As Trace approached the Kriken planet, he became less anxious. This was a startling change, but he took it in stride. He hastily disabled visuals when he received a transmission. He remembered that it really didn't matter, but even so he didn't want to be seen.
"You need to identify yourself!" sneered the familiar voice of Servu, the registration worker who had a huge grudge against Trace.
I would get Servu, wouldn't I? Trace thought, annoyed. "This is the Kriken Sniper. My business is with the Overlord." Trace said quietly.
Silence a moment, then Servu's sinister voice said "And you are...?" Trace hesitated a fraction of a second.
"That's only the Overlord's business, Servu." he said, grinning in spite of the abrupt danger.
"Is it really, Exile?" Servu sneered.
"Yes. That's what I said, Servu." Trace replied, mentally picturing Servu's blood pressure rising.
"The Overlord is busy, so you should reconsider the venture until you've completed the exile." Servu snapped.
"I've done enough to interest him!" Trace snapped back.
"Hehehe. Well, you can meet with the Overlord in a year or so, when you've fully completed the exile." Servu snickered.
"Servu...I have the strongest weapon in existence. I think the Overlord might care about it, and the acquiring of an incredible weapon overrides the need to find a planet first!" Trace said with a hiss.
"You think so? The Overlord probably prefers to do executions himself, anyway. He's offplanet, but if you think you're that 'special' to be able to break the rite of passage, you can dock, and you'll be met shortly." Servu sneered.
"Whatever." Trace snorted dismissively.
"Oh...and Exile?" Servu sneered. Trace ignored him.
"...I hope you're wrong, Trace." Servu whispered. Trace scowled and disconnected.
Meanwhile, Samus was being escorted by 10 Federation battleships. She scowled again as she thought of Grater, but paged through the mission file. The Federation suspected that the Kriken Empire was planning an invasion of Federation systems.
They wanted details to confirm or disprove the fear, and somehow Samus was selected. She still thought in unwise to continue the mission if Trace knew of it, but her views were ignored. Trace was an exile, and would be killed if he contacted the Empire for anything.
In fact, the suspicion of Trace's discovery accelerated the carrying out of the plans. Trace couldn't warn the Empire if he was still an exile. Samus recharged her weapon systems, and studied the file again. The plan was to infiltrate an underground lab and copy all research.
Not her favorite type of mission, as Krikens were in great numbers, and not as weak minded as Space Pirates. Somehow, she could see a great deal of trouble ahead.
"Miss Aran...we are approaching Kriken territory. You are solo from here on. Report only in case of emergency." Samus nodded to herself and shut off the communications. She stared out at the Kriken controlled system.
She sighed and piloted her ship towards the Archives. From there, she would concentrate on infiltration of one of the Kriken planets.
Kanden, the mutated bounty hunter, was searching the galaxy as well. The tracer he had place on Samus' ship was still active, and he was trying to get the coordinates. Behind his ship was Weavel's personal craft, which was significantly smaller than his own ship.
Weavel was the cybernetic Space Pirate, who had just been exiled from the Space Pirate army for incompetence. Weavel had spent days cursing over the incident, to Kanden's disgust. Since the Gem Ruins, they had traveled together, as they had similiar objectives of finding Samus or other places to destroy.
"Hey Kanden!" Weavel's voice called from Kanden's comm system.
"What is it?" Kanden growled.
"Kriken territory is where the signal is coming from!" Weavel replied, ignoring Kanden's less-than-pleased response to his call.
"Coordinates, Weavel?" Kanden asked, impatiently. Weavel sent over a series of numbers, which Kanden transferred to his autopilot. They had begun the hunt, but what they would find was more than they ever expected.
The beginning is somewhat slow, but it will pick up soon.
