"Sir? Pod 14-A3 has left the hangar under Lieutenant Vrek's authorization, except – Lieutenant Vrek is currently on a mission in the Quadra B system. I thought it odd and felt you should be informed."
Krolia groaned but held her tongue as she waited for Kolivan to speak. "Thank you, Tebbit. Dismissed." The Blade gave a firm nod and solute as he left the office, leaving them in silence. She watched the deep lines on their Leader's face as he furrowed his brow, the stress of his responsibilities taking their toll.
"100 GAC says that kit of yours has something to do with this."
"I don't take bets I won't win." She quipped back and his stoic facade broke, the cracks showing the younger man she knew so well.
"He's you, you know that right?"
"Pfft. He reminds me more of my brother. Thace was always pulling stunts like this." Kolivan sputtered a laugh, his mouthful of nunvil spraying across the desk.
"So were you, he just got caught more often." There was a twinkle in his eye, most likely remembering some wacky shenanigan the siblings had pulled back in their youth. Having joined the Blades with her older brother at the ripe old ages of 21 and 18, Thace and Krolia were legendary on base for the trouble they caused. A legacy Keith was more than happy to continue. "100 GAC on Keith having dragged Regris into this."
Krolia rolled her eyes. "Those two are like 'pillys in a burrow' – where there's one, there's bound to be the other."
Kolivan smirked, nodding his head in agreement. They each took several more sips of their drinks, his thoughts displaying much more clearly amidst the drunken glow on his face. "Think Marra's involved?"
"Oh definitely." Krolia smirked, downing the rest of her glass in one gulp then immediately refilling it. "Poor girl's so hopelessly enamored by Keith I'm sure she'd jump face first into a vat of geryk if he asked." Kolivan sputtered, once again spraying nunvil on his desk.
"Stop saying shit like that right after I take a sip Krolia!" She grinned at him, her devilish smirk still lingering. "You're as troublesome as your kit."
The two laughed a while, enjoying the rest of their bottle of nunvil before leaving Kolivan's office. They walked the halls of the base, headed for the hangar where Keith would need to land, all the while discussing their wager. She could feel the effects of the liquor in her system, finding her footfalls less steady than a respectable agent of her standing should allow. Giggling far too easily at his terrible jokes, she kept pace with the equally intoxicated Kolivan, and as they entered the hangar she slapped 100 GAC into his hand for the lack of Marra's presence.
He couldn't believe they'd managed to actually take a pod out of the hangar. Sure, Regris had bypassed the security access and faked the permission codes and blah blah, but the fact that he had actually managed to successfully take one of the pods was still processing in his mind. His dad had been right; he was born wearing horseshoes.
Behind him Marra was nervously rattling off all the rules they had just broken and he rolled his eyes. It's not like she had to come along, he'd asked her to join strictly out of courtesy after she'd busted them breaking into the hangar. He hadn't really expected she'd say yes. Reg must have, he was grinning like an idiot; Keith didn't understand why. Maybe he had a thing for her? Actually, now that he thought about it, that seemed pretty likely. Regris was always inviting Marra to hangout with them. It didn't bother him too much, she was fun and they all got along just fine, but sometimes it was annoying having her around. She stared too much and she stood too close, to the point where they were usually almost touching, it was like she had no concept of personal space. He just didn't understand her.
Right now she was leaning on the back of the pilot's seat, her fingers brushing the side of his neck each time she adjusted her grip on the back rest. "You might wanna sit down for this." He grinned through his promissory threat and gave her a total of 10 tics before he dropped the pod into a nosedive.
"Do you – know – what you – are doing?" Her words came through tightly clenched teeth as she gasped for air, the sudden drop having caused her to choke.
He grinned, tightening his grip on the controls and leveling out the pod just before they crashed on the asteroid. Darting along the surface he picked up speed, feeling the rush as the pod skirted the edge of the black hole's pull. Marra's breath hitched when the proximity alarms went off but Keith ignored it, he knew he was in full control and he wanted to use the gravity to slingshot himself even faster. The black hole was approaching, getting dangerously close. As soon as he felt the tug he spun the pod sharply to the left, letting the gravity pull the edge of pod around, and he hit the thrusters causing them to rocket away at a speed he couldn't have otherwise reached.
"OH MY STARS!! You're going to kill us!!" She was panicking and Keith felt a small twinge of glee.
