The following morning, in the lobby of the Langeni Hotel, Relovan and Nura met up. The Enforcer and the Chief both had an early night after discussing the events of the afternoon and eating dinner. They were both dressed in their ceremonial uniforms, which had all the badges. Relovan’s was very bare, while Nura’s had almost run out of space for his. As the two stepped outside, the Marshals returned, along with a really impressive motorcade. Lights were flashing and there were more Marshals than Relovan cared to count.

“Good morning, gentlemen.” One of them greeted as it opened the back door of one of the vehicles.

Nura and Relovan nodded their greetings as they hopped into the back of the car, and a minute or so later, the convoy was on the move.

“So Lawman, are you nervous?” Nura asked.

“Do I have reason to be nervous, Chief?”

“Well, you are about to face the leaders of the Coalition after all, and the chances of coming face to face with Void Lord Vox are high as well.”

“I still don’t see any reason to be nervous, Chief. What is the Void Lord going to do? Also, I have don’t nothing to warrant being nervous in front of the Council. If anything, they should thank me for defending and honouring them.”

Relovan was in a bullish mood as he scoffed, and the Adonian Police Chief couldn’t help but snigger at the confidence of this Human.

“You’re something else, Lawman.” Nura said with a chuckle.

“Have you heard anything from the Princess? I assume they missed their flight out.”

“Yeah, they most certainly did. But Carolina said they got back to their hotel safely, and Mkhaba is in a police hospital, recovering from his injuries. You really did a number on that one.”

“…yeah, he deserved it. But like I said yesterday, that attack, it felt… different.”

“Of course it did, Lawman… you’ve just been operating on instinct for so long, it took that much of an Essence Augmentation for you to realise that you have Essence. But we will save that discussion for after the Hearing – right now, you are to focus on the business of the day.”

“Understood, Sir.”

“…oh, and Carolina said she’ll send through the bill for the Princess’ clothes that you ruined.”

“Ruined?! They only made the Princess wear that shit in order to have a convenient excuse for raising the number of handmaidens! How was she supposed to move with all that crap hanging off of her?”

“You still ripped it to shreds, didn’t you?”

“Well… yeah.”

“So, Dragon Lady is sending the bill.”

“Hmph. You’d think her Princess’ life was expensive enough to settle whatever bill that lady could come up with.”

“Hear hear.” Nura said with a smirk.

The drive over to Union House was noisy, but they arrived in good time. The policemen exited the car and walked into the massive building, flanked and led by Marshals the whole way. As they approached the Council Chambers, the group stopped and one of the Marshals signaled for Relovan to follow.

“This is where we go our separate ways, Lawman. Seeing as we will be delivering separate testimonies, they’re splitting us up here. I’ll see inside.”

“Understood.” Relovan said with a nod, before walking off with the Marshals.

The Enforcer was led to a room, where he was allowed to gather himself and collect his thoughts while enjoying a selection of beverages. Due to him being law enforcement, Relovan had been permitted to enter Union House without giving up his weapons, however nobody was allowed to enter the Chambers with a weapon of any kind, so he had to place his pistol in a locker there. Nura had found and retrieved the energy blaster for Relovan after the whole Dome thing happened. Relovan sat and waited in complete silence, until Marshals appeared to escort him to the Council Chambers. Relovan walked down a long corridor, flanked on either side by Marshals, and didn’t appear to be the least bit daunted. This Human Enforcer, was on the verge of walking into a room which had beings with the highest authority in the Coalition, and he strode forward like it was just another day. His ceremonial cape did its thing behind him as he powered towards the entrance, and when they all reached it, the Marshals stepped in front of him and pushed the large doors open. The moment they were opened completely, Relovan was suddenly hit by something. Whatever this thing was, is was hot, it was cold, it was windy, it was loud, it was heavy – it was everything, and the Enforcer found himself coming close to taking a step back. In fact, he did take a step back and upon realising that he had done that, Relovan, who had broken into a cold sweat, gritted his teeth, clenched his fists and almost roared as he forced himself to take a single step forward. The moment he took the stop though, whatever it was he was being hit with immediately disappeared, and he was able to see clearly into the Chamber.

