, Exalted One," he replied, his voice sounding slightly electricly distorted as he flexed his arms, bringing attention to the long blades attached to them. He then pressed a button on the panel and the weapons and the Seeker dissappeared, "The simulation will start in fifteen seconds, Exalted One. May we strike true at our simulated enemies."

"Is there any mission objective?" Cain asked as he readied his rifle.

"Survive."

"...sounds good to me."

Three hours later...

The Seeker gun clicked empty, its energy cell depleted. The wounded Seeker in front of him had staggered back at his shots, but was still very much alive. An animal growl escaped from his lips as he took aim at the Human. Acting on pure reflex and adrenline, Cain charged at the Seeker, holding the heavy alien rifle like a bat and struck at the alien's head before he could fire. He grunted in pain as he staggered from the blow, then fell down on the floor, looking disorianted. But before he could get back up again, Cain struck again with the rifle, breaking the Seeker's skull. Dropping the rifle, Cain grabbed both his pistols and looked for the nearest enemy.

Daggoth was close by, though he had his hands full with three Seekers. But the Aurelian warrior fought them with such ease, Cain couldn't help himself but pause and watch at how quick and deadly Daggoth was.

A roar from above snapped Cain back to attention. Looking up, he saw a spear holding Seeker had jumped from the platform above and was about to land right on top of him. He dodged to left, narrowly avoiding getting crushed by the Seeker, who landed in a crouching stance, not bothered the least by the high fall he had just taken. As he pulled himself up to his full height, Cain aimed up at the head.

A bad mistake.

With his attention up on the Seeker, he never saw the kick coming. It hit him hard in the gut and send him flying backwards, and landed hard on the floor. Cain tried his best not to puke as he tried to breath in much needed air, but the lungs seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. His vision momenterily became blurry, but the searing pain from his scars kept his mind sharp. Blinking to quickly clear his eyes, the first thing he saw was the same Seeker jumping towards him. A split second later, Cain brought his hands up to shoot the incoming Seeker, only to see his hands empty and only now realised that he had dropped his guns after the kick. He tried to reach for his knife, but it was too late.

The Seeker landed on top of him, the weight pressing hard on his chest, smothering what little air he had out of his lungs again as the masked Seeker growled within an inch from his face. Cain struggled futile, kicking out as hard as he could, but either he didn't hit anything importand or he was simply too weak. A large hand grabbed his throat and kept him pinned down as the Seeker raised himself up, took aim with his large spear and Cain could do nothing but watch as it plunged towards his face.

And suddenly the Seeker was gone.

Cain blinked, startled partly by the sudden disappearance, though mostly because the spear was just about to kill him. Taking a deep breath, his chest ached, his lungs burned and the scars made sure that he remembered they were there.

"Are you alright, Exalted One?" Asked a concerned Daggoth who suddenly appeared above him.

"Yeah, I'm," Cain cleared his throat, "I'm fine. What happened?"

Daggoth shrugged, "We died."

"Oh," Daggoth offered a hand and Cain took it and got back to his feet. His body protested for not being allowed to rest on the floor longer, but even though he was in pain, he didn't feel anything had been damaged. On the plus side, all the anger that had been before the fight was now gone, replaced by exhaustion. Looking around, the holo-room was still shaped like a Seeker hangar, but there were no signs of the battle that they had been in. It was so clean, it almost sparkled. Looking down at himself, he saw that all the Seeker blood that splattered on him was gone as well.

Beats the hell out of fighting against green, yellow and red holograms.

"A most refreshing exercise, if I do say so myself, Exalted One," Daggoth said cheerfully as he removed his helmet, "it was a privilage to train alongside you."

"Likewise. And, umm...could you please stop calling me that?"

"Call you what?" Asked Daggoth, sounding honestly nonplussed.

"Exalted One. Its just...well, I don't mean any disrespect, but its just that my name is Cain and I'd prefer to go by it," he explained, finally saying what he had wanted to when he was first addressed as Exalted One. Daggoth, on the other hand, couldn't have possibly looked more confused.

"But...I am merely addressing you to an appropriate title. You are a Human, Exalted One, a member of a divine race that is the most respected and admired in many cultures, including ours."