"Shut up and trust me!" He called back, ignoring her terrified whine as it filled the cockpit around him. So far so good, he thought as they blasted past the top of the base. No one had hailed them to return, no one had come out after them, and the pod's controls hadn't been taken over with an autopilot forcing them back.
Zipping around the base a few more times, he brought the pod back to the hangar and docked safely back in line with the other pods. No one had to know about his unauthorized jaunt.
The pod door opened and Marra flew out hollering Regris' name and screaming about how she almost died. Keith rolled his eyes but found a sly grin settling into place. The sudden clearing of a throat caused him to instantly freeze.
"Oh, Marra. What an absolute surprise to see you here. None of us could have predicted this." His mother gushed in the most obviously insincere and sarcastic tone imaginable. Kolivan groaned and slapped what looked like 200 GAC into her outstretched hand causing her grin to grow even wider.
Keith watched his fellow Blade attempt to justify her presence without coming off as guilty, but he knew his mom would see right through it; Krolia always did. Actually, the more he watched, the more she seemed off, like she was maybe – no, NO!
"Are you guys drunk?" Keith asked, jaw falling to the metal floor of the hangar is absolute shock, or horror, or both. Why the quiznak were his mother and Kolivan drunk? "YOU ARE! You're drunk! What the quiznak!"
"Ok – watch your language Kit." She chastised him and Kolivan chuckled beside her. Seriously, there was so much wrong with this whole situation. He thought to himself, or at least he would have if his brain would click back on thank you very much. "And – and don't you be turning this on me – er, us. We are grown adults. If we want to have some nunvil we are allowed to do so."
"And, furthermore," Kolivan began, adding to her sentiment. "We are not the ones breaking the rules you little thieves. All three of you – bad, bad kits!" The scolding sounded more like he was reprimanding a pack of Yupper pups instead of 3 fully realized Blades. Krolia giggled – she actually giggled, and Keith felt his jaw drop even further.
"To your rooms. Now. Off to go you bed. Wait – no, off to bed go ... quiznak! ... Go to bed!" He rolled his eyes at his mother and, against his own better judgment, condescendingly muttered 'you should go to bed' as he marched past her.
"KEITH, you stay." Quiznak.
He watched Regris and Marra leave the hangar and turned to find a giggling Kolivan and an absolutely livid Krolia staring at him. "Why? Why did you take the plod? Why did you take that poor girl along? Why Keith!!"
"Plod?" he snickered and received a hard smack to the side of the head for his insubordination.
"You knew damn well what I meant. Answer me."
"Sure you don't want to just wait till tomorrow? You, know – so you remember this conversation." This time he ducked when her claws swiped at him and the snarl that immediately followed made his freeze. She was actually livid. Not 'oh Keith you little rascal' angry but actual, for real angry. His eyes went wide as she loomed over him, her claws gripping the collar of his suit, and her pupils narrowing to the point they almost disappeared entirely.
"You listen to me, I've had enough. No more of this, no more getting away with this kind of behaviour, no more talking back, no more taking pods -"
"This was the first time - "
"- on joy rides, NO MORE INTURUPTING ME, no more hanging out with Regris and Marra unsupervised, no more free time, and no more FREEDOM at all. This is the end of the line. I will not allow it any longer. I am tired of listening to the other Blades tell me about the trouble you three cause and I know – Keith, I KNOW you are the root of it. Shape up, behave yourself, or there will be severe consequences. Do. You. Under. Stand?"
"Yes, mam." He could feel the blush on his cheeks, Kolivan had stopped snickering and both of their expressions had gone dark. He guessed it was safe to assume she had sobered up.
Releasing him with no small amount of force, she turned to Kolivan. "Yours to deal with. I'm going to find more nunvil before I throw my Kit out the airlock." Throwing her hands in the air, she stormed off muttering something about having a newfound respect for her mother and something about his Uncle Thace.
The hangar lapsed into silence and he turned his gaze back to Kolivan. The stoic leader of the Blade of Marmora was staring at him with heavy eyes and a rosy tint to his cheeks, clearly still intoxicated. "Keith, stop testing your mother's patience. The rules are there for a reason. If you're pod had been caught in the gravity of that black hole, you would have been dead. There is a reason we don't let recruits learn at the main base, it's far too dangerous. Do you know how many times your poor mother nearly had a heart attack watching you in that pod?" He felt himself wither under their Leader's intense gaze, his words sinking in fully as Keith stared out the hangar at the three dangerous celestial objects.
