Chapter One: Dreams or Memories
Sil
It was quiet.
Almost unnaturally quiet. Like all sound had been completely snuffed out.
There was one sound however, a slight ringing noise, there but at the same time not there. "This is getting weird" Sil thought to herself noting that her vision was blurry too "where am I?"
She tried to see where she was and make out the surrounding area to no avail.
"Damn it, what's wrong with me, why can't I see?" Sil kicked some blurry dirt out from under her two towed boots. Why was there so much dirt anyway? Last she checked she was in a bar run by a group of local Keg Yar traders, playing a game of cards. They were celebrating after she and her Uncle had completed a big cargo job, which ended in killing a lot of Jerohanae and Keg Yar pirates.
Now where was she? Sil was about to scream in frustration when she noticed a lone building surrounded by a stone wall.
"That wasn't there before " Sil thought to herself wondering if it was safe to take a look. Seeing no other option, she made her way to the stony building.
There was still no sound, other than the constant ringing that was slowly increasing in pitch and getting louder and louder the closer she got.
By the time she got to the old, large wooden gate at the front of the wall the ringing had become unbearable. " I need to get out of here". Sil could barely think, the ringing burned the inside of her head and she did the only thing she could do.
Sil reached for the gate and suddenly her hand was wrenched back by a swirling mass of black smoke.
Sil tried to brake free but found that she had no strength.
She looked at her arms to find that they were small, too small. Her legs were also too small, her body thin and fragile, reduced to a six year old Sangheili child.
She looked up and saw the gaping mouth of a demon with one single piercing red eye.
Sil woke screaming, already on her feet and in a fighting stance, her blade in hand ready to kill anything that moved. Then she realised that she was in her room aboard her Uncle's ship.
She also realised she was still wearing her cloths and boots and the light was on but not so much it hurt.
Then Sil smelled it, cheap Keg Yar booze.
Sil chuckled "So that's how I don't remember last night… I got drunk" Sil said to herself, relieved. Uncle Jack must have dragged her back to the ship when she got a little too tipsy and left her to recover in her room. Well, that explained why the light was still on.
What couldn't be explained was that dream.
It was too vivid to be a normal dream but what did it mean? Never in her life did she feel so helpless. Even when her Uncle did things for her, it never felt the way it felt in that nightmare. Before she could ponder over it anymore she heard the heavy thuds of her Uncle's fists pounding on the door. "Sil are you awake?" came the deep rumbling voice of Uncle Jack, he must not of heard her scream if he was just checking up on her now. With a sigh, Sil lazily dropped her blade on the bed and walked over to the door, pressing the activation switch, which opened it. Standing in front of her nearly two metres tall, with large muscles, dark skin, short grayish-black hair and matching beard, was Uncle Jack. Before Sil could even say a single word Uncle Jack said " You should remember not to guzzle it down next time we have a big celebration." Sil could not even find the words, he had pretty much said it all. "You should go and do some exercise and work the alcohol out of your system, then get a shower. I won't even describe what your breath smells like". Should she tell him about her dream? What would he say about it? She decided not to. It was probably nothing. Clenching all four of her jaws together she simply nodded and left to go down the hall and in to the cargo bay. But before she could go out the door Uncle Jack put a hand on her shoulder and simply said " Happy sixteenth birthday ".
Sil tried her best to smile but having a four-way jaw made it hard. With that, she made her way to the cargo bay for some much needed exercise.
Jackson 001
It had been a while since the celebration of last night's cargo job and Sil had gotten herself drunk and was sleeping it off. It was also Sil's birthday. To think it's been exactly ten years since he first…
"No" Jackson shook his head. He didn't want to even think about it, not now.
Being nearly two meters tall and the ship wasn't that big to begin with it didn't take him long to get to Sil's room.
He knocked three times on the door and said "Sil are you awake?"
There was no reply.
He was about to knock again when the door slid open and there, with her torn up leather jacket, short black trousers and brown leather boots, was Sil.
"You should remember not to guzzle it down next time we have a celebration".
From her expression, he could tell he had said everything she needed to hear. He also reminded her that she really needed exercise and take a shower, before he let her go Jackson put a hand on her shoulder and said "Happy sixteenth birthday".