There's that damn word again. Divine.

"But that's just it! I'm nobody! I'm just a soldier who's trying to figure out just what the hell is going on! Fighting against an alien invasion, nearly getting killed by my own kind, hearing another alien race telling me that Humans are supposidly this, this demigod race and..." Cain realised he was rambling in a bit of a harsh tone, so he quickly took a deep breath to calm himself, "I...I apologize for being rude, Daggoth," Daggoth looked like he was about to say something but Cain raised a hand to silence him, "It's just that...you know that just recently, a war ended among my kind, yes?"

Daggoth nodded, "Yes, it was mentioned among the information you gaved us, though there was little else said about it."

"Yeah, I guess High Command felt a bit embarrased telling our first contact that we just had a war with ourselves," that, and they didn't want to tell you our military strength in case you attacked, "But tell me Daggoth, if we are as great as you describe us, then why did we just spent several years killing each other? I fought in that war for four years, I saw and did many things, but I saw no signs of any...greatness in us, or some kind of powers that I've been hearing about. Isin't there a chance that you've made a mistake? That we are not who you think we are?"

"No."

The firmness in that word, how convinced Daggoth said it, made Cain speechless for a good few seconds before he found his tongue again, "But...why? How can you be so sure?"

"If you want to, Exalted One, I can tell you of some of the legends that speak of your race. I am no historian, but I shall do my best."

"...tell me everything."

Severel minutes later...

"Wait, wait, wait, let me get this straight," Cain said as he paced back and forth in front of Daggoth, "in every single race out there, they all have stories or legends about a powerful and highly intelligent race that could-"

"What they did and who they were does vary from race to race, Exalted One. Some believe them to have been protectors or guardians, others as teachers or where there was darkness, they came to bring light to it," Daggoth offered, while Cain rubbed his temple as he felt a headache coming.

"Right, right, but...all of them, every single one of them, in all their stories and legends, they refer to this race...as Human?"

"Correct."

Cain blinked, waiting for Daggoth to say more, but when it was apparant there would be none, his headache only increased, "But...that's impossible!"

"How so, Exalted One?"

"It...it just is!" Cain exclaimed as if that would make it true, but quickly realised a better explanation was needed to convince Daggoth. And himself, "I mean...for one thing, Edumea has always been our home and we have never had any reason to believe otherwise, and if Edumea isin't our home, then how did we get there in the first place? Where are the ships that took us there?"

"It is believed that before your true homeworld was destroyd by the Seekers, your powers had reached to the point where you no longer needed vessels of any kind to travel among the stars. And as such, instead of dying with your world, you were scattered across the galaxy. For over thousend of years, we Aurelians have searched the stars for any signs of the Human survivors. Not a single expedition has found any," a smile then slowly formed on Daggoth's face, "...untill now."

Cain just stared at Daggoth, as he was running out of options on how to argue otherwise. So he just closed his eyes and sighed, "Let me guess," he said, not really thinking, "this first homeworld that was destroyed was called Edagior?" Even as he said the name, he honestly couldn't believe he had just said it. The stories about a planet called Edagior and that all humans were from it had been going on for centuries. The stuff was mostly believed by whackos and guys with way too much spare time on their hands.

"Correct."

It took Cain a few seconds for the answer to sink in. And when it did, he looked at Daggoth wide-eyed, "...what?"

"The name of your ancient homeworld. It was Edagior," Daggoth then noticed Cain's expression, "Why do you look so shocked, Exalted One? After all, among the data you sent us we saw that several times in the planet's history, Edagior was mentioned many times,"

"Well, yes, but by...by..." how do you say whackos and nutcases politedly, "..well, its just that a lot of people said we were from Edagior, but no one could actually prove it, so very few people believe it."

"Interesting. Tell me, Exalted One, when did you first hear the name Edagior?"

"I..." Cain used to credit himself that he had a good memory, yet he honestly couldn't remember where he had first heard it, "...I think I just...heard it somewhere. I remember asking my parents what it was when I was a kid," that, he could remember. They had said something it being a name of a place somewhere, but they didn't specify and he hadn't asked more of it.