"I'm sorry." And he was, he didn't think about the danger. The only thing that crossed his mind as he took the pod was how awesome it was going to be to fly the real thing instead of a simulator. "I – I didn't think -"
"No clearly you didn't 'think' or we wouldn't be having this discussion." Keith felt the blush hit his cheeks again and he hung his head. "Come to my office immediately after breakfast. Lieutenant Krolia will not be involved in your punishment as a Blade, but don't worry – I'm sure your mother has a punishment planned of her own." He groaned. Two punishments? That didn't seem fair. He'd voice this thought if he wasn't absolutely terrified of making the whole situation worse.
Nodding his understanding, Keith saluted his superior officer and headed to his room.
The door opened and he flicked on the light to find his mother sitting on the edge of his bed, an unopened bottle of nunvil in her hand.
"Sit." Ok, so she was still mad. He didn't argue this time, merely making his way to the bed in silence as he sat down beside her. "Do you know why I'm so upset?"
"Because I back talked you in front of Kolivan and I stole one of the pods without authorization."
"No, Keith. Well, yes that was bad – but it's not why I'm so upset with you. You're a full Blade now; Kolivan will handle the insubordination and breech of security. Do you know why I'm so upset with you?"
He thought about for a moment, and drew a blank. If it wasn't the rule breaking and it wasn't the sass then there was no other reason. He wracked his brain trying to come up with something, and continued to draw a blank so he opted to shake his head and admit he had no idea.
"You could have died Keith. This wasn't some little stunt where you end up in the medbay with bandages and get to ogle Sergin as he takes care of you." He felt himself blush all over again but she pressed on. "This would have been death. Permanent, no coming back. I watched you skirt the edge of disaster, with poor Marra on board. Keith, I stood in that hangar for 10 dobashes and I watched helplessly as the most important person in the universe to me, my precious little kit, almost killed himself several times. Do you know how scared I was?" He shook his head, he hadn't thought about that.
They lapsed into an awkward silence as he pondered the full extent of what had happened. "I'm sorry mom." He felt the warble in his voice, small and meek, as he apologized.
"I don't know what your punishment from Kolivan is going to be, though I can make a pretty strong speculation. What I want is for you to apologize; you crossed the line this time. Kolivan will deal with Marra and Regris for their involvement, but you will apologize to everyone. Kolivan, Regris, Marra, Tebbit, and Vrek. Do you understand?"
"Yes mam."
"Do you know why you need to apologize?"
"Because I broke their trust?"
"Yes. We all trust each other not to unnecessarily endanger the base, our fellow Blades, or ourselves." He nodded along. "You are 15 deca-phoebs old Keith, 16 in only 4 more phoebs, I shouldn't have to explain common sense to you." He continued to nod, understanding how dumb and childish his actions had been. "Ok, get ready for bed."
She kissed his forehead and he stood, changing into his sleep clothes, and crawling into bed. It was a little difficult with his mother still sitting on the blankets, but he managed. She leaned over, squeezing his shoulders and giving his cheek a quick lick. "Good night, Keith. I love you."
"I love you too."
His punishment from Kolivan had been severe. Regris was standing in the doorway watching him pack and Keith had to fight the tears that were trying to form. He was being reassigned, sent to an outpost to continue his Operative and flight training. He wasn't going to know anyone, he wasn't going to have his mom or Tok or Reg or anyone! But Kolivan was right, he had become far too comfortable at the main base and he'd been allowed far too many leniency's. It was time for him to grow up.
The new base was located in the Thaldycon system. It was incredibly remote and only had a handful of agents that were stationed there. Apparently it was a dangerous area to access and, because of this, his Uncle Thace had to pick him up and bring him to the base while passing by on an assignment for the Empire. He was on a deep cover mission, so Keith didn't get to see him very often, which made a long trip incredibly awkward.
Luckily they'd both survived and Thace managed to access the outpost with little difficulty. Keith had been incredibly impressed with his skills as a pilot; watching him maneuver around the xanthorium clusters with relative ease was spectacular.
The entrance to the base was hidden inside a pocket of space-time, which was hidden inside the center of one of the larger clusters, which was hidden in a belt with tens of thousands of clusters. Even the slightest nudge would cause them to explode violently and rip apart any nearby pods. Once through the pocket, the area was clear and open making for the perfect place to practice basic flight drills.
