* Comes up dragging a ball and chain labeled "work" attached to his
ankle. *
Ok, ok, I know it's been a long time. Assembled crowd: NO SHIT!!
Hey, it's not my fault that my boss is a slave-driving bastard, I DO need to get paid after all. Anyway, here is Paths of Life Chapter Five. Brought to you by the master of literary creation, Veritech.
Disclaimer: For god's sake, it's written on the first damn page, how many times must I say this? Stop looking for legal hoop-jumping and get on with reading the real story.
Paths of Life: Chapter Five
Repercussions / Musings in the night
By: Veritech
"You understand, Commander, that the actions taken in this situation have been far from ideal, and have, in fact, violated statutes passed by the Council."
Commander Maq, Reploid Concordant Navy, commanding officer of the Battleship Isis and friend of Commander X thought happy thoughts and worked to keep herself from putting the greasy politician she was taking to in his place. "Yes, Councilwoman Trent, what are your orders?"
Trent ignored Maq's question and continued on with her rant. "This is the third time Commander X has disregarded orders given by the council with full knowledge of his actions, using his standing with the rest of the Concordant population to shield him from the legal chastisement of properly constituted civilian authority." The councilwoman narrowed her eyes, looking under her brow and puffing out her cheeks. "This is the last time." When, she thought, would people come to realize that the military existed to carry out the will of elected civilian officials? "Your orders, approved by the council, are to make all due haste to intercept the Stormrunner and bring Commander X, as well as the woman he rescued -against standing order- into custody. Then to bring them both to the Council Chamber on Centris to be reviewed by the Naval Oversight Committee."
Maq choked down a scathing retort to Councilwoman Trent's orders and was about to firmly -bust respectfully, or course- object to the orders, but the councilwoman terminated the comm. link before Maq could speak. Maq sat behind her desk seething for a moment, damming every slimeball politician in existence to hell, until she managed to reel herself back in under control. It wasn't the first time, she thought to herself, that good warriors had been betrayed and written off by the political swine they served, and she doubted that this incident would be the last. "Damn it, and damn you to whatever cesspit you slithered out of Trent."
This wasn't the first clash between X and Trent. That particular pile of filth had had it in for X since the day her corporate-world friends in the Liberal Progressive party had bought her into office. The bitch just couldn't seem to understand why X, a single warrior, had more power with both the military and the populace at large no matter what rank he held, than she and her party's political empire could ever hope to wield.
[It might have something to do with the fact that X has almost 700 years of experience behind him. Not to mention that he's a hero of every single Maverick war since 21XX, and the founding father of the Concordant. Maq thought. He's EARNED his standing, not bought it. He's not just Commander X, the soldier, he's a fucking historical figure that children in school read about in their history books.]
Those facts had immediately made X the number one enemy of the entire Liberal Progressive Party. They had labored mightily to discredit X, and even harder to strip him of his authority. After X's first "transgression" against the dictates of the council (he had, in fact, been acting in accordance with laws set in place by the council he himself had headed two-hundred years before the current council had rewritten them) in which he had covertly escorted a Terran colonization ship through Pirate space, the Lib-Progs had tried to have him court- martialed and stripped of all military power. That hadn't gone over well. After amazing amounts of support from the civilian populace for X, and hard political fighting from the military's representative to the council, First Admiral Katsuragi and her supporters, the council -Trent mostly- had been forced to live with just demoting X from Third-Admiral to Admiral (only two steps down the command chain). Three years later X, and the ship he had then commanded, the dreadnought Paladin, had singly fought a frontline combat action against three Pirate cruisers and a Maverick battleship to protect that same group of colonists on their new world. After that, the council had tried to demote him again, only to run into a brick wall of support from all directions, especially the human citizens of the concordant. So Trent had to go with merely putting X on probation for six months, and reassigning him to a battleship command. Not even a year after that, X, commanding the battleship Alia had openly, and blatantly come the assistance of Terran Federation Navy ships fighting Pirate and Maverick vessels over the planet SR388, he had maintained communication silence, but the presence of a RCN battleship in full offensive mode is a hard thing to hide from sensors. That action had enraged the whole council, even First Admiral Katsuragi. Since the citizenry still gave outstanding amounts of support, X had been demoted again instead of court-martialed. He went from Admiral to Commander, a huge five-step drop in rank, and got reassigned from his beloved battleship Alia to the heavy cruiser Stormrunner. Each time the moral ground had been fully on his side of every argument. He had been carrying out the first directive of the entire Reploid Concordant Military: Defend any Terran ship, colony or world from any attack made by Maverick forces. And since Zero had created Mother Brain and the Pirate guilds, that directive had extended to them as well. But the council had enacted laws to make stealth and secrecy more important than protecting the Terran race, hence all the trouble X had been in. And now X had flaunted the council again, although this time FA Katsuragi wouldn't be out for his blood, so he wouldn't get hit too hard.
Maq shook those thoughts from her head and tried to focus on the task at hand. As much as she hated it, and her orders, and Trent, she still had an iron-hard duty to carry those orders out. Unlike X she had no grounds for breaking them, and unlike X, she wasn't a war hero. So now Maq had to intercept and capture one of her greatest friends. She wasn't going to like this mission, nobody on her ship would. But them again, they didn't have to like it, they just had to do it.
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] [][][][]^_^
The shuttles lights were off, and both Samus and X were going about getting some shut-eye. Well, X was getting some sleep. Samus was restless, tossing and turning in her bunk trying to get comfortable enough to slip into temporary oblivion.
[Dammit, I just can't get comfortable! Why the hell is this happening, I've slept in this bunk fine for three days for gods sake, I'm used to it now.]
She tossed.
She turned.
She punched her pillow, turned it over to the cooler side, and lay back down.
More tossing.
More turning.
[DAMMIT! I hate temporary insomnia!]
Flopping down onto her back, Samus tried in vain to get control of her wandering thoughts, thoughts that had been plaguing her since earlier that morning.
The trouble had stemmed from the fact that she was trapped in this small shuttle, unable to leave, with X, A man who had saved her life, and in three short days, had become a friend. That was rather strange for Samus. She was notorious for being hard to get along with, and even harder to befriend. Thus far, the only humans to ever be befriended by Samus were a fellow bounty hunter named Sam Houston, and Sullina Julianno, a mercenary that had helped re-introduce Samus to Humanity after she had left the Chozo. But that was only a small part of the problem that was keeping Samus awake. She was trapped here, that she wasn't upset about; the X- virus was not something to mess with lightly, so she understood the security. No, the problem was whom she was trapped with. Not all who he was, but what he was. That being a good hearted, kind, but undeniably brave and devastatingly handsome man.
The mere beginning of that line of thought made Samus' thoughts wander to places she'd rather not