That caught her off guard and she cracked a smile, well at least something that resembled a smile, but Jackson didn't need to be a Sangheili to tell she was beaming.
Jackson stood there long enough to watch Sil round the corner at the bottom of the hall and disappear into the cargo bay.
Jackson wanted to join her but he had some unfinished business to attend to first.
Back in the cockpit, Jackson came back in time to see that someone was trying to call him, "And I bet I know who" he thought taking a seat at the controls.
He took a moment to collect himself before accepting the call and opening the channel.
A video feed came through the screen in front of him, and as he had guessed, it was none other than Kala Van, his Keg Yar contractor. In other words, his boss.
Kala, as always was siting in her command chair no doubt looking over her entire business operation.
Her features were not that much different from a male Keg Yar apart from being slightly smaller and more scaly. For some reason her skull always reminded him of a birds.
"Ah Jackson, my favorite Human, how have you been lately?" Kala's high, crackly voice made Jackson's skin crawl, and he swore it always sounded like she was flirting with him.
"I take it the cargo job went off with out a hitch?" Jackson could barley contain his anger "You know damn well what happened." He contained his rage through clenched teeth trying to compose himself. "Me and Sil almost died because you failed to mention that the space we traveled through had, not just Keg Yar, but Jeroghonae pirates as well".
Kala grinned, leaning back in her chair. "I might have kept that little detail from you" she said not even bothering to look sorry. "If I had told you, what would have happened? You would have never taken the job, and you're very good at what you do, am I right?"
Jackson stayed silent, his jaw muscles tight with anger.
"Oh don't take it so personally" Kala said, "It worked out in the end, you should be hap.." Jackson cut her off.
"You still should have told me the risks, now give us our payment." Kala brought up her arm and raised a finger.
"Uh uh uh, not so fast. I have one more thing I need you to do for me".
"Do NOT, TEST me" Jackson's anger was over flowing now.
"WE went through hell to get this job done and….and you're telling me there's more."
"You forget that it was I who brought you the most profit."
"It was me who did the jobs no one else had the stomach for" Kala didn't even so much as twitch, in fact she seem rather amused.
"You forget, that it was I who took you and Sil in all those years ago, I gave you food, shelter, I even gave you a ship". "And most importantly, I gave you medicine for Sil's mental condition. She would have died if it were not for me. You owe me".
Defeated, Kala had put him in a corner, and she knew it. Knowing full well that her point was justified.
"Ok, what do you want me to do" Jackson said leaving no hint of emotion in his tone.
"I knew you would come around", Kala said "After this I promise you and I are even." This time Kala had dropped her flirting and carefree image, and was now serious.
"I have transmitted landing coordinates to your ship to help a certain someone on the planet Vinasiae. There, you will get the rest of your mission details and payment too." Kala leaned forward in her chair, clasping her hands together and looking straight into Jackson's eyes. "This is a secret contract, only you and your crew are allowed to know of it."
Jackson stone face expression changed into a smirk "Is that it, or is there more unexpected things in this along the way. Cause if you lie to me, you know what ill do."
Kala cut the feed but not before saying "You make your own way from here, only time can tell you what lays ahead."
Jackson sat there looking at the now empty screen thinking about what he had just got him and Sil into now.
With a sigh he got up from his seat, walked over to the door just out side the cockpit and pressed a button to open the door.
Inside the room was a small bed in the corner, a desk and a weapon rack.
What stood out the most however was a large stand and upon it was a complete black set of scared, battered and half melted suit of, Mark V Spartan armor.
Sil
Sil spent the better part of an hour working what was left of the alcohol out of her system.
She went though several different exercises, which consisted of, weight lifting, sit ups, pull-ups, even jogging on the spot, finishing it all up running on a treadmill.
With all the alcohol finally out of her system she did what uncle Jack told her and hit the shower.
While in the shower, Sil could not stop thinking about that dream she had had. It felt too real, like it wasn't a dream at all. More like a memory, and it had something to do with that old stone building. But every time she thought of it the image of that monster came flooding back, and with it, a slight pain.
Sil looked at her four-fingered hand and found it was shaking slightly. She felt lightheaded, she took some deep breaths to try and clam herself down. When she looked again her hand was still, and the pain in her head had lessened.
After a good fifteen minutes in the shower, Sil came out with her hair still damp and a towel on the back of her neck. She was about to go see her uncle in the cockpit when she heard some scuffling coming from the back of a couple of crates.
Knowing that they had had stowaways in the past, Sil quietly went over to one of the weights and picked it up. Now armed, she silently moved to the crates and got ready to hit whoever was hiding.
What came out from the crates wasn't a stowaway, but the ship's janitor, an Ungoe named Yim Yam.
"Yim Yam!" Sil shouted out, putting the weight down and rushing over to give the small alien a big bear hug. Yim Yam yelped in surprise as his arms were pined to his sides and he was lifted off the floor.
"Ouch, Mistress Sil" Yim Yam cried out "Yim Yam not expect you to sneak up on him, Mistress" Sil looked at him "You getting me wet".
"OH sorry" Sil said putting him down "I didn't mean to scare you".
"Not scare" Yim Yam said, "You just startled me is all".
Sil laughed and said "I'm just happy to see you're ok, considering you took on a brute with a mop and bucket of water".
Yim Yam laughed to "Yim Yam know that putting soup water in someone's eyes, makes it hard for them to see you Mistress".
Sli crouched and put a hand on Yim Yam's head, giving him a quick ruffle, "You know you don't have to keep calling me Mistress, it's just Sil".
Yim Yam just shrugged and said "Yim Yam can't help it. Yim Yam was taught to always call the ones who own him, Master or Mistress, Mistress".
"But I don't own you" Sil said "Come on I told you this before. We're friends, ship mates, we all do our part, and help each other" Sil sighed, "Well I'm glad you're ok. What were you doing back there anyway?"
Yim Yam looked around and scratched his head, "Yim Yam heard some noises, coming from the back of the room" he snorted under his breathing mask, "Might be some yummy rats".
Sil didn't want to think about her friend's eating habits, so she got up and turned in the direction of the cargo bay door and said "Well, see you later".
Before she could take two steps, Yim Yam caught her wrist, stopping her, "Wait Mistress, Yim Yam just remembered" The small Ungoe said cheerfully.
Sil turned to see he had a necklace in his over-sized hand, her necklace.
"You dropped this at the bar. You know you were pulling funny faces back there".
Yim Yam looked a bit embarrassed "Yim Yam thought he should give it back to you. He know how much you like it".
Sil didn't know what to say, she simply took it, and looked at it.
It was a length of thin thread, with a small emerald gem and a crystal in the center. Her most treasured possession. She had had it since she was just a child.
Sil shook her head, collecting her thoughts. Finally she managed to say, "Thank you Yim Yam, this means a lot to me. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost it. Thank you".
Yim Yam puffed up his chest with pride and said "Ah it nothin'".
Sil gave him one last hug before heading out of the cargo bay, past her own room and in to the cockpit.
Sil didn't find her uncle at the controls; instead she was met with an empty room.
"He must be in his room then!" she thought, back tracking out of the cockpit and facing her uncle's room door.
She was about to knock on the door when she saw a note stuck to it.
Sil peeled the note off the door and started reading it.
"Sil if you're reading this, I want you to start up the engines, take us into orbit and punch in these numbers" The rest of the note was a list of numbers leading to a planet she had heard about before.
"Vinasia!" Sil thought.
But that planet is just a frozen wasteland. It had no life on it, and as far as she knows, no one went there, it was just too hazardous.
"I'm going to have a little chat with uncle once he's done doing whatever it is he's doing".
Sil took a seat at the controls and got to work.
After getting the ship in orbit she typed in the list of numbers, automatically kicking in the sub light engines.
Now that the ship was on course, Sil had pretty much had nothing to do.
There was the sound of a door cycling open and something heavy thudding through the now open door.
Sil poked her head around the seat to see her uncle in his old, battle-worn, black power armor.
Sil couldn't remember what the armor was called, but that wasn't important.
What was important was if he is wearing his armor, things were going to be serious.
"Are we on course?" came the now metallic voice of her uncle.
"Yes, we should get there in a day at this speed. Are you going to tell me what we're doing, and why we're going to Vinasia?"
Sil's uncle took his helmet off and from his expression, she could tell it wasn't going to be good.