He sat clutching his bag tightly in his lap as they docked in the station's hangar. Only one Blade had come down to greet them and when they exited the pod, Keith stayed close to his Uncle's side. The last time he was on another base a Druid had tried to kill him so it was totally reasonable, and not at all silly, that he was a little shy. Right? Right!
The Blade introduced himself as Ulaz. He was the medic for this station and also the communications technician. Apparently everyone pulled double duty on the smaller bases. Keith's rolls would be medical assistant and student. When he wasn't helping Ulaz in the medbay, he would be learning how to be a Blade of Marmora agent, practicing his forms on the training deck, and running flight drills in the simulators. He was to continue his studies on Galran history, general common history, math, language (both Galran and Common), way-finding, and as if all of that wasn't enough – he had to continue to practice mastery of his quintessence sensitivity. Kolivan definitely knew how to craft a punishment. There was no way he could get up to any mischief here; he wouldn't have any free time.
Ulaz led them through the base to his room. It was small, about half the size of his room back at headquarters, but it was really all he needed since he wouldn't be spending much time in here any ways. Next was a full tour of the station which only took a varga to complete. He met all of the other agents on base – all 7 of them; it really was a small crew. There was Rikki, Rubin, Plak, Fitzil, Tragok, Proxa, and Ulaz. Plak was going to be his trainer and flight instructor, while Proxa was going to be his tutor, and Ulaz would be his temporary guardian in the absence of his mother. He also learned that Tragok was the highest in command for this station even though Ulaz technically out ranked him. Because Ulaz was a medic first and foremost, he didn't have the time to take on the more administrative roll of command and thus, had given up the promotion.
Keith unpacked his bag, settling into his new room, and collapsed backwards on the bed. His communicator beeped and he picked it up to see his mother smiling at him. He smiled back.
"How was the trip?"
"Fine. Uncle Thace sure can fly!" She chuckled at his enthusiasm.
"Yes, he can. Don't underestimate yourself, one day you'll fly circles around him."
"Not likely." Keith whipped his head up to see his Uncle standing in the doorway. "Came to check on you, make sure you settled in alright. Hey sis."
His mother rolled her eyes but greeted her brother with a warm smile. "Hmmpf 'hey' to you too. How long are you staying?"
"Not very, heading back to Central Command in two quintants." Keith didn't know why but the news of his Uncle's impending departure made him sad. This would be the first time he was without any immediate family since he was 11 deca-phoebs, but he would be fine. Keith was tough, tougher than people gave him credit for. He could handle this.
The next two quintants went by in a relative blur. The new faces and names he had to commit to memory, as well as the new base layout he needed to learn, had taken their toll on his energy levels, leaving him exhausted by the time their night cycle started. Ulaz was nice; in fact Keith felt it safe to say the medic was by far his favourite person on base. Plak was a close second. He was funny, smart, incredibly skilled in combat, funny, talented, easy to talk to, the closest in age to Keith, funny, fun, laid back, funny, and oh boy how the list could go on ... and on and on and on. Keith found himself drawn to Plak; the older was incredibly social which made spending time with him easy and natural. Plus he was hilarious. But Keith definitely didn't have a crush on him. Nope, it was just a general appreciation for everything about him because he was awesome. Regris would have liked him for sure, oh the trouble they could cause.
The thought had Keith was missing his best friend. He'd said goodbye to Thace approximately 3 vargas ago, and now sat alone in his room. Plak and Proxa had given him the rest of the day cycle to say goodbye to his Uncle and spend some time in the medbay with Ulaz. But the latter didn't need his help, so now he found himself lying on his bed with nothing to do but stare at the ceiling and wish for the sweet relief of death to save him from this crushing boredom.
~ Knock knock ~
The sudden noise startled him and realized he had drifted off into a sort of trance. He grunted to let his guest know they could enter, and resumed his staring contest with the ceiling.
"You ready for a round in the simulators? I want to see what you've got." Plak leaned in the door frame, arms crossed, and a cocky smirk on his face. Keith grinned; this is where he got to shine. Plak may have kicked his ass on the training deck, but Keith owned the simulator!
Jumping up he stretched out his tight limbs before smirking back. "I thought you'd never ask." He arrogantly quipped, walking past his instructor and darting down the hall.
