Standard Disclaimer: All These characters belong to Ubisoft, of course. I didn't design any of them except for taking the liberty to name Jade's parents. Please enjoy it.
Chapter One
Iris found nothing to be more relaxing or more pleasurable than sitting and looking at her baby girl, sound asleep. She sat holding the child close to her breast and stroked her short black hair. Whether she was talking to her or singing to her not even Iris knew. She was so enraptured by the helpless and trusting little girl in her arms that she payed no attention to her own actions.
Iris found she could sit for hours, never moving except for the gentle caressing motions of her hands. Time was never a great concern to Iris for she had no sense of its ceaseless passage as she sat with her daughter.
The baby stirred from her slumber and looked up at her mother. It didn't matter how many times she did this, her shockingly deep green eyes always startled Iris. The baby's gaze gripped at her heart. It was the colour of her eyes that gave the child her name.
"Jade." Iris mumbled to herself. She loved the child with every ounce in her body. "My precious Jade, I love you so much." Jade, being only six months old, could not possibly comprehend what her mother was saying. Yet there was something that Iris saw in the infant's shining eyes, some level of understanding. "I know you love me too." she said, "You're so smart honey. You really are such a special little girl." This was not just the talk of a mother in love with her child. There really was something special about Jade; something different that set her apart from others, a great power and also a great curse.
"It's a terrible burden, I know. They'll never stop hunting you for it, baby," Iris continued stroking the child's head, "but you have nothing to worry about. Mommy and Daddy both love you so much. We'll never let them hurt you. That's a promise."
Jade nestled back into her mother and fell asleep again. Iris continued stroking her baby's jet-black hair, which she inherited from her mother. Iris's hair flowed down over her shoulders in long waves of the deepest black. Jade's father, Mytch, had blonde hair. Jade's eyes however, were unique to herself as Mytch had blue eyes and Iris, being of Earth Asian decent, had deep brown eyes. Jade's eyes were simply another sign that there was something wonderful about the baby, something special buried deep within the infant.
Iris stood up and carefully placed the baby back into her crib as if she were laying some ancient treasure back into its chest. She bent down and placed a tender kiss on Jade's forehead. "Sleep tight sweetie." Iris said, "I'm just going to see what Daddy and Uncle Pey'j are up to."
Iris stopped before she went out the door. She turned to look at Jade once more. There are many kinds of love: the love one can have for something inanimate, or a certain kind of food, a love that people can share with a close pet. Also, a love that people can have for each other, whether it is the love of two friends or the closer, more intimate kind that two lovers share. However, none of these kinds of love come close to the strength of the love of a mother for her child. No feeling or human emotion is stronger and Iris arguably felt it more so than any other mother before her. Iris sighed happily and turned the lights low for her child, then she pulled the door shut behind her.
Jade opened her eyes and watched her mother leave the room. For a brief moment, as the door slid shut with a quiet click, her eyes lit up in a brilliant flash, but then Jade shifted and the light faded. Putting her thumb into her mouth, Jade's eyelids drooped and she fell asleep once more.
· · ·
Mytch tapped furiously away at his computer terminal. The radio was blasting in the background but he payed it no attention, he was lost completely in thought. Mytch had spent many sleepless nights on his computer trying to work out all the kinks in the computer system for the Beluga, his spacecraft. He was having trouble getting the computer to equalize fuel injection into the twin engines.
Determined to get the Beluga working as soon as possible, Mytch would not stop until he got it working without a hitch.
Iris didn't like this very well and she made sure he knew she didn't. The arguments were always exactly the same. "You're working yourself too hard." she'd say, "You're going to collapse from exhaustion!"
"I'm fine!" Mytch would argue back. "Besides, getting the Beluga up and working takes top priority over all else."
"Not when it comes to your health." Iris always said.
