Jamarion Silksteel was a man with a purpose, that was obvious. Things were bleak back then - we only had one system on our side, funds were limited, weaponry was practically nonexistent. Even with Fiasco on our side, things seemed hopeless.
He signed up for the rebellion, but it was clear he had other goals. He was here for the money and intel. Armed with a concussion gun (16 shots, loud as hell) and not much else, he started doing the work. First it was a small job, stealing some knick-knack from a nothing little trader ship. Then it was a big job - rescuing a political prisoner from a huge Sovereign ship. Same tools, same results.
Nobody doubted that he was a violent man. He eventually took to carrying a massive wrench along with his concussion gun - I can only imagine what he was doing with those in tandem. We didnât question his methods, and he kept delivering results.
The weird thing was the body count - it didnât exist. Hell, he once brought an assassination target back to the base, kicking and screaming all the way to the drop point. Getting smashed in the head with a wrench isnât the best way to end your day, but itâs a hell of a lot better than the alternative.
He only killed anyone once, a Sovereign job that went wrong thanks to some bastard with a Glitch teleporter. He picked up a nearby gun and fired without thinking, and that was that. At least, thatâs what the security footage seemed to show - it was almost too fast to process.
His demeanor changed after that, somehow. He walked faster, made less eye contact, barely talked, as if he was racing to a finish line nobody else saw.
Still, the jobs got done, and soon another system was clamoring to join this newly effective rebellion. Then another. And another.
Then one day, Jamarion Silksteel left. And he didnât come back. Rumors that he was dead started circulating, or worse - that heâd defected. For days it was all that people could talk about.
And then he did come back, carrying a girl no older than 12 over his shoulder. She wasnât struggling, but she was alive. Barely. He rushed her down to the medbay with more urgency than heâd ever shown before, carefully laid her down in the chamber and let the docs go to work.
He never left the medbay, not until she opened her eyes. Thatâs the first time I ever saw him smile - like a wave breaking on a rocky shore in slow motion.
And then he left, and we never saw him again. But he was the first legend of the rebellion. Many more would come after him, but none would be like him.
