Chapter 28

"So, is it a big ship?" Kruzer asked, twirling a cigarette around in his hand.

"Oh, hell yeah," Connor replied, "Big enough to house a small fleet, as a matter of fact. Thing's huge."

"Jeez…why the size?"

"He works for Suros, often taking long trips out to the gas giants, primarily Saturn, to collect resources for the weapon builders. You need a lot of room when it comes to gathering stuff like that…"

Shessa stared intently through the cockpit window, as if straining to see something in the distance.

"I believe he has arrived."

Connor and Kruzer both rushed to the window, spotting a large, far-off carrier, arcing downwards into the Martian atmosphere, a faint, thundering rumble accompanying it.

"It's been too long, Kel." The young bounty hunter murmured, strapping himself in as he hit the ignition.

The gargantuan freighter, despite its colossal mass, moved very quickly along the rusty orange surface, slowing to a halt just half a kilometer from where Connor's fighter sat. The nimble ship quickly lifted itself from the dusty desert floor, making the short trip over to the Void Angel as its hangar doors slid open. As Connor crossed the airlock shield, carefully setting the fighter down, he noticed a tall figure off at the far end of the docking bay, dressed in what appeared to be a white and brown overcoat of sorts.

The massive hangar lingered with icy cold air as Connor and his fellow combatants sauntered down the ramp leading off the ship. Kelly started across the room, his footsteps echoing off the darkened silver floor as he approached his visitors.

The young man chuckled, "Well done; you finally beat me to the red planet."

"Come here, you son of a bitch!" Connor laughed, bear hugging his friend, lifting him a few feet from the ground.

"Oh man, when was the last time we even saw each other?"

"Man, who knows… I am loving the white and brown Nick Fury coat, by the way. It's a nice touch."

"Thanks, man!"

Kelly peered over Connor's shoulder, noticing the two others behind him, "Ah, these must be the two mercenaries I've heard so much about. Mr. Kruzer Jacobs, is it?"

"Yep, that's right." The large man replied, extending a hand, "Nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise," the young man replied, shaking his hand, "as well as your lovely Sangheilian counterpart, whose name escapes me…"

The elite made a short bow, "Shessa."

"Ah, yes. It is so good to finally meet the two of you."

"Same goes for us," Kruzer added, "Your friend told us a lot about you."

Kelly bore a look of curiosity, "Good things, I hope…?"

"Of course."

"Good, good." Kelly replied, motioning to the door at the other end of the room, "Shall we?"

"Damn, how many floors does this thing have?" Kruzer wondered out loud, staring out through the elevator's window, overlooking the many levels.

"About nine." The captain replied, "I know, talk about overcompensating, right?"

The guests snickered.

Finally, the elevator reached the final floor, grinding to a halt just outside the control room.

"And here we have the proverbial command bridge, probably my second most favorite place to be, next to the captain's quarters…"

"Huh. I don't remember the window being so wide…" Connor murmured, "It's quite the view you got here."

"I could not agree more. I have been blessed with far more than I deserve…"

Kelly strode over to a supply cabinet off to the left, where he retrieved an elongated package, specially marked with his initials.

He quickly returned, carefully handing the item over to Connor, "Here, I made this for you a while back, never got the chance to give it to you until now. Happy belated 27th birthday."

"Aww man, you didn't…" Connor replied, lifting the cover from the box, revealing a gorgeous dark silver rifle, detailed with various red and blue markings. The bounty hunter's eyes went wide.

"Nostalgia as a weapon of war, style as a hallmark of victory." Kelly announced, "I give you, the Suros Regime."

"Dude…this is amazing. Thank you."

"No problem," Kelly chuckled, "I designed it especially for you. I even engineered my own unique perk into it. I call it "spinning up": The longer the trigger is held, the faster it fires, but be careful, she burns through ammo faster than a Minigun on crack."

Connor patted his friend on the back, "You're the best, man."

"Thanks, I try."

"Now…I think it'd be best if we moved onto why we asked you to come all the way out here in the first place…"

Kruzer and Shessa both wore solemn expressions.

"A few days ago, we were attacked by an unknown assailant. Wielding the strength of a raging berserker lord and the fire power of a scorpion tank, we barely managed to escape with our lives…"

He paused.

"A lot of brave men died by our side that day. As of now, we still know next to nothing about what the thing was…except that it's still out there, somewhere."

"And you want me to help you find it." The young man finished.

"Yes. We need all the help we can get."

Kelly turned away, staring down at the control panel overlooking the bridge, "I gave up that way of life a long time ago…you know that. All the struggle and the strife…it's not healthy."

"The beast holds strength beyond our understanding," Shessa explained, "But…we have yet to utilize phazon weaponry against it."

Kelly slowly turned to face the group. His silence felt like it lasted an eternity, "I…I don't know. I don't know if it'd be right."

He gazed into his palm, watching the tiny phazon bolts as they skittered across his hand.

"The last time I used the blue poison to my advantage, I did some very bad things…"

"It wasn't you…" Connor reassured, "it was her, you have to remember that. She was controlling you. The corrupted Kelly I was forced to fight was not the Kelly I knew. He was evil, and clearly had a few screws loose."

"Even so…I fear for my family…my friends. I am afraid that attempting to harness the blue fire would just drag me back into the slavery of the mind that once plagued me as a young adult…I don't want to take that chance. The risks are just too high."

"I don't know what else to say…" said Connor, his voice barely above a whisper, "I haven't heard from the Chief in I don't know how long, and we have absolutely no way of contacting Samus, right now, you're our only option. Please help us. We need you."

The room grew quiet enough to hear the groaning of the disposal bay machinery nine floors down. The three guests stood silently, praying that the captain would agree to their proposal. They knew this was not an easy decision for him; they could see it in his eyes, but regardless, a choice had to be made.

Kelly lifted his somber gaze to the group.

"Alright…I'm in."