Usually the two would start yelling at each other, but it was never serious. There was a deep understanding between the two of them and while they seemed angry outwardly, inwardly they both knew they loved each other. Iris was only looking out for what was best for her husband and the same was true for Mytch. Getting the Beluga working would mean one more thing to keep her and their beloved Jade safe. That was why he was now staring intently at his computer monitor, thinking hard for a solution to his problem.
He almost had it working, he only needed the onboard computer to work out a balance in fuel consumption on the Beluga's start-up. Once the twin engines were actually running there was no problem. Mytch turned to his assistant, an artificial intelligence he had created, whose handsome holographic face was displayed on a separate monitor. "Secundo, run a diagnostic on this for me would you? I think I'm getting closer."
"No problemo, uno momento señor."
Secundo flashed a grin at Mytch then furrowed his brow in a look of deep concentration. Mytch couldn't help but chuckle at Secundo's behaviour. His outer appearance and personality subroutines had been designed by Iris who thought his assistant needed a little "flair" as she called it. Secundo certainly had a kind of "flair" about him that was for sure.
Secundo spoke up, "Diagnostic complete. Fuel injection ratio is still off by 9.8863014. Sorry boss, but this is mucho closer than last time, no?"
Mytch leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Closer yes, but still not perfect."
"It is most definitely within permissible bounds. Why you need to work yourself to the bone to try to make any more of a difference?" Secundo offered.
Mytch narrowed his eyes at the hologram, "Did Iris tell you to say that?" he asked.
Secundo made a pathetic attempt to look surprised, "What are you talking about? Of course this is my own thought. The señora made no such suggestion to me, I'll tell you that! I say it out of concern for my creator."
Mytch laughed, "Yeah, I'm sure."
"Señor, I'm shocked! You think I lie to you?"
Mytch didn't get a chance to reply, from out in the hangar came a large boom followed by a string of curses. Mytch leapt out of his chair and ran into the adjacent hangar where the Beluga was on a raised platform for working underneath it.
Thick greasy black smoke was pouring out of the right engine and Mytch heard coughing and swearing coming from underneath the platform.
"You damn fool piece o' trash machinery!" came the curses, "Damned thing fallin' to pieces on me like that!" Several large crashes followed the string of curses and Mytch flinched. The curser was beating on the Beluga, he knew.
Mytch could see that there was not a serious problem but the smoke was pretty heavy. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and gave the engine a few blasts to stop the worst of it.
From underneath the platform came another string of curses, "Watch where ya spray that stuff, flagnamit! Ye'll get it all over me!" The foul-mouthed rager climbed out from underneath the platform and stood up.
Mytch laughed out loud, "Pey'j, you're a sight. I don't think you have to worry about getting this on you, you're completely black with filth!"
Pey'j looked down at himself, "Aw shoot, this was one o' my cleaner shirts too!"
Mytch snorted, "They all still smell like a sty to me."
"Why you-" Pey'j began, but then he started to laugh too. Pey'j was a young Sus Sapiens, an alien race that very much resembled Earth pigs. Pey'j was often on the receiving end of many pig jokes.
"I'll be damned if we ever get this blasted thing workin' properly!" Pey'j said, smacking the Beluga on her side. "If it ain't one problem it's another! You get that engine thing worked out yet?"
"No, not yet." Mytch said shrugging, "But don't worry, I will."
"Oh I ain't worried, ye've never let us down yet. I'm jus' sorry I can't be mucha help to ya. I ain't no computer whiz like you are." Pey'j said.
"And I'd be lost in the mechanics of this thing if it weren't for you." Mytch said.
"Ah hell, don't get all fuzzy now, I was jus' sayin'…" Pey'j said. Both Pey'j and Mytch were geniuses in their own fields. There was no piece of machinery that Pey'j couldn't make or fix and there was no computer program Mytch couldn't design. The problem was that neither of them knew anything about each other's trade. That rarely caused a problem, however, as the two of them worked as such a close team.
"You better get cleaned up Pey'j. We'll call it a day for now." Mytch said.
"Yeah, yer prob'ly right. We'll tackle this with a fresh start tomorrow."