Within the Chamber, there were a number of booths that were placed all around the room in a semi-circular motion. Each booth had a small gate, and beyond each gate was an empty chasm – to which the bottom could not be seen. The space above the chasm was also empty, as if there was the suggestion that something could or would go there. The Marshals gestured for Relovan to follow them, which he did, and they led him down yet another path, only this one was linked to one of the booths. As he proceeded down the path, Void Lords Vox and Juxtae were led down paths on either side of the Enforcer, and Chief Nura was also being led to a booth a few paths down from the trio. They all walked as if they couldn’t see each other, and even after they stepped into their respective booths, they continued to act as though that was the case. As it turned out, it was the case, and as they continued to wait in silence, a person teleported in to the centre of the room. The person, who was hovering in the air, was dressed in some rather loose-fitting robes, and wore a mask that had four faces on it – one face on each side of their head. The face that was on the… face, had a plain, neutral expression, and looked to be the default.

“Good morning to you all, I am the Adjudicator, and would like to welcome you to these proceedings. The Council members assigned to this Commission shall be here momentarily, however I wanted to introduce myself as I shall be acting as the Evidence Leader.”

Relovan simply nodded his greeting, which was reciprocated by the Adjudicator. Five brightly glowing orbs then appeared in the air above the empty space behind the Adjudicator. Massive chairs – thrones even – suddenly appeared, and five cloaked and hooded beings all sat on said thrones. The thrones and figures were enshrouded by glowing Essence, which differed in both colour and texture from throne to throne.

“Council members Tiya, Tameria, Aberson, Zexis and Ya’Guul.” The Adjudicator announced, as the largest gavel Relovan had ever seen appeared in his left hand.

It looked more akin to a Warhammer than a gavel, and it screamed of being unnecessarily heavy. The Enforcer watched as the visage of the Council members became clearer, and before long, each of their eyes started glowing clearly. Relovan could feel their gazes on his skin, and despite his sense being used in its passive capacity, he couldn’t tell whether the looks were dangerous or not. They all continued to stare at him, before the voice of one of the Council members echoed through the Chamber.

“Shall we get the proceedings underway, then?”

One by one, the other four agreed, and only after they had all vocalised said agreement, did the Adjudicator nod and tap the gavel on where the floor would have been if there was one. Instead, it made contact with a solid, crystalline Essence formation that only appeared when the gavel was tapped.

“I hereby declare today’s session of the Hearing open.”

As soon as that happened, whatever it was that had been cloaking the presence of the others was disabled, and Relovan could see both Void Lords either side of him, as well as Nura near the corner. The moment that he saw the Void Lords, he looked directly them and nodded his head.

“Void Lords.” He greeted, starting with Juxtae.

“Enforcer.” Juxtae responded, bowing her own head ever so slightly.

Vox didn’t even acknowledge Relovan’s existence, which only served to make the Enforcer shrug and face the Adjudicator. The Council members all exchanged looks before the one in the centre nodded and looked at the one with the gavel.

“The Council calls upon Enforcer Relovan – please approach the stand.”

The Adjudicator tapped the gavel on the crystal once more, and a podium rose up from a split in the floor. A gate in the booth also opened, and as it did, Earth Essence in the shape of rocks and boulders rose up from somewhere within the chasm, and began to form a bridge between Relovan’s booth and the stand. The Enforcer didn’t even wait for construction of the bridge to complete, and he strode forward confidently. The cape flapped about behind him as he did, and as if it was preplanned, Relovan caught up to and walked in time with the bridge, right up until they both reached the stand. He then stepped right up to said stand, stood at attention and emphatically saluted the members of the Council that hovered above him. He felt their gazes on him once again as they stared at him in quietly. This lasted for quite a bit longer than either the Council, or the Adjudicator anticipated, however when they realised why things were the way they were, one of them spoke to Relovan.

“At ease, Enforcer.”

Relovan nodded and did indeed stand at ease. He then stood with his feet shoulder width apart, and his arms behind his back.

“So… you are indeed the Human Police Enforcer we have heard so much about, are you?”

“Yes, Council member.”

“I see… well, let us not waste any time and review the video footage.”

“Very well.” The Adjudicator said before looking at Relovan. “We will play the footage, and at any point while watching it, a Council member will have the footage paused, and ask you questions. Answer the questions to the best of your ability, Enforcer.”

“Yes, Adjudicator.”

“Then, let us begin.”