The simulator was identical to the one at headquarters. The settings could be changed to model different pod types ranging from an Empire fighter pod to one of the rebel pods, and everything in between. Currently it was set to one of the Blade's fighter pods and Plak said that once he cleared all of the simulators levels, he would be allowed to practice in the real thing. Except, Plak hadn't expected him to clear all 38 levels in one quintant, without any errors, and breaking the base's highest recorded score in the process; all on his first attempt. He had to admit that it felt pretty damn good to see how impressed Plak was. But if he was being fair, Tok had been one hell of a teacher.
"That was your Uncle's score. He won't be too pleased when he comes back." The older Blade teased.
"Then he'd better step up his game." Keith added to the banter, and his instructor burst out laughing.
9 phoebes had gone by. Keith was a licensed pilot in the Blades now, having passed all of his tests both in the simulator and in the practice pod. Plak said he was a natural pilot and Keith was inclined to agree. He didn't feel complete until he was behind the controls, throwing away his inhibitions and letting the adrenaline take over. He was born to fly – he just didn't have any wings.
Tragok had sent him on several supply runs before but now he was heading out on a real mission, his first mission as a Blade, and he was super pumped. Keith and Rubin were to fly out to a way station, pick up the other two members of their team, then intercept a prisoner transport unit that was carrying one of the rebel leaders. Security would be tight and with Keith being technically still a kit he was to remain on the pod. He had been assigned as the mission's pilot and was ordered to follow the timeline exactly; anyone who didn't make the departure time was left behind. No exceptions. Those were the rules; all Blades knew them.
He hated being the one to leave a team member behind, but he understood the reasoning; better to abandon one agent rather than surrender the entire crew. But just because he understood, didn't mean he had to like it.
So far their mission was going according to plan. The entire crew had been assembled without any complications and they had managed to dock their pod to the base of the transport without detection. Keith waited in the cockpit, monitoring incoming and outgoing signals from the ship in case of trouble. His Blade line buzzed and he answered the com link on his dashboard.
"Ready the engines, we found the prisoner and are ahead of schedule." It was Rubin's voice on the other end, even though their suits were equipped with a modifier, it was still similar enough that he could recognize it.
"Understood. Preparing for departure in 5 dobashes." He began the countdown which would display in the upper right corner of his crew's masks, letting them know how much time was left.
3 dobashes was all they had needed for the entire crew to return with the prisoner. Keith sealed the airlock and released the pod from the underside of the Empire ship. He set their course for the rendezvous point where a group of rebels would be meeting them. One of the two unknown other members of their team began a scan of the rebel leader, checking for any medical complications or tracking devices. Once satisfied, they instructed Keith to hail the rebels and complete their exchange.
The rebel leader was named Te-Osh. She had woken up after roughly a varga and only mildly freaked out at the Galra surrounding her before registering the Blade of Marmora suits and her lack of restraints. She relayed the story of how she was captured and it sounded awesome – terrible that she was a prisoner of the Empire, but the raid they had undertaken was really cool! She was a certified badass in Keith's mind and he hoped the other rebel leaders were as dedicated as she was. That was the only way they could win this war.
She'd been surprised to find out he was only 16 deca-phoebs when she made an offhand comment about how young he looked. At the rendezvous point she had seen him without his mask and her eyes blew wide with shock, asking if he was half Altean. Literally everyone had rolled their eyes; the Alteans were an ancient and extinct species. But it had been good for a chuckle. He corrected her, saying he was half Human and explaining that they looked similar to the Ancient people of Altea, but that they were non-spacefaring.
The exchange went well, some of the rebels shot them dirty looks but overall it had gone smoothly. Te-Osh told them that her fleet would be forever in the Blade of Marmora's debt. All they had to do was ask and she would help in any way she could. Something deep inside him whispered that he should remember her name, he was unsure why but he trusted his gut, so he committed her name and face to memory.
Keith dodged the xanthorium clusters and docked their pod safely in the hangar. Plak, Tragok, and Ulaz had come to great them and he stepped out of the pod only to be sent tumbling by a strong clap on the back from Rubin. He was Plak's older brother but he was far more reserved and harder to impress.
"Well done out there."
"Thank you." He replied and Rubin grunted in acknowledgment before leaving to deliver his mission report to Tragok while Keith was greeted by Plak and Ulaz. He couldn't wait to get back to his room so he could contact his mom and Regris. He was going to relay every little detail of his first mission. It had been his first real mission and it had been a success. Keith had never been more proud of himself in all his life.