-BLAZE-

  Blaze was awakened by a dull pinging sound. He groaned and opened his eyelids slowly, then blinked several times to adjust to the influx of light.

  "I should have stretched," he moaned.

  His body felt stiff and sore from yesterday's fight, and more specifically from his transformation. The fight hadn’t lasted long but Blaze’s body still wasn’t used to moving so fast, and it was definitely not used to transforming.

  The pinging sound that had woken him up was still there, and it was growing louder.

  Blaze turned on his side and placed a pillow over his head. The pinging sound reduced in intensity, but was still present.

  It wasn’t going to stop.

  Blaze knew what it was: a new mission. The captain hadn’t been kidding about not giving him a break.

  He threw away the pillow and sighed. Then he reached out and found his Pager on a side table next to the bed. The device's screen had a flashing red light icon, and the text 'new mission alert' was scrawled below it.

  "Open mission debrief," Blaze said. The pinging stopped and a wall of text popped into view.

  He frowned.

  "I am not reading all that," he said.

  He used a gesture to summon the device’s virtual assistant and ordered it to summarise the debrief. It took a few seconds for the program to run, and once it was done, a new message appeared.

  "Analysis done. How would you like the information presented?"

  "Audio," Blaze responded. He closed his eyes and prayed he wouldn't drift off while the briefing was playing.

  A soft feminine voice emanated from the device.

  "Good morning, Agent Blazecorra. 72 hours ago, the premier of the Andaris Reach was murdered. Minutes before his death, he completed the signing of a treaty with the Order of the First Light. This treaty grants the Order jurisdiction in the Andaris Reach."

  "Hold on," Blaze mumbled, eyes still closed.

  The audio paused.

  "What is the Order of the First Light? I’ve never heard of them."

  "The First Light is a religious sect. They emerged from the Human colony on the planet Solaris-Y18 about 20,000 years ago."

  "I see," Blaze said. "They are a religious group. Please save details on them for later reading. Continue the briefing."

  The feminine voice continued. "The Order fully intends to exercise its newfound rights over the Andaris Reach. They have put together a team of acolytes led by a High Priestess. This team has been tasked with setting up a monastery in the Reach. The Order is an ally of the Stellar Authority. This new monastery may one day assist the Authority with expanding its influence in the galaxy.

  "Now to your mission. Andaris is home to a number of budding and fully-fledged rogue cells within the galaxy. Your mission is to journey to Andaris with the Order. Help them set up their monastery, and get as much information on the Andaris Reach as you can to the Authority."

  So it's an escort mission, Blaze thought.

  The audio continued.

  "Support will be limited. You are encouraged to seek allies among the local population. Your team will consist of you, Agent Benjamin Wilson, and a special operative codenamed Blue. Agent Wilson will be team lead.

  "You will rendezvous with your team at bay 225 of the Genera space port at local time 12:00 today. Your StarHawk T700 has already been furnished for the mission. Good luck Agent Kuto. You may contact your Vice Captain for further details."

  The message ended.

  "Hold on," Blaze said to the device. There was one detail that mission briefs tended to leave out, and that was how long the mission was estimated to take. Blaze had picked up the habit of asking, just to be sure.

  "What is the estimated mission time?" Blaze asked.

  The device responded.

  "The estimated duration of your mission is ten years."

  Blaze bolted up in bed.

  "What?!"

  -BREAK-

  Blaze went to meet with Ben at the space port. He had tried to reach the Vice Captain but his attempts had been fruitless. That in itself was alarming. The Vice Captain was always available, and always ready to talk. Blaze had even tried using an emergency channel.

  No response.

  He didn't get a response from Captain Doe either. But that was a far more common occurrence. The only person Blaze had been able to reach was Ben. Their conversation had been short and centered on one topic: Why had they been given such a ridiculous mission?

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  They were not administrators. They were not diplomats. They were not spies. Prior to this, the average estimated duration of their missions had been one week.

  Blaze had done the research. The Andaris Reach was several light years away from any planet he knew. And it was known for having very few and very slow interspace highways.

  Also, Andaris didn't have any documented planets with valuable resources. It wasn't home to any human species of particular importance, and it did not have much documented history to speak of.

  Even the murdered Premier the mission debrief had mentioned was not much of anything. He had been the last son of some old family of former conquerors, who only had a tentative claim to rulership of the Andaris Reach.

  Blaze and Ben were being banished.

  "They're punishing us," Blaze said to Ben over the comms. "Because of the fight with the Falcons."

  Ben grunted then responded. "Seems extreme for just punishment."

  And Blaze agreed. He and Ben were troublesome mavericks, but they always got the job done. There was no way the Stellar Authority would just toss them away like that.

  "Let's meet at the bay," Ben said. "We'll ask the vice captain there."

  "You think she'll come?"

  "She always comes," Ben replied.

  "Yes, but she also always picks up her Pager...until now."

  "We'll meet at the bay," Ben said with finality.

  "Alright." Blaze was not convinced.