A very large, holographic screen then appeared and without delay, the footage began to play. Relovan couldn’t help but feel a little taken aback, as it showed pretty much everything that happened from the moment Relovan, Captain Biggum and the rest arrived at the Station. Only, it followed Relovan, his actions and what happened to him, all with multiple camera angles, zoom levels, and more. The Enforcer was aware that there was surveillance, but not to that extent. The cameras had even captured what he said, and at random points, one Council member or another would indeed have the footage paused in order to ask about his motivations behind certain actions, if he would have done anything differently, and other such questions. Once they got to the end of the footage, Relovan was actually able to see how the Chief landed in front of him right as things went south, and shielded him from taking any further damage. He quickly shot Nura a glance which the Adonian understood, despite how brief it was.

“Enforcer.” One of the Council members called as their visage grew in size. “This is Councilman Ya’Guul – I have something to ask.”

“Councilman.” Relovan said with a nod, before facing him.

“Do you not find fault with the way that you handled things with Void Lords Vox and Juxtae?”

“In what way, Councilman?”

“In every way, Enforcer. These two are beings far beyond your understanding, and even your station.”

“While the Void Lords are above my station, they are neither above my understanding nor the laws created especially for them.”

“Can you even comprehend the reason for the position of Void Lord having been created, Enforcer?”

“Void Lords are agents of the Council, are they not? Beings of immense power and ability, who are beholden to the Council, they are given territories and Planets in the far reaches of Coalition Territory. Authority, power, the ability to act on behalf of the Council, these beings have a near limitless amount of power within the Coalition, and are subject to laws vastly different to those the rest of us have to follow.” Relovan stated, as if reading a brochure.

“Hmph, so you know this much, yet still have the gall to try and have Void Lords Vox Juxtae sanctioned for what happened? Preposterous.”

“Yes I do, because regardless of their virtual omnipotence within the Coalition, they are still governed by rules and regulations – which not only they, but their subordinates broke as well. Line six, paragraph twenty-three of the Chapter ‘Laws of the Void and Void Lords’ in the Constitution clearly states—”

“Oh stop being so naïve, Enforcer!” Ya’Guul sneered as he interrupted Relovan. “Those rules – all of them – are simply there to appease those members of the populace who feel the Void Lords wield too much power and are unchecked. They are barely worth the script they are written on; you whelp. What happened to you and your people on that insignificant spec of a planet does not have the gravitas to make us act in earnest.”

“Councilman!” The Adjudicator scolded as he tapped his gavel.

“Silence, Tenzo! I’m just stating what we all already know. This blasted Hearing has gone on for long enough, and wasted enough of our time!”

The other Council members remained silent during the exchange between the Enforcer, the Adjudicator and the Councilman, and after those three stopped speaking, the silence prevailed. Vox was clearly smirking as he watched the proceedings unfold, and he even sniggered, as if he himself wasn’t the cause of everything. Everybody within the chamber suddenly became aware of one thing – the change in the atmosphere of the room. Everybody saw the air around the Enforcer change and become thicker, as his clenched fists shook behind his back. His jaw was also clenched, and his glaring and damn near glowing eyes, were fixed squarely on Councilman Ya’Guul.

“…as a member of the police and an Enforcer of the Law, I have sworn to not only protect the laws written within the Constitution, but also uphold and enforce them. Anybody who refuses to follow them or breaks them is a Constitutional Delinquent, and it is my duty to ensure that they are brought to justice! I care not if it is a bum on the street, a Void Lord, or even a Councilman, if you break our laws, I WILL arrest you, and throw you in jail!”

Relovan, who was shaking during his rant, looked as though he was about to attack Ya’Guul, who just looked down at the Enforcer. The sound of laughter then began to echo in the chamber, and Ya’Guul, who was clearly amused by what Relovan had just said, even ended up slapping his knee.

“Da-Xa’s tits, who do you think you are, Human? You fragile little thing, you certainly are bold – thinking that you are even the slightest bit qualified to not only address me like that, but even call me a delinquent and threaten to bring me to justice! I could eviscerate you with a mere thought, yet you think you can arrest me?! Council members and Void Lords live in a different stratosphere to a pathetic, transient little being such as you, Enforcer. You can’t do a thing to us.”

“This isn’t an issue of can or cannot, Councilman… duty has no grey area. I must do what I must do.”

