"Our orbit has been stabilized, sir." Admiral Castor Dane watched as various sensors of the G.F.S. Olympus began to flood with data from the planet below.
"Any sign of her, Dare?" he asked, masking his concern beneath his stern expression.
"Not yet, sir," the captain responded. "There appears to be phazon gas spreading across the planet's upper atmosphere though…" he added worriedly. "It's interfering with our scans. We won't be able to find anything unless it clears out or we send a team to the surface."
Dane pondered the situation for only a moment before saying, "Find an area for one of the drop ships to unload one of our rescue teams. Let me know as soon as you do: I'll be in the conference room."
"Yes sir," the captain said, immediately setting off to his work.
The admiral made his way through the bow of the ship and into the conference room, where he shouted, "242, establish contact with Chairman Keaton."
Within a second or two, a holographic representation of the tiny, elf-like chairman appeared before Dane, his face completely expressionless. "Have you located our hunter yet?" he asked upon fully materializing.
"Not yet, chairman; there's phazon gas interfering with the scanning equipment, but I'm sending the rescue team to recover her," Dane replied.
"Then why have you contacted me?" Keaton asked, sounding irritated though his expression did not change. "You have not found her, and I highly doubt you've ridded the planet of phazon so quickly."
"I'm still concerned about the presence of phazon on the planet," Dane said.
"Is there a reason not to be?"
"Not one. Since we have decommissioned the PED devices, the troops are less protected against phazon and the creatures mutated by it. It's a very real possibility that they could be corrupted or carry some on board the Olympus after being down on the planet."
"You accepted this mission with those risks in mind. Are you having doubts about your ability to handle this situation? I would be more than willing to have a more capable individual take care of this…"
"Sir, it won't matter who you send in; we are all vulnerable to phazon again," Dane growled. "I don't want these men to end up like Squad Bravo!"
"The Aether Incident had little to do with phazon, Admiral."
"Need I remind you that a Leviathan had struck the planet previously? And the large quantities of phazon on the surface of Dark Aether? It's obvious that the Ing were spawned from phazon, and that the same thing could happen on this planet!"
"The best bounty hunter we have may have her life endangered and phazon has reappeared in the galaxy," Keaton's eyes narrowed. "What do you expect me to do? Cancel the mission?"
"That is precisely what I expect you to do! We're might as well be ordering the Marines to fly into a star without PED's or heavier weapons!"
"I cannot do that. Too much is at stake now. We cannot waste time."
"Properly arming our troops in not a waste of time, you green son of a bi-!"
"That's enough, Admiral!" Keaton shouted, his expression momentarily faltering to one of anger before resuming his stoic glare. "We have no choice. Phazon spreads like plague. Every second we spend idle it grows stronger. I cannot call off this mission; the Leviathan is as vulnerable as it will ever be right now. This opportunity cannot be wasted."
"I see…" Dane sighed. He couldn't argue against the chairman's logic.
"I have confidence that your mission will be successful," Keaton said. "For no other individual would this be possible. Good luck, Admiral." The holograph faded away, leaving the admiral alone.
No one except for her… he thought.
"Admiral Dane, sir!" a voice came from the intercom. "We have located a clearing in the phazon gas; we should be able to launch a dropship in within fifteen minutes."
"Good work, Captain!" Dane replied. He reached over to the intercom on a nearby control panel. "Attention all members of Squad Kilo; report immediately to Docking Bay 3 prepared for combat. I repeat; report immediately to Docking Bay 3 prepared for combat."
He grinned, realizing that he was tasking his men with removing the most famous woman in the galaxy. Cheers and whistle could be heard throughout the ship as Dane loudly announced, "We're off to rescue Samus Aran!"
Two chapters for the price of one, Grandma!
Update: fixed a typo. The fact that it existed in the first place bugs the hell out of me...