The two of them started to head out when Pey'j's floppy ears perked up at the sound of a news report on the radio.
"Newsflash! DomZ attack on Paryya IV!" the radio proclaimed, "P.A.D.F. (Paryyan Anti-DomZ Forces) were quick to respond, driving off the enemy as quick as possible. Thankfully casualties were low."
Pey'j and Mytch exchanged glances. The DomZ? So close? Mytch, Pey'j, Iris and Jade lived on Paryya III, one of six were moons that orbited the planet Paryya. It was impossible for DomZ to be sighted in this remote region of the galaxy! And yet…
"This is the first sighting of the DomZ in the Paryyan system in over five years." the announcer went on, "Should citizens be worried? Head chief of P.A.D.F., Holum Feur, commented on the situation." The voice of Chief Feur cuts in over top of the announcer's, "Citizens of the Paryyan system have nothing to fear. This was an isolated incident, I do not believe the DomZ will be making a come back in this area any time soon." The announcer continues, "Soothing words, but are they the truth? Only time will tell for sure. In this reporter's opinion, citizens shouldn't get too comfortable." The reporter moved on, "In other news, intergalactically-acclaimed pop star Fengo Mints will be performing tomorrow for…" Mytch clicked the radio off and turned to Pey'j who was standing frozen solid in his tracks. The young porcine face was contorted with worry.
After an incredibly long silence, Mytch spoke up, "You don't think that-"
"What? They know she's here? Nah, there's no way they coulda tracked her down that quickly. T'ain't no way in hell." Pey'j's voice was strong with conviction, but the expression on his face betrayed his voice. "Should we tell Iris 'bout all this?" he asked.
"No, it could just be nothing, a small coincidence, that's all." Mytch said, "There's no need to worry her yet if it's not a big problem. We won't tell her."
"Tell me what?" came a voice from behind them.
Both Pey'j and Mytch whirled around and saw Iris standing in the doorway of the hangar.
"Mytch, honey, tell me what?" she said again.
· · ·
The DomZ priest was angry. For the past few months he had carried out an exhaustive search. Shauni, that which he searched for, was more important to him than anything else in the galaxy. He had to find it. But where? That was the question. Where? Where was Shauni? He was quite sure it no longer inhabited that which it had. The prior host was his now, a part of him, flowing within him. He could feel his energy coursing throughout him, giving him life just as thousands of others like him.
For months the DomZ priest had stretched his power to it's utmost peak. He knew if he didn't find the new host soon he might lose it forever. But no, that was not really a problem. He would always be drawn to Shauni, wherever it might end up.
He thought he had it, he felt it, felt it strong. A pull. The feeling. Something only Shauni could cause. He felt it. He knew he did. He was positive it was Shauni. Where? Where? Where was Shauni? Paryya? The Paryya system? Was Shauni there? Was it? The feeling was strong. Yes, he had been sure of it.
The Paryyan system, he had gone. He had willed his loyal DomZ to take him there. They traveled in stealth, always in stealth. That was the way the DomZ worked. Surprise. Yes, surprise worked best. Sneaky sneaky.
He had felt for sure Shauni was on Paryya III. Yes, he felt it. He willed his DomZ down to the surface of the moon. They had done well, they always did. They brought many back to him. They were all a part of him now, keeping him alive. But he was angry. None of them were that which he sought. Why? Where was Shauni? He had been sure of its presence on Paryya. He was never wrong.
At least it wasn't all in vain. He had more to feed him, to stoke the slowly fading fire of his life force. All he needed was Shauni. With it he would not need to live off the lives of others any longer. Nothing but a sickening parasite he'd been reduced to. It sickened him! The injustice that had been done to him made him retch. He was the greatest of all DomZ. The DomZ were clearly meant to be rulers of the galaxy. Those disgusting insolent creatures! How could they do this to their superior?
The DomZ priest was exhausted from stretching his power beyond its limit. He could be angry later, for now he needed to rest.
· · ·