Relovan said this as he took a few deep breaths and regained control not only of his composure, but his body as well, unclenching everything and looking at the Councilman with calm, dull eyes.

“Adjudicator, I request that we play the last surveillance clip again, and skip to 3:26.”

“May I ask why, Enforcer?”

“The Councilman mentioned something that I feel will be clarified if we play the clip.”

“Are we going to allow this thing to lead these proceedings now, hmmm?” Ya’Guul practically spat.

“I’ll allow it.” One of the Council members chimed in, with the other three following suit.

“Very well.” The Adjudicator said with a nod, before completing Relovan's request.

The video that was shown on the holographic screen was that of Relovan speaking directly to Void Lord Vox.

“Don’t think for even a second that I care about the Council and it’s laws. I only follow and answer to the voice of Da-Xa, and He tells me to do whatever it is I want, whenever I want to do it. Right now, what I want to do is crush this Void Lord and her two worms.”

Relovan then raised his hand as he nodded at the Adjudicator, who then paused the video. The Enforcer then looked directly at the Councilman’s visage and spoke.

“Councilman, you did hear what the Void Lord said, did you not?”

“Of course I did – what of it?”

“He openly declared that he cared neither for the Council, nor its laws. I may be wrong, but that declaration and flagrant disregard for the Council and those very laws that give him the position and authority of a Void Lord… would that not constitute him willingly giving up the powers and privileges granted to him by very same Council and laws?”

There was no answer as Relovan simply looked at the other Council members before continuing to speak.

“If the Void Lord has indeed severed his ties with the Council by making that declaration and thus relinquished his status as a Void Lord, would that not mean Vox is to face whatever consequences that may come his way as a regular member of society? Because he said this while the skirmish was still an ongoing thing, and—”

“Silence, Human!” Void Lord Vox boomed from his booth as flames burst out from both his eyes and his mouth. “How dare you?! I relinquished nothing! I heed the voice of Da-Xa, and you are not qualified to even breathe the same air as me, you—”

“VOX!” Ya’Guul roared, but it didn’t help.

The Void Lord went on a tirade, threatening to end the Enforcer right then and there, and it took a lot more persuasion from the Councilman and some encroaching from more than a few Marshals for the giant Void Lord to finally end his rant. The flames continued to pulse from his eyes even after quieting down, and Relovan, who had just looked at the Void Lord in silence the entire time, turned to face the Council and Adjudicator again.

“Can somebody who is no longer a Void Lord really threaten an Officer of the Law like that, in Union House, in front of the Council within its Chamber and receive no punishment at all?”

“What was that?!” Vox bellowed.

“ENOUGH!” Ya’Guul himself roared as he looked towards Vox.

“Enforcer Relovan.” A Council member towards the far left said. “I am Councilwoman Tameria.”

“Councilwoman.” Relovan greeted with a slight nod.

“I just have a single question for you – what would you have us do?”

“I don’t think I am qualified to answer that question, Councilwoman. I was summoned here to give my testimony and answer questions on said testimony – nothing more. Please, do what you—”

“Pardon the interruption, but as his superior and his Police Chief, I feel like I actually am qualified to answer the question.” Nura said as he raised his hand from within his booth.

“Chief Nura.” The Adjudicator said as it looked towards the Adonian.

“May I answer in your stead, Lawman?”

“Absolutely, Sir.”

“I’ll allow it.” Tameria nodded.

“Quite simply, I believe a number of things must be done by you, Council members. First of all, I would like to state my intention of having Enforcer Relovan take part in the test to become a member of the A.A.A.”

“The… Admiral’s Autonomous Assembly?” One of the Council members remarked.

“The one and only, Councilman Tiya.” Nura said with a nod.

“…and when would you have him take part in the examination, Acting Chief?”

“In a little over a year from now, Councilwoman.”

“How convenient!” Tiya snorted.

“That does come across as convenient, Acting Chief – especially considering how your own… situation, will reach its own conclusion in a little over a year from now.”

“It isn’t really a coincidental thing, as I would have him join my unit should he pass the test. The outcome would be by design, not coincidence.”

“Very well… and what else would you have us do?”

“Promote and commend the shit out of that man.” Nura stated bullishly. “I’m talking medals, street names, statues alongside those of the First Council, billboards—”

“Acting Chief!” The Adjudicator interrupted with a sigh, which resulted in the Chief stopping and chuckling a tad.

