How long had it been since the world fell? How many years, how many centuries? Not like there is anyone around who's still alive to ask, but this question has persisted inside of Chad ever since he was a young child in the Wastes of what he was once told was the Greatest Nation in the World, Aemaricea. He spent his days with this group, made up of about 15 families and various stragglers, loners and drifters. They roamed what was called the "Medwaste", the center of Aemaricea, traveling through the decaying ruins of once great settlements, with rusted buildings that pierced the clouds and great metal chariots that carried the ancients across the world on their roads of stone. Chad became obsessed with the past, and the more he learned about the state of the world as he grew up, the more that obsession became rage; rage against the cruel alien overlords who descended from the stars and ravaged the world, destroying civilization and enslaving the vast majority of humans in their monolithic hives, sucking the world dry. Chad would vow to do his best to fight the invaders as much as he was able to and to restore the Aerth to its former glory. He trained day in and day out in both feats of strength and endurance, soon gaining a reputation for being as strong as an Ox, and twice as sturdy, but unfortunately just as nimble and as observant as a raging bull. He delved deep into the ruins of the world, seeking ancient knowledge, and learned as much as he could from the Elders of his tribe.

All that delving and diving lead him to some unique discovers and some useful knowledge. A required skill for lurking in the abandoned cities was stealth, as these places were often crawling with monstrosities unleashed upon by the world by the aliens, if not the extraterrestrial invaders themselves, and as such Chad gained no small skill in stealth. Another particularly useful skill he picked up in his expeditions into the ruins was that of controlled demolition, which could be very useful if a Hiver scrap harvester got too nosy, or an alien patrol craft happened to park underneath a teetering skyscraper; even if the ancients, in their prescient ways, hid vast treasures behind meters of metal and gears, a controlled explosion could prove very useful. In his search for hidden knowledge and lost treasures, Chad found what he considered to be his greatest find and the best asset to his planned resistance to the aliens, an energy sword. Chad had always preferred the art of close-quarters combat compared to the long-range combat that the rest of his band preferred, perhaps because of his large, lumbering frame, but he was particularly interested in the weapons of the alien invaders, small and unassuming until activated, wherein an ethereal blade of pure energy emerged, and could cut through almost any material with ease. It was descending into a bombed out military base deep in the Mountains of Rock in the former Aemaricean territory of Cola-Roada with his band for supplies that he found it, amongst what must have been the last stand of some Aemaricean warriors defending something deeper inside. Skeletons abounded deeper and deeper into the underground complex, and the occasional skeleton of an alien was to be found too, their strange armor encrusted in the dust of ages past. The rest of the band wouldn't touch the aliens out of fear, but Chad was curious, and more than that, he was lucky. That was another feature of Chad of note, and something that had saved his life more than once. It was again that luck would not only save his life but reward him as well. As he disturbed an alien corpse, its hand, clutched around a plasma grenade, crumbled as the final vestiges of dried tendons and cartilage disintegrated from the shock of being moved for the first time in eons. The grenade fell from its skeletal cage and rolled down the armor, glowing softly and then brighter very rapidly. Thinking quickly, Chad grabbed a metal rod strapped to the alien's chest, his fingers wrapping around it and unknowingly depressing a button that activated an energy blade, cutting a hole clear through the concrete floor, making a hole just large enough for the activate plasma grenade to roll through. The explosion ruptured the floor beneath their feet, and the group fell clean through to an armory room, half-destroyed by the grenade's explosion and the other ammunition that had been detonated by it, but still possessing ample arms to arm Chad's entire group. What's more, Chad had found a strange energy blade, black as night with white tendrils emanating from its edges, a sigh of the field holding the energy in place. Embolden by this luck, His band, now eager to take the fight to the enemy, moved along in no small part by the firebrand militancy of Chad, who had always been the charmer. They planned their raid on a small garrison in the ancient city of Koluumbas, gathering other Wastelanders as they traveled, and with each passing day more and more were encouraged to join not only by the words of Chad, but by the continued and ever-present luck that seem to abound from the man. More stashes were found, though none as rich as the one under the Mountains of Rock, but still more useful weapons and ammunition that further emboldened the Wastelanders, until a small army had formed in the wilderness outside of Koluumbas.

It was the next day, in their approach to the city, that the extent of Chad's luck was tested. Losses first came with the simultaneous arrival of a pride of Throrkox, monstrous beast several meters tall that had beaks strong enough to pierce metal plates and with hides thick enough to shrug off small caliber bullets. Such beasts had become common in the wasteland, either discarded pets of alien tourists or intentionally put there to keep Wastelander numbers in check. The Throrkox hunted the army for several days, killing 2 scores of its members as they moved silently towards the alien garrison near the cities center. Further trouble arose when Alien patrols discovered a scouting party near the garrison. The scouts were slaughtered mercilessly, hardening the army's resolve but making the approach much more dangerous as routine patrols now wandered the city. Next came a radstorm, as a sickening green cloud overtook the city and killed many who couldn't find adequate shelter. Finally came the day to attack as the worst of the storms subsided. It began well, as what heavy ordnance the ragtag group of dissidents had was let loose upon the strange facade of the alien barracks, with satisfying results. Several disoriented aliens stumbled out, the various races being cut down by concentrated fire that overwhelmed even their strong personal shielding. Encouraged by this, the group began descending towards the garrison building and moving inside, wherein they find a distraught and desperate scene, slaughtering several wounded alien soldiers before advancing to the next set of doors that would lead them further into the base. Using his expertise in demolitions, and some "Seefor" from one of the stashes, Chad blew the doors inward, knocking down two alien sentries standing guard behind the door, and the Wastelander and his men rushed into the breech...

