The station's main auditorium was less a room and more an arena. The dark metal walls absorbed the light, and the cold air seemed to carry the weight of expectations. Zugiy entered with his group, and the first thing he noticed wasn't the architecture, but the presence on the other side of the room. Six non-human beings, each a silhouette of contained power, watched the newcomers with a predatory stillness.
The human recruits gathered on the opposite side, a tense mirror of the scene. No words were exchanged, but the abyss between the two groups was palpable.
At the center of the stage, one figure made everything else irrelevant.
He was made of stone, in the most literal sense of the word. Gray skin, rough like granite, and bright green eyes that looked like fissures into a core of energy. A colossal blade, far too large to be practical, was strapped to his back, and his belt was an arsenal of unknown technology. He wasn't standing still. He was waiting. And there was a fundamental difference.
"This is Grux," announced Instructor Kira, her voice firm, but stripped of the authority it usually carried. "Your new advanced combat instructor. One of the best in the galaxy. Listen to what he has to say."
Grux stepped forward, and the sound of his feet against the metal was like rocks settling. When he spoke, his voice was a slow avalanche.
"I don't care where you came from. I don't care about your species, your legends. What I care about is a single question." He swept the auditorium with those incandescent green eyes. "Can you fight? Can you survive when everything around you falls apart? If the answer is yes… prove it."
Beside Zugiy, Victor let out a low scoff, a sound heavy with disdain. It was almost inaudible, but in the silence of that room, it was like a shout.
Grux's head turned slowly, a movement of pure mass and intent, locking onto Victor.
"You. The loud human. Do you have something to say?"
Instead of shrinking back, Victor lifted his chin. "Only that I don't usually prove anything to someone I didn't choose as my master."
The room collectively held its breath. The air grew thin.
Grux tilted his head, a curious, almost academic gesture. A slow smile—one that looked painful—cracked across his stone face, revealing teeth like shards of obsidian. "I like the arrogant ones. Their fall is always more… satisfying."
Melissa jabbed Victor's arm, a firm and far-from-gentle warning. "Shut it, idiot," she hissed, without taking her eyes off the stage.
Victor didn't respond, but the defiance in his posture lessened just a fraction.
"Introductions," Grux growled, turning to the aliens. "You first. And for the humans… pay attention. This is not entertainment. This is a glimpse of what can kill you."
One by one, they stepped forward. The first, a green-skinned being with four arms, wove a weapon between its hands, creating spheres of plasma that exploded with surgical precision, leaving smoking craters in the reinforced floor. The second, a towering mass of chitinous armor, crushed metal blocks as if they were made of foam. The others demonstrated superhuman speed, camouflage, swarm tactics… each presentation was a lesson in lethality.
On the human side, no one dared to blink.
When the last alien returned to their place, Grux turned to them. "Humans. Who has the courage to go first?"
Without hesitation, Ling stepped forward. "Ling. Specialist in combat tactics and long-range weaponry."
He didn't wait for an order. He drew a lightweight weapon and executed a sequence of shots at holographic targets that appeared in the air. Every shot was clean and precise, hitting critical points with a level of efficiency that bordered on perfection. No waste, no hesitation. Then he drew a sword and sliced through two training dummies.
Grux watched, impassive. "Adequate. Next."
Melissa stepped forward with a stride that claimed the stage as her own. "Melissa. Close combat and solid matter manipulation."
She didn't elaborate. She crouched, placed her palm on the metal floor, and it twisted beneath her touch. Pillars of metal erupted around her, sharp as spears. She moved among them in a dance of violence and precision, shattering one pillar with a kick, another with a punch, displaying a strength that didn't match her frame.
Grux nodded. Once. "Good."
Victor was the last before Zugiy, stepping forward with a smirk. "Victor. I'm good at everything."
Grux's silence was heavier than any reply.
Victor began his demonstration, and it was undeniable that he had skill. Flames danced in his hands, jets of fire controlled with impressive fluidity. He was fast, strong, a natural fighter. But there was arrogance in every movement, an unnecessary flourish, a performance for an audience that didn't exist.
"Skill that does not impress me," Grux said when he finished, his voice sharp. "But an attitude like that will kill you faster than any enemy."
"Or make me win faster," Victor shot back, his smile unchanged.
Grux's jaw snapped shut with an audible crack. His green eyes shifted, passing over Victor as if he no longer existed, and settled on Zugiy.
"You. The quiet one."
Zugiy was already on his feet. He walked to the center of the arena without hurry, feeling the weight of every gaze.
"My name is Zugiy. I manipulate gravity."
Grux said nothing. He simply waited, his body a mountain of skepticism.
Zugiy extended his hand. The air around him seemed to thicken. A metal block used in the previous demonstration, weighing hundreds of kilos, rose from the ground. It floated, rotated slowly, and then stopped midair, a millimeter from where Zugiy wanted it. Absolute control.
"Is that all?" Grux's voice dripped with contempt. "You lift rocks? You think you'll go to war with parlor tricks? With that level of power?" He let out a guttural sound, a laugh of pure scorn. "Ridiculous."
Zugiy didn't respond. He wasn't used to receiving criticism. He simply lowered the metal block gently back to the floor and returned to his place with the same calm steps.
Grux looked at everyone, humans and aliens alike.
"Introductions are over," he growled. "Tomorrow, the real training begins. And what you showed today…" He paused, letting the humiliation settle. "…is a pathetically low starting point."
He turned and left the stage, his stone silhouette disappearing into the darkness.
The room finally breathed again. Melissa let out a sharp whistle. Ling remained standing, staring at the empty stage. And Victor, for the first time, was completely silent.
Zugiy looked at the space where Grux had stood. The word echoed in his mind.
What a grumpy guy, Zugiy thought.
He didn't respond right away. But he kept it. And things Zugiy kept tended to have consequences.