“I may have gone overboard there, but this man is overqualified for the rank he currently holds. Even if we overlook what happened at Blargon 5, I’m sure you all have already heard about what happened just yesterday, with Princess Nkanyezi and the attempt at kidnapping her.”

“…we have.” Another Council member confirmed.

“I’m not sure if you all are going to get the chance to look at the footage, but the Lawman here protected the Princess impeccably, and apprehended the one behind the entire thing. This man is overqualified, and he needs to be promoted.”

“Alright, Acting Chief. What else?”

“Finally, and most importantly, I request in the strongest terms that a restraining order of some kind be placed on Void Lord Vox, preventing him from coming near the Enforcer. That man is a gem, and if molded and shaped properly, he could become one of the most important figures within the Coalition. We cannot afford to have his life and his light snuffed out by the whim of a powerful yet volatile being. Even based on what we witnessed not five minutes ago, I am absolutely certain that the Enforcer’s life is in danger, and that the moment this Commission has completed its work and made its ruling, the Void Lord will end Lawman’s existence before we even leave Gaia. I don’t how to properly articulate just how strongly I feel about this stipulation, but I would even be willing to initiate Protocol A-F4 if that’s what it would take for you all to at least consider this.”

The Chamber fell silent once again, and the Council members all spent an uncomfortable amount of time looking at Relovan. In fact, he could feel their gazes piercing his flesh and attempting to invade or at least, catch a glimpse of his soul – and he was powerless to stop them. They weren’t even there in person, yet their power was nigh on unfathomable to Relovan. It felt as though he was being scryed for entirely too long, however once he felt the prodding gazes leave him, the Enforcer breathed a very animated sigh of relief.

“Adjudicator – we shall adjourn to deliberate on this matter. Nobody is to leave.”

“Understood, Councilwoman.” The adjudicator said with a bow, before tapping the gavel again and facing those in the Chamber. “You heard the Councilwoman; we will be taking a break. Please, make your way to your waiting rooms – you shall be called upon once the proceedings resume.”

And with that, everybody was dismissed and they were all led back to the waiting rooms by the Marshals that had escorted them to the Chamber in the first place. Relovan, who was sitting silently, suddenly heard a knock on the door to his room, and it wasn’t long before Chief Nura sneaked in.

“Yo, Lawman!” He greeted as he raised his hand.

“Chief? What are you doing here? Is this even allowed?”

“Quiet Lawman, I’m already here, so those questions are all pointless. Anyway, how did it feel to be in the Chamber, faced with and surrounded by all those monsters?”

“Honestly… it was a little daunting – I’d be lying if I said otherwise.”

“I bet… and with Vox’s rant and everything, it must have been a bit of a shock.”

“Hmph, that one is not even a cause for concern – it’s that Councilman Ya’Guul. It’s almost as if he’s in the Void Lord’s corner.”

“It’s not like that, that’s how it is. They’re from the same planet, after all.”

“That makes sense… but Chief Nura, I feel as though there is some stuff I need to be filled in on.”

“I agree Lawman; however, I will have to keep it brief. I’m sure you’ve heard by now that I am only an Acting Police Chief. Some things happened, and I was demoted and sent to some backwater planet in the furthest recesses of Coalition Territory. I decided to keep my head down, do my job and just wait for the punishment period to come to an end.”

“So you will be promoted back to your original rank of Admiral, I assume?”

“My rank was far higher than that, Lawman – I’ll just be clawing my way back to the top step by step.

“…and you intend to take me with you?”

“…something like that. But first, we need to win this shit and have those old bastards grant the protection order or whatever the fuck it is, and then we can work on having become less squishy than you currently are.”

“How will we do that?”

“You will partake in a series of events that will increase your power – physical and societal – starting with an Adonian ceremony that takes place when our young come of age. But I will explain that more once—”

A knock on the door cut short the Chief’s and Enforcer’s conversation, and this time, a Marshal popped its head in.

“Enforcer, Acting Chief, the Hearing has reconvened and is ready to pass down their verdict.”

“So quickly?!” Nura bellowed in shock as he stood up. “Gotta go – I’m not supposed to be in here!”

The Adonian ran out of the room, and Relovan just sighed and stood up.