  The line went dead. And now here he was at the space port. It was busy, as all Stellar Authority space ports were. Hundreds of uniformed personnel darted to and fro, tending to all manner of starships.

  Claxons and bells sounded in the air, communicating instructions and cautions, or giving clearance for the departure of one starship or the other.

  Blaze made his way to Bay 225. He found Ben there, standing at attention, hands folded behind his back, observing as a team of technicians worked on their StarHawk T700.

  Blaze walked over and stood next to his partner.

  "I thought they said the ship was ready," Blaze said.

  "Apparently they have a new boss this morning who insists on doing final checks himself."

  "That's not good," Blaze said with a small laugh.

  "Nope."

  The team of technicians looked flustered. There were four of them and it was obvious who the boss was.

  He was short, round, and bearded. Blaze wasn't certain if he had a ruddy complexion or if the man's red face was just a result of his frustration.

  The boss stood just outside the StarHawk holding a tablet. He yelled out to the 3 other technicians to double check this and run diagnostics on that. They flitted about, obeying his commands and yelling back responses.

  The round man's countenance darkened more and more with each response. Finally, he threw up his hands and roared in frustration. He whirled on Ben and Blaze.

  "This ship is not up to code!"

  "We're aware," Ben responded dryly.

  The man continued to yell. "You've turned a cruiser into an assault machine. 5 pulsar missiles, Koha laser cannons. Grenades!!! What do you need grenades for? And not even regulation grenades! These are black-market unchecked munitions."

  Ben said nothing, and Blaze moved to respond, but the man continued.

  "And this!" He tapped at the screen. "Aquamarine...err..."

  "Aquamarine objective attainment mode," Blaze said, helpfully. "Aqua mode."

  The technician boss looked bewildered.

  "Aqua mode?"

  Blaze nodded. "Aqua mode."

  "Agent Kuto, have you ever needed to take your ship under water for a mission?"

  "No… but what if?"

  "We have a whole agency for underwater missions!" The man bellowed.

  "Yes," Blaze said. "But what if? You never know when we might need it."

  The technician boss looked like he was about to explode.

  "Your aqua mode adds unnecessary weight and strain on your craft-"

  "That's why we upgraded the engine and refitted the chassis," Blaze replied with a shrug.

  The technician boss shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ground you," he said. "And I will write you up for this. I don't know how you got away with so many unauthorized modifications, but it ends now. The full weight of military law is about to come down on you."

  A strong female voice spoke up.

  "That won't be necessary."

  They all turned to see Vice Captain Hunta walking towards them. She looked immaculate as always, and she wasn't alone. By her side walked a girl wearing a large hooded black coat, and a matching balaclava. The girls’ eyes sparkled with blue electricity.

  It might have been Blaze's imagination, but he thought he sensed Ben tense up. Vice Captain Hunta looked at the technician boss.

  "Ron, these Agents are cleared to leave. They do not need any further inspection."

  Ron looked indignant. "Their vessel breaks several codes and-"

  "They are cleared to leave." There was cold authority in the Vice Captain's voice. Blaze recognized it as a warning.

  He turned to the technician. "Ron," Blaze started. "I think you should-"

  Ron snapped. He shouted at Blaze. "It's Mr. Zaga to you!"

  Blaze raised his hands in surrender. "Okay Mr. Zaga. I think you should-"

  The Vice Captain glared at Blaze and said, "Blazecorra be quiet."

  "Yes, Vice Captain." Blaze sidled away as the Vice Captain stepped towards Ron.

  "These agents are cleared to leave, Ron. If you hinder them, you hinder me. Don't hinder me."

  Ron glanced at Ben and Blaze, his face a mask of fury. "Fine," he said, spitting his words. "But I will note down my real sentiments and orders. You're free to disregard them. Seems like there's a lot of that going on."

  He whistled at his workers, who had stopped to watch the show. They quickly scrambled off the ship, and fell into step with Ron.

  Blaze watched them leave then turned to Vice Captain Hunta. He had a speech prepared.

  "VC," he began. "What is going-"

  "Is that her?" Ben cut in. His eyes were fixed firmly on the hooded girl, who Blaze could see was making an effort to look at everything except Ben. Ben continued. "Is that the criminal?"

  Blaze glanced at Ben, then at the Vice Captain. Finally he looked at the hooded girl closely.

  Electric eyes...

  Oh, he thought, as realization dawned. He had scanned through the details of Ben’s recent mission before he had gone to bed. He also spoke to Ben about it, and had heard what had happened in the courtroom. He was certain Ben wouldn’t receive much disciplinary action. Ben was too vital to the Authority.

  Then again they were banishing him to the Andaris Reach. That being said, if this girl was ‘the criminal’, then…

  "Oh," Blaze said out loud. Again he looked at Ben and the Vice Captain. He could see a bit of sympathy in the Vice Captain's expression.

  "This is Kaja Khan," The Vice Captain said. "Codenamed Agent Blue. She will be joining you on your mission."

  Blaze laughed.