The fog in the room made it hard to notice any features at first. As it thinned, they saw they were in some sort of bathhouse, the steam warm and wet against their skin.

  "Ahh, welcome, my magnificent ragtag group of killers. And look at what y'all have done to my sweet Rixon." The Boss smiled, only her head visible above the steam of her bath.

  "You and Beelo really think I'm somebody else because I told you my name is not little dude, nor am I a sweet anything to you. Now get to why we are here." Rixon turned his gaze away from her.

  "Oh, the young, they are never fun to mess with." The Boss began to rise from the water. Droids slid forward with privacy walls, shielding her as she stepped out. "Now look, I have five missions for you. Each one should take about a year or less. You complete them, and you all are free from my service and good to go. I will see that you all are sent to your place of peace you desire."

  "Look, Boss, honestly that was only Rixon's thought for peace, so don't go trying to give us all that hope when you know we don't look at life that way." Masinon said, glancing at the others.

  The Boss emerged from behind the privacy wall fully dressed in loose clothes—a shirt, jogging pants, and sandals. She smirked and walked right down the middle of the group. "Alright, well, follow me. Time for me to give you all the briefing and allow me to vacation with the little time that I have away from the family."

  She led them out of the humid bathhouse into the cool, echoing hallway. "Look, like I said, I have five missions for the next four years for you all, and I need you to understand, as I know Beelo has told you.” She paused, her voice dropping. “There will never be backup. You all are your only backup, so don't forget and protect each other. I know I come off as if I don't care, and you're not wrong, but for the sake of my family, I wish you all safety."

  She entered the elevator, and the group filed in after her.

  "Come on with the sappy stuff. I don't want you or us to fake the funk to act like we care. So where is the first mission, and what does it involve?" Rixon leaned against the elevator wall.

  "Well, to be blunt, it's one division of my family that I despise in every which way. I want the entire branch of them hunted and murdered. No survivors and no sympathy.”

  The elevator hummed as she spoke. “To give you insight into why I want that, they have no kids and no youngsters on the rise. So they are becoming bold and trying to take different branches of other small subdivisions with heirs so they can stay relevant. They are the Plamont humanoid type where they look like us when it comes to their skin, but they are a different type of species from the planet of Nacostas. They have nothing special about them, hence why the Yornkata Empire hasn't had them killed. They hold nothing special."

  The elevator reached its level and opened. She walked off without another word.

  "Done." Relisis said under his breath.

  "It came from the mute, so we must be in agreement? Perfect, because you didn't have a choice." The Boss didn't break stride. "Now, with that being said, you will go after each of these families: The Tassa, The Breli, The Onpi, The Venidin, and the strongest branch next to mine: The Lectinsoros Family Branch. At the end of this, there should only be five major family branches and fewer sub-families. And don't worry, we will not be in contact. I won't give you missions while you're on this four-year journey."

  She stopped and turned, her voice turning glacial. "But keep in mind, if I don't see these things executed, I will send my family to hunt and kill you like the pieces of manure you all are.”

  She led them into a vast hall, toward a door large enough to fit a ship.

  "Yes, ma'am, but before you kick us completely out and on to our possible demise, what is this salvation you keep speaking of but have yet to give to us? Like, what's up with all the suspense? Like, even now we are standing in a dark hallway in front of a huge door." Rixon walked to the front of the group to confront her.

  "Man, I see why y'all made him the leader. He is just so caring. Well, Rixon, my boy, check out this hangar."

  As the door opened, Rixon and the crew looked at what was behind it. The only thing that could react before words could form were their eyes, opening as wide as possible.

  The hangar held Rixon's ship with a fresh paint job, their uniforms hung on the side wall, and their upgraded equipment laid out in organized rows. The lights were almost blinding as they shone on his ship, now colored in gold and black with very tiny line decals of light blue running along the hull like veins of energy.

  "Now, I must say, Rixon, the way you upgraded that ship using the droids was a marvel in itself. I can honestly say some people would be proud of you." The Boss stood in front of it as if she'd just given the presentation of her life.

  Was she trying to say Mom would be proud? The words needled him.

  "Ragtag group of mercs, put on your uniforms and grab your equipment and follow me onto the ship. Meet me in the foyer right before the cockpit after you have settled into your rooms. And speaking of your rooms, they have been attached to your keycards on your uniform comm braces, so it should be easy for all of you to gain entry and get settled. Meet me when you are done. Rixon, your uniform is in your room, and we also put extras in a storage room that you told the droids would be used to store equipment and unused weapons." The Boss walked toward the ship's hangar door.

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  Rixon approached it and felt like a big kid, even though he was the one who had added most of the improvements. He went to the lever and pulled; it came down with ease compared to the first time. When he walked on, all the lights turned on, illuminating the space. The ship was fully running and up to code.

  Rixon and the Boss walked to the table in the foyer before the cockpit.

  "Look, you are about to embark on a journey for me and for the livelihood of your family. I'm going to tell you something that I wish someone had told me when I began my journey and began to grow my own family. Don't ever look at them as expendable, even if they make bad decisions, because we all can't be perfect. Also, to get your freedom, you will need them to help you get started wherever you land." The Boss stood on the opposite side of the table.

