It was a ceramony long rehearsed and prepared for. In front of most of the Azguard sector's population, watching at home from the holonet, Regrad took off the mantel of leadership, placed it ceramoniously within its' chest, and bowed to the assembled crowd.

He was stepping down as Lord of the Azguard Sector, for his term was up. To retake that mantel again, he would have to win the upcoming election. Now was the time where the candidates would be made known to the people who would later vote. After this, cross-planet campaigning would begin, followed by a debate, followed by another period of campaigning, and then the final vote.

Behind him sat six beings, each one representing a primal force of nature: Light, Dark, Fire, Water, Earth and Air. The last four each had an Azguard standing before them. These were other leadership-hopefuls, chosen by their tribes, to run against Regrad.

All of them, including Regrad, stepped forwards to their podiums and faced the crowd. Nearby, a droid-commentator lifted a microphone.

"These are the five Azguard candidates for the position of High Lord. Regrad, son of the Light tribe. Renzoukan, daughter of the Fire tribe. Ioa, son of the Water tribe. Kree, daughter of the Wind tribe, and Moro, son of the Earth tribe. Each has agreed to be bound to the laws of Azguard and to seek the leadership of Azguard by following the rules of Democracy.

"We now wait for the none-Azguard candidates to present themselves..."

Billions of pairs of eyes swivelld to the side of the stage.

Hilter Afdol stepped onto the stage, in casual dress attire, a large smile lighting up his vibrant face. He wasn't extremely tall, nor was he a midget; he was about 6'2 and had a somewhat stocky figure. His light brown hair was short and well kept, and he walked toward center stage, an air of condifence accompanying his charming smile.

He walked across the stage, and over to his position, waiting for the announcer to say his name and introduce him to the Azguardian people.

Kyric Zen, stood behind the taller man, in the shadows. At his sides accompanied several Dhrazi Dameun and a few Farfalen agents. He was under careful watch by his men, as he was quite vulnerable outside his own protected space. He humbly waited for the announcer to boom his name.

The droid looked at the first and second men to step forth, and spoke his name.

"Hitler Afdol, the famed Dejarik champion turned coroporate commander. Human.

"Kyric Zen, famous war-general and active commander of Farfalen."

Jyanus, a member of the galaxies largest Anti-Force movement, stood quietly in the background. His metallic hand opened and closed, a symbolic respresentation of his nervousness. He hated politics, but his mission was a nesscessary one, and Azguard was a nation caught in so many of the problems his unions fought against. He had to bring justice to Azguard and to the coalition, or it would be destroyed from within.

"Jyanus, the..."

The droid blinked.

"Um... You know..."

He proceeded to whisper to Jynaus "Anything else I can say?"

He looked at the droid.

"Jyanus, the righteous subjugater."

He shook his head, but he stood, bowing to the assembeled crowd.

A black hover-limo appeared in the double-doors into the gigantic hall. It slowly floated down the aisle, much to the excitement of those watching from their homes and those few actually in the building. Barry Moleman, the newest canidate in the Azguardian election, waved to the HoloNet cams, to the people he imagined were screaming his name.

The hover-limo came to a hault right before the stage, and the driver hopped out. He dashed to the back and opened the door for Barry, who nodded and flashed one of the smiles that had made him famous. Tonight was his night, he thought, whether it really was or not. This was all just publicity to him.

Flashing another charismatic grin to the billions of people watching, he nearly skipped up the steps, waving furiously the entire time. His entire body dissapeared behind the podium for a second before his head, shoulders, and upper torso popped up, his specially-requested stool giving him the appearance of a regular sized man.

A couple of grins to his fellow competitors who were either rocking in silent laughter, staring at him, or merely shaking their heads, and then his attention was back to the cameras.

The droid waited patiently until the man was quite finished, then said

"Barry Moleman, famous actor, ...human..."

An air taxi pulled up right behind the limo and out came a rather ordinarily dressed man with wavy brown hair. He appeared almost shy as the flashes burst forth from the throng's antiquated image capture equipment.

He briskly strolled up the carpet, his foot catching the bottom step causing him to very nearly stumble. He quickly caught himself and, upon reaching the top, went straight over to the announcer.

"Adrian Atreides" he whispered.

"Adrian Ahades?" the announcer confirmed, whispering back.

"No, Adrian Atreides" he corrected quickly.

"Noadrian Ahades?"

"Adrian Atreides" he confirmed, biting his lip.

The announcer sighed to himself as if this candidate was off his rocker.

"ADRIAN AHADES!" he bellowed much to Adrian's dismay.


The announcer turned to him and poked his flesh with his claw. Adrian let out a yelp and the announcer turned back to the audience.

"HUMAN!"


The audience applauded.