“Of course you weren’t, Chief.” He said more to himself as he walked to the door that led to the Chamber.

The Marshals appeared once more, and they all made their way to the Council Chamber, where the Council was already waiting. Things appeared to be a little tense between in the room, and after everybody had settled in, the Adjudicator tapped his gavel and spoke.

“Now that everybody is back, I would like to call upon Councilwoman Tameria to hand down the judgement of the Council.”

The Councilwoman’s visage hovered forward and even grew larger in size before she spoke.

“We, as the Council members appointed to this Z0-ND-0 Commission have come to a majority decision. Void Lords Juxtae and Vox, we have ruled that you two shall be placed under Planetary Confinement for a period of twelve Numarian cycles.”

Nura immediately looked at Relovan and mouthed the words ‘six months’ at him, to which the Enforcer mouthed back ‘I know’.

“You will both also make financial contributions to Blargon 5’s First Planet, to replenish their funds as they have repaired the mess that you and your Knights made. This is becoming a major nuisance, Void Lords. You two continue to get into these increasingly frustrating quarrels that result in these Commissions that not only take time, but also money, and we are quickly running out of patience. Void Lord Vox, starting a fight every time Void Lord Juxtae rejects your advances is unbecoming of a being of your station, and it has gotten to the point where even the Emperor has informed us that we are to send you both to him immediately after this.”

Vox simply scoffed and looked off to his right, displaying quite the attitude. Juxtae on the other hand nodded her head in acknowledgment.

“Void Lord Vox, it has also been decided that a special order will indeed be placed on you. You are hereby barred from coming into any sort of contact with Enforcer Relovan, be it physical, via Communicator, or any other method. You are to keep your distance from the Enforcer, and if you are found to be on the same planet as him, then you have breached the order and will be dealt with accordingly. That said, while you are prohibited from starting anything with the Enforcer, you are well within your rights to defend yourself should he attack you first If he does come at you, then you are permitted to handle the situation as you please.”

Vox, who had been doing his best not to simply explode and lose his mind over the ruling, suddenly calmed down when the Councilwoman added the bit about retaliation. It even appeared as though he grinned a bit, before putting on his poker face and just staring at Tameria.

“And finally, Enforcer Relovan, for your actions both on Blargon 5, and within our very own city, you are to receive a special Commendation as well as a promotion. The details of both will be communicated to you in the coming days, so we request that you remain on Gaia for the time being. You will also be scheduled to take part in the Triple A Selection Test, however even with the promotion you will receive, you will likely still be underqualified. It will be up to you to see to it that you are able to take part in the test.”

Relovan waited until for the Councilwoman to finish speaking, before saluting her and holding the salute. She nodded at him and her visage went back to its normal size, and wafted back to join the others. Void Lord Vox looked like he was about to spit, but kept his urge in check. The Adjudicator then looked at the Council members for a few seconds, before facing the others and tapping the gavel down on the strange formation emphatically, shattering the crystalline substance into many shards that fell down into the chasm below.

“With this, I hereby declare this Commission over. You may all leave the Chamber.”

With those words, the Hearing was brought to an end, and the Marshals escorted everybody out of the Chamber and eventually, into the lobby, where they disappeared. The Void Emperor’s Personal Knights known as the Regulators were waiting in said lobby, along with both Juxtae’s and Vox’ Personal Knights, before they surrounded the Void Lords. Before any greetings could be exchanged, the Void Lords and Knights were all teleported out of Union House by the Emperor’s Knights, and they left the Enforcer and the Chief standing alone in the lobby. Nura, who was barely able to contain his pleasure with the verdict grinned at Relovan and gestured with his head for the Enforcer to follow him.

“I take it by the look on your face that things went well, Chief.”

“Better than expected, Lawman. The fact that those old bastards even approved my request and granted the order is a victory that I cannot quite emphasise the seriousness of.”

The Chief said this as they strode through the open doors of Union House, and looked down at the street and city at the bottom of the steps. The Chief then looked at Relovan and grinned once again as a convenient gust of wind blew and caused both of their ceremonial capes to flutter.

“Come on, Lawman – we’ve got work to do.” Nura said as he made his way down the steps.

END.

“Understood, Sir.” Relovan nodded as he tipped his cap slightly and followed after the Chief.