"Hmm, like I said earlier, Exalted One, I am no historian and if there is anyone that can give you answers about the ancient Humans, then Kelehm would be the right one to go to."

Kelehm...,Cain then remembered his last words with the Aurelian, and was quickly filled with shame and guilt, Oh man, I can't believe I said that! I just got so angry, I..., But it was no excuse and he knew it.

"Is there something of matter, Exalted One? You look...troubled," Daggoth asked, tilting his head in concern, while Cain tried to decide wether he should confess or not.

"Kelehm...what is his status in your culture? His job, or...role?" Cain hesitandly added, unsure for a moment if Daggoth realised what he meant, but judging by the proud smile on his face, he had understood.

"Kelehm Farwaters is a ninth tier Aurelian Garghon, Exalted One. A High Priest of the Old Religion, he is considered by many to be the epitome of nobility, full of wisdom, strength and pride. And, if I may dare say so, even though his support in the Aurelian Senate has somewhat deteriorated for the past few years, many believe he will still be selected as High Senator when Aurelia is admitted into the Galactic Senate."

There were a lot of words in that sentence that Cain didn't fully understand, Garghon being one of them though it propably meant priest as Daggoth had said. But Galactic Senate? It sounded huge and Cain was tempted to ask just what it was, but there had been something else Daggoth had said that caught Cain's attention, "You said that Kelehm's been loosing support in your senate. Do you know why?"

An expression that Cain had never seen appeared on the warrior's face as Daggoth averted his eyes away from Cain. He wasin't sure, but if he had to guess, Daggoth looked either embarrassed or shamed, "It...is a subject I am not proud to tell you about, Exalted One, but for the past few years, senators who are believers of the Old Faith have been slowly dwindling and N'kul support, or Seekers as you know them by, have been on the increase. Why lately, the arrogant charlatans have been making outragous requests and the senate has agreed with most of them. Dark times are approaching our world, Exalted One, people are slowly loosing faith in the Old Religion and nearly ten years have passed since the last Search was sent and," Daggoth noticed Cain's puzzled face, "for as long as we have had hyperdrive technology, Exalted One, we have sent ships to search for Humans, but N'kul influence has been growing at an alarming rate. In fact," this time, Daggoth looked most definantly embarrassed, "this Search was not...fully approved by the Senate."

Wow, Kelehm really believes in us humans...which makes what I said to him even worse.

"I...I just have one question," Cain slowly said, as he could feel the remaining belief that the Aurelians were wrong about his race, was all placed in the question, "You said earlier that for over thousends of years, no one has actually seen a Human, correct?"

"Correct."

"Well then, how can you be so sure that we are who you say we are, when you don't even know what a Human looks like? I mean, for all we know, our ancestors may have stumbled on something that spoke of Humans, and they decided to adopt the name," he knew what he had just said was extremely dangerous. It was quite clear the Aurelians were religiously devoted race, and such talk could easily mean heresy to them.

But Daggoth just smiled.

"Through out time, many artists of all the races have attempted to sculpture the Human form. Many have failed drasticly, true, but there are a handful who suceeded magnificently. But personally, I favor the one at our most ancient temple, Exalted One. I was but a youngling when I saw it, but the image still burns brightly," Daggoth had a far-away look in his eyes and it was clear the Aurelian warrior was feeling homesick. Cain, on the other hand...

Sculpture? What did he mean by..., then realisition hit him, along with the headache in full force, "Statues? There are statues of us?"

"Correct."

Cain opened his mouth but no words came, This...this is just...huge. Unbeliaveble, I...

"Exalted One, if I may ask," said Daggoth as he slowly walked up to Cain, "of all the things I have said about your race, you appear to have tried to point out specfic parts in the effort to convince me that you are not the Human race we have searched for so long. Why is that?"

"Because," replied Cain, looking down at the floor instead of up at Daggoth, "if we are so powerful, then why...why couldn't we stop them?" as he said those words he closed his eyes, and the image of Edumea dying burned so brightly, he felt tears slowly run down his cheeks. An understanding flickered in Daggoth's eyes as he placed his hand on Cain's shoulder.

...strange. I've noticed they do that a lot. I wonder if this gesture means the same to them as it does to us, or berhaps it goes even deeper? And I've just noticed now that instead of squirming when touched, like I used to do since physical contact is something I'm just not used to now, I now find this to be oddly...comforting.