  "Nah, what is this crap? Now you want to be my mentor? First day you saw me, you thrashed your fist into my stomach. Like, don't be going sappy on me because I'm not here for that. I barely know you, and to me, the only reason why I'm showing this much respect is due to my mother really connecting with you and your willingness to help us survive your death missions." Rixon stared back into her eyes.

  The others began to walk into the room.

  "Well, don't worry, I'll be out of your hair soon, but look.” She paused, commanding the room. “The person you are looking for right now is Doctor Sentio. He is a wonder kid that is not from our parts. Right now, I have a detail tailing him, but you can't have that info until at least three families are destroyed and killed."

  "What does a Doctor do for me? And where the heck is he from, and how come he is the most special person in this entire galaxy that you're not killing him but tailing him and gaining information?" Rixon said as the others joined his side at the table.

  "Well, listen." The table activated with a hologram popping up. "You see this part of the galaxy that is blank? It is said that over seven millennia, a ship from the planet of Delisus with over five million passengers crossed to this part to escape the galaxy that was being formed, and they did at that time because it was right before any possible passage to that sector was completely closed. It now, as it stands, has over three thousand black holes, which is a death mission for anyone to travel for the next million years. But this Doctor does not come from the galaxy we know. He knew nothing of our way of life or anything about how we exist, but he understood the universal Galactic language." The Boss stared at the spot on the map.

  "How did you come across this being? And like, how do we know you won't steal all the info for yourself to go and take your newly reformed family there?" Lo said, smoking on his joint and blowing smoke out his nose.

  "I must say, for you, Relisis, and Rixon to be all a year apart, the life each of you have lived is really showing." She took a long pull from Lo's joint before continuing. "But back to your question, do you not remember what I said to you all? I will not be passing on any information. So anything you learn will only be yours. And as to how I came in contact with him, he crash landed here on this planet, and Beelo took him in and noticed he was built different from the rest of us but had genetic patterns of a Delisurian."

  "But that isn't the only reason why you haven't taken the information, is it?" Kiala peered into the eyes of the Boss.

  "Correct again. The reason I'm tailing him and not killing him is because of the genetic thing that makes him an enemy of the Yornkata Empire. As you all have seen with each other, you have what I have called 'humanoid' characteristics." The Boss handed the joint back to Lo.

  "Yeah, I was going to ask because I never heard of that when you said that earlier. And see my interest is not as big as the others, but I wouldn't mind learning some vocabulary on any day." Masinon said, taking the joint from Lo.

  "Yeah, that was a term that a group came up with in a Delisus research team, as only certain species have the ability to do what humanoid species can do. And that is evolve to any planet they are on. That is the real reason the Yornkata Empire is hunting down every humanoid species.” She let the statement hang in the air for a moment. “So they are the only species that can do it and stop all others from being able to follow them from planet to planet to stop them. As other species in the galaxy that are not humanoid cannot evolve to other planets. The other reason I own this planet is because those 'uncivilized tribes' on the ground actually are humanoids the Empire does not know of, and I told them to act that way in secret."

  "Wait, so those bastards heard me when I told them to stop chasing me and chose to speak in another language I did not understand? I had to kill two of them. Did you know that?" Rixon said, his confusion tightening his voice.

  "Oh, I know, but that is the deal. They test any candidates that I feel need to be tested, as these will possibly be the ones who will take them away from this war-stricken galaxy." The Boss chuckled, an evil smirk on her face.

  "Yep, time for you to go. One thing at a time because there ain't no way you're trying to entrust us with an entire village of people. That is crazy." Rixon walked to the cockpit and began preparing for lift-off.

  "I knew you and Kiala would be the only ones to catch that first time, but look, I will be leaving now. Go handle those degenerate families for me, and you and your family can decide what needs to be done then." The Boss walked down the hallway.

  As soon as she went out of sight, the ship started to rise. But it wasn't from the ship's engines—the entire floor the ship sat on began to ascend like a massive elevator. The walls of the hangar bay, which had held their equipment moments before, seemed to fold away and vanish, becoming seamless, dull metal.

  "Yo, what is this crap? And Rixon, I know you're ready to go, but you do see that we are surrounded by four walls?" Masinon stumbled slightly from the unexpected movement.

  "Come here. That wasn't me. Strap in. There are six spots available in the cockpit. I don't know what this witch has in mind, but I don't like it." Rixon pushed buttons and flipped switches, priming the ship's engines.

  As the crew strapped in, they looked up. A huge door was sliding open above them as they reached the top of the shaft. They emerged outside, on the roof of the tall rectangular building.

  A transmission flickered across the cockpit windshield. On it were Beelo and the Boss, both wearing masks.

  "Alright, this will be the last time we talk. When you return, it will hopefully be your go-away party, so treat Velo and Beelo good on your return, please. Other than that, be gone and start your mission." The Boss stood outside their ship.

  "Righhhtttttt." Relisis said in a sarcastic tone.

  Everyone in the cockpit broke into laughter. Rixon ended the transmission. Then he took off with his new crew, heading for the sector of the galaxy where the Tassa Family were mainly located.