It was a massacre, there were many, many more aliens than what had been anticipated inside, waiting with close quarter weapons, melee weapons and shields strong enough to deflect what paltry amount of weapons fire that the Wastelanders could put out. They were cut down, with only Chad able to meet the aliens in skill and ability to injure. The battle inside raged as the remaining forces outside prepared to aid their comrades as best as they were able, only to be utterly caught off guard by many alien transports decloaking  above, mass swarms of troops and combat beasts dropping into the city, where a desperate battle soon unfolded as men and women fought hopeless against a vastly superior foe, dying in scores at a time as they were mercilessly slaughtered. By sheer skill and a little luck Chad had managed to kill the remaining Aliens inside the barracks and rallying what few remaining and still-able to move soldiers he had, intended to save his beleaguered comrades, but he arrived to a slaughter. What little resistance remained could be found in pinned-down positions in buildings already falling apart from the wears of time, now from gaping red-hot holes from plasma slugs and psionic mind bullets. Screams filled the air, both human and alien, as war raged in the center of Koluumbas. Chad, with his most trusted soldiers, raced immediately to the nearest pinned position of his men, and with energy sword in hand carved a green-bloody path through the 3 aliens who blocked him from his pinned men, losing 3 to the crossfire. He had liberated the 14 wounded and dying people from their doom, only for the room he and the soldiers where in to be destroyed moments later from a stray missile from an alien gunship. Chad was miraculously unwounded, but pinned under rubble, and subjected to listening to the last, desperate struggles of his friends and family, and those who had come to trust him until the cacophony of battle grew more and more quiet and eventually all that could be heard was the mocking chortles of the various aliens, and the loud hum of their transports engines. It was then that a great rage overtook Chad, and despite his injuries, his loss, he could only feel an all-encompassing desire for one thing; Vengeance. With a Herculean effort and using some of the last of his strength, Chad lifted the rubble off his battered form, and with a mighty scream he ignited the energy sword one last time and picking up a nearby energy pistol from a fallen alien warrior, he charged the distracted cluster of aliens, slaying several in his initial assault. AS luck would have it, in his rage he had eliminated several officers, throwing the grunts into chaos. The aliens ducked for cover, throwing plasma bolts and hurling physical blows at Chad , but the fire so quickly kindled would not be as swiftly extinguished, and it was such that he pursued them to their cover, slaying several as he went with blade and pistol alike, the aliens still shocked enough from the surprise attack that they usual discipline and skill was nowhere to be found. With sturdy cover to their front and several other aliens coming to the commotion, the aliens form a battle line, and the previously devastating charge of Chad is met with stiff resistance, an officer with his own energy sword, though an inferior version compared to the one possessed by Chad, prevented him from using it to crush the alien opposition, having to rely solely on the scattered shots of the energy pistol; a few striking home and causing various aliens to keel over. The numbers proved too much, and soon Chad was overwhelmed. His sword was ripped from his hands, an alien fist shattering his helmet, with only a third of it still attached to his face. A crushing blow struck across his cheek from a plasma rifle butt knocked him out cold, his already exhausted body no longer able to endure any more punishment. His limp body was dragged to the commander of the Alien task force by two of the survivors of Chad's initial charge, demanding his death in retribution for their slaughtered comrades, one even pushing the barrel of his plasma rifle against the remaining piece of Chad's helmet, the barrel still so hot that the paint on the metal starts to sizzle and melt. Eyeing the Wastelander, the Commander looks up to the Hovering transport, wherein an Alien that looks markedly different from the rest, more corpulent and bearing a laurel around its oblong head. The strange alien looks down at the pile of its own dead, and at the strange human who managed to kill them, along with organizing this army. He stuck out his hand, its 3 digits forming a fist with one outstretched horizontally. The fist is brought up, and then its "thumb" it turns to the sky. The commander sneers, then turns to the two soldiers "This ''animal'' belongs to the crucible now." Chad, who at this point was stirring into consciousness, mumbled softly "T-th... the cruci-crucible?" But this outburst was quickly met with a savage blow from the commander, his massive hammer fist knocking the human out cold once more, and his limp body was stripped and thrown unceremoniously into the transport's cargo hold, where he was chained to the floor. When Chad awoke again, he was in the Ludus, along with all the other batches of humans caught or pressed into service in the Arena, and the few volunteers as well. The repeated cranial blows and the trauma of losing everyone he loved had stripped him of his memory, but it was if his very being encouraged him to do one thing and one thing only; Survive.