[center] [u][b]INITIATE [/b][/u][/center]

Stav shivered under the cold light of illumination. 

The golden men had come to his village, speaking of the Emperor and his tithes. He had remembered when other men had come, speaking of the same things when he was younger.  He had always hated those men, the way they smiled while stealing his family’s hard labors for themselves. He had tried to stop them, once, only to be slapped aside by the burly men. His mother had screamed so shrilly for him that he felt the lance of fear stab deep–but not for himself. 

Yet those days were gone. When the golden men came, they brought with them tools. His village had gotten access to clean water. A doctor had come into town to speak with their healer. And once a week Stav had to go to a ‘school’ to learn. It made his head hurt sometimes, but his mother always smiled at him when he came back. So he stuck to it, unlike some of his friends.

But when the golden men came for their tithes, they pushed aside the grains offered by the villages. Shook their heads at the young men offered up for service in the Emperor's armies.  Even when the village's meager collection of weapons, meant mostly for the militia, were offered up that too was denied. No, the golden men wished for the village's children to be lined up and inspected. That had happened once before, when the doctor came, so many thought little of it. 

It was when the golden men started to pick children from the line that murmurs ran through the village. 

Stav could still remember the moment when he was picked. The golden men had poked and prodded at him, muttering to each other about things that he couldn’t even begin to understand. His mother wept when they took him, alongside the others, the bag of coin sitting by her feet untouched. He was to be of service to the Imperium, the golden men promised his mother, and him. His destiny was for greater things.

And so now the boy stood in a sterile medical room, squinting under the bright lights and trying not to squirm as the massive man in front of him examined him. He and the other children were put into a big truck, where there were no windows and the air was stale. They had driven for a long, long time. So long that the boy had lost track of where they were. When they finally left the truck, it was to find that the sky had gone away. They were underground, it was explained. Little more was given. So he and the other children had been separated, led through the expansive underground tunnels. 

And now he was here, being poked at by a giant.

The man was tall. Taller than any Stav had seen before. The only ones as tall as he were the great armored warriors of the Emperor. Big as them, too. He had never seen a man as large as the giant in front of him. And even in his tiered confusion, Stav couldn’t help but gape. 

The giant was muttering to himself, words of ‘compatibility’ and ‘genetic’ structure’ being as strange as the stars to the young boy. Eventually he couldn’t keep his silence for much longer.

“Wha’s happening?” Stav asked, shifting in his seat.  

The giant shifted, looking away from his notes to Stav. The boy couldn’t help but shiver as the eyes that sat in a square, squat face stared directly into his.

“Merely some preparation. Medical work.”

Stav tilted his head. “For wha’? Wheres moma? She-”

“For something a long time in the making.” The giant said, cutting Stav off. The boy felt a spark of irritation, but the giant continued. “You see, child, the Emperor has need of you. He asked for you specifically.”

Stav perked up. “Really?” 

“Oh yes,” the giant said, an indulgent smile on his face. Stav missed the overt sweetness in the mans voice, too excited by the thought of being chosen for something by the Emperor. 

“He needs strong men, you see. Heroes. You have been selected for such a task.” The giant said, walking closer. In the bright light, the stylized three glinted on his white robes. He laid a massive hand on Stav’s shoulder, practically swallowing it whole. 

“Like the Thunder Warriors?” The awed whisper swept through Stavs lips. Young as he was, even he knew of the Emperor's grand warriors. Smashing the evil people and bringing food and water to everyone, making things better like heroes should.

The giant shook his head, and Stav couldn’t help but think back to how similar this man looked to the Emperors grand warriors. But there was something different about him. Smaller, compared to those titans. 

“No, my boy.” The giant said. “Something [i]better[/i].”