Silent Howling: Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Getting there

Towards the back of the drop ship lay a small room with a large semi-circular window over looking the bow of the large craft. The room was occupied by two chairs, a small table and a cabinet with snacks and drinks. Seth was fixing up some drinks and sandwiches whilst Jonas sat on one of the chairs. Seth turned to Jonas.

“So Jonas, where are you from?” Seth asked as he sat opposite Jonas on the small round table, bringing the refreshments with him.

“The Bernard and Felix Foundation colony Havita. Well, what’s left of it.” Jonas looked down at the steaming black liquid. Its look resembled that of black coffee, however due to the radiation that inhabits the planet, most food was now processed and handed out by the companies or bought directly from them. So there was no way this coffee was fresh. He picked up the mug, blew on it, took a sip and set it back down again.

“What do you mean, what’s left of it?” Seth asked with a good deal of confusion, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

“About eight months ago, the colony was attacked by some company and was almost eradicated. It was a covert attack so we never found out who did it.” Jonas replied with a shrug.

“Why’d they attack?”

“We were working on the Spirit of Motherwill. It was supposed to be top secret at the time. I guess it wasn’t as secret as they'd hoped.”

“You worked on the Spirit of Motherwill?”
“Yeah. Different B.F.F colonies were tasked with working on different parts. Havita worked on one of it's legs.”
“What did you do after that then?”

“Well me and my best friend Jessie made it out alive. We didn’t know who else did. But B.F.F denied all knowledge of the colony, the project or the attack, claiming it was just a story to ruin its reputation. I never found out if my parents made it out alive.” Jonas looked at his sandwich. The bread was thick and grainy and the meat inside it resembled that of canned beef. Anyway, it looked good after the battle so Jonas wasn’t so picky. Picking it up, he took a large bite and munched contently.

“So I suppose since then you’ve been a merc right?” Jonas swallowed his bite and looked towards Seth.

“Yeah. We operated out of the remains of Havita. No-one went there anymore, it was the perfect spot. I gathered all the survivors I could and we made a go of it. We’re doing alright for ourselves so far.”

“Fair enough. If you do decide to join, it won’t be hard at all to integrate your team into ours.”  
“Yeah, about that. What makes you think I'm safe enough to join your team?” Jonas interrupted.
“Well after our Nexts docked and we parted ways, I got my friends at home to do a check on you through Collared.” After the Companies began the Lynx War that had ravaged the planet with Kojima radiation, the League was formed and they created Collared with the purpose of managing and controlling Lynx throughout the world. Everything was done through Collared, and they were the middle men between Lynx and the Companies. They had since become a shadow of their former selves, becoming mostly a watering hole for corporate mission brokers. “You came out clean. You have a good mission success rate too, even if you do avoid the high risk jobs.”
“Well I don't quite have the luxury of getting killed, to many mouths to feed.”
“Haha, I get ya, I started alone too. That is, until I met Ellysia.” Seth leaned back on his chair and closed his eyes.

“Ellysia? Who’s she.”

“My girlfriend. And also second in command.”

“I see. When did you meet her then?”

“About half a year ago now, she was my assigned team mate for a mission.” Seth sat forward again, if he was thinking of her, he was done now.

“Okay then. So how much further is to this base of yours hmm?

“About an hour. I’m going to check up on the cockpit. I'll be back soon.” Seth chugged some more coffee and picked up what was left of his sandwich before leaving the room.

Jonas got up out of his chair and looked out the window as he pondered his thoughts. He was anxious, heading into unknown territory with no idea of what was coming. It occurred to him that he may have made a mistake, he thought about how he should have declined the offer there and then. But it seemed like a good idea at the time. He hoped it would turn out that way.