Severel minutes later...

Cain took a deep breath before walking through the watery door. Opening his eyes, he saw to his relief that Gideon was not in the room and Kelehm was alone, standing in front of the big window. His heart beating hard due to nervousness, Cain started walking towards Kelehm. As he came closer, Kelehm turned around and bowed his head in respect, "How can I be of assistance, Exalted One?"

For unexplainable reason, Kelehm calling him now Exalted One instead of his name hurt him more then it irritated him. Out of reflex, Cain stood at attention, eyes starring straight forward, "Sir, I came here to apologize for my words and inappropriate behavior earlier. I had no right to-"

"Exalted One-" Kelehm said as he walked up to Cain, looking mildly surprised, but Cain ignored him and continued talking.

"-to react in such a disrespectfull manner and I can only give you my deepest apology and-"

"Cain," Kelehm said softly as he placed both hands on Cain's shoulders. That made him shut up and he slowly looked up at the Aurelian priest, "you had every right to say that, and more."

"But-"

"If there is anyone that needs to apologize, it is me. I was rather over-eager when you and Gideon came to me, and due my eagerness, words were said that could have been properly explained, or prevented to sound like the tragic loss of your home was trivial."

Cain saw that Kelehm had more then earned his status as a priest, as the apology-speech he had been making and rehearsing inside his head for the past twenty minutes was pretty much out the window now, but there was one part of it that he just needed to say, "I can't hate you," he blurted out, "I wanted to. To blame you for what happened to Edumea, but...I can't. Because...because you are not truly to blame for it."

Kelehm's eyes seemed to brighten slightly at hearing at, "I am relieved to hear that Cain, and to have made sure that there are no muddy waters between us."

Muddy waters? Oh, wait, he must mean bad blood.

"Likewise, sir, but I also came here to ask you something."

"Yes?"

"Well, I've been...asking around a bit, and I heard that it is believed that when their...ourhomeworld, Edagior, was destroyd, Humanity was scattered. Is that true?"

"That has always been our belief, yes."

"So there is a chance that somewhere out there, there are still Humans?" Cain asked, trying not to look as hopefull as he felt.

For a moment, Kelehm slightly hesitated before answering, "As I said, that is our belief, but we have also had a long suspicion of the N'kul slowly destroying the last remnants of your race for a very long time. A suspicion that has only now been proven true, which would mean several, if not hundreds of worlds have perished like your Edumea."

...hundreds...

Some would have been too shocked to say anything, but to Cain, it only strengthen him to ask Kelehm, "Sir, I also came here to ask you if...if you could teach me how to...harness or access this power we are suppose to have. To show me why the N'kul are doing this to us."

Kelehm blinked, and as his hands slowly left his shoulders, Cain feared the priest would say no. But instead, "So you can use it as a weapon?"

There was no accusation in his tone or harshness, only curiosity with a hint of sadness. Cain took a deep breath before answering, "To say that hasn't occured to me, I would be lying. Yes, I want to use this power to attack the Seekers, to hurt them as they have hurt me. But I have seen what happens to people who get consumed by their own hatred, their thirst for revenge, and I have no intentions to end up like that. I also realise that there is no way I can guarantee what I've just said, so all I can do is to give you my word that I will try and not allow hatred or revenge to control me."

Kelehm looked into Cain's eyes for good few seconds before responding, "You speak with wisdom that is beyond your age, young Cain," then he smiled, "It will be a privilage to teach you and Gideon your noble birthright."

Hearing Kelehm say that brought a surprisingly amount of immense relief inside him, and Cain bowed his head, "Thank you, sir, I'll try my best."

"I know you will, Cain."

"When can we start?"

"Gideon left less then an hour ago, he said he intented to go to their ship to see if its scanners had picked up any transmissions," even though he hid it well, Kelehm had little hope that they did, "We can begin when both of you are ready."

"I'll go see him then," Cain bowed his head again, turned and walked towards the exit, feeling like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. There was still a great heavy chunk left inside him, and he doubted it would ever leave. But at least now it had become a bit more...bearable.