The First Flame sneak peek

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“Lieutenant, you have been summoned by the General.”

Ran tossed down her tablet and reached for her neck brace. Instantly, her armor stretched across her body, covering her limbs and printing a sword at her hip. The technology was pretty handy.

If only it would do something about this mane of hair and stop suffocating my boobs.

She gripped her long, brown locks and stuffed them into a ponytail. The generator had been designed for men, so no one thought to code hair control into it.

She walked out of her cabin, her armor clanking against the floor of the spaceship with every step. Men stood to attention when she crossed them, stomping their right foot out of respect for their Lieutenant.

She went to the flight deck and greeted the man on the screen by stacking her forearms and stomping her foot. “Commander Kirokis?”

“Greetings, Lieutenant Ran. How are you accommodating to your position?”

“Well, sir.”

He asked the same question two weeks ago, and she gave the same answer.

“Lieutenant, a warrior has requested a duel.”

Another one? 

She graduated from the academy two months ago and had been serving as a Lieutenant for one. In that little time, three soldiers challenged her for her position. All failed.

“Lieutenant?”

She stood straighter, her face remaining stoic. “Understood, General. I accept the challenge.”

“Good. I will summon you when I have further details.”

She stomped her foot. “Long live the Federation.”

“Long live the Federation,” the General repeated before signing off.

“Is there anything you need?“ She asked the flight Captain.

“No, Lieutenant. I have uploaded today’s logs to your personal tablet.”

She nodded and walked back to her cabin.

“Another duel?”

She nearly groaned. She had a meeting with the other six Lieutenants. Usually, they communicated over comms, but they couldn’t risk the transmission being hacked, so the meeting had to happen in person.

“You’re early, Siox. The meeting does not start for another two hours.”

Lieutenant Siox was leaning against her spaceship's wall, contaminating it with his presence. He wore civilian clothing, as if he was confident that he didn’t need his armor.

He was mocking her as usual.

“Did you accept the duel?”

That’s none of your business.

She nodded.

“The duels just keep piling on,” he said, licking his lips. He was a powerful, relatively handsome male. If his heart weren’t darker than the nearest black hole, perhaps Ran would have found him attractive.

“You know, Ran, it is only a matter of time before…”

“Lieutenant Siox, please use my title when addressing me,” she interjected.

His eye twitched. The academy taught all soldiers about emotion-repression in the academy, but Siox must have skipped those lessons. He was very easy to read, because he only owned one emotion– anger, and he wore it more often than his armor.

“What do you think would happen if I dueled you, Lieutenant Ran? I would win and take it all from you. But I am a generous male, so if you bed me, I would leave you alone. Just give in–”

Poof.

“Lieutenant Siox! Oh, sir, you have my apologies!”

Ran examined her savior. He was one of the janitors, low in rank. At his feet was a tipped over dustpan.

“Incompetent just like your Lieutenant,” Siox snarled as he brushed the dust off his pants.

Ran turned sharply, letting her blade cut Siox’s leg. “Oops. Sorry, Lieutenant Siox. I’m just so incompetent.”

She sent the janitor a subtle nod and left a blustering Siox behind. 

She kept her head high until she reached her cabin, where she allowed herself to sink into her bed and grip her hair.

Siox was a serious problem. He was the General’s son, so trying to remove him from his position would cause a huge rift in The Federation. Ran wasn’t particularly liked, so they would probably push her reports aside.

After The Vanishing wiped their females, leaving all four planets barren, The Federation desperately sought a way to escape extinction. They figured out how to create babies in laboratories, but they could only create boys. Although Ran traveled across the stars to serve these four planets and learn more about their ways, The Federation was ungrateful. They were convinced that they didn’t need women since they had their technology, laboratories, and sex toys.

If only Siox would shove a dildo so far up his– 

Her tablet projected an image of her mother.

She touched her neck brace to recede her armor and sat on the bed.

“Hey, mom.”

“Hi, sweetheart. How are you?”

“Its been rough.”

Her mother shook her head. “Ran, just come home. Those people do not deserve you. You have done enough to bring them to their feet.”

She sighed. “I can’t give up. That would give them satisfaction.”

“There’s that fiery look in your eyes. I wish you hadn’t inherited your father’s stubbornness.”

“Actually, she got that from you.” Her father appeared and kissed her mother’s temple.

“Get off me, Vrox!”

Vrox chuckled. “Hello Ran.”

“Hi daddy.”

“Come home, yes? I miss you. Your sisters and uncles miss you too. It is time to settle down.” He grunted when someone jumped at his back. “Terra, how many times must I tell you to not jump around? You will get injured one day. Fathers, Mothers and Fates, you girls do not listen. Just like your mother. You are never still. Always have to be bouncing off the walls. One day–”

“I love you guys!” Ran said before disconnecting the call. Once her father started rambling about safety, not even a Vanishing would shut him up.

He wouldn't have let her travel to The Federation. The only way she escaped his watchful gaze was by stealing Ezron's only spaceship and driving in search of adventure.  She was eighteen when she kissed her sisters and mother, and ran away with her father hot on her heels.

Ezron made first contact with The Federation a decade ago and exchanged information. Both of them wanted to find their females, but didn't get very far.

She missed her family, but it wasn’t time to go home yet. Something told her that her adventure just began.

She jumped into the shower and washed away the stench of Siox. She had to get ready to meet the other five Lieutenants that were coming for the meeting.

Dedicated to Alexa, Mikayla, Anna & Ash

Terra + Ran = Terran. They are sisters.

This story will reveal more about The Vanishing. This story will be updated along with Preg-Not. The last chapter of Kyros' story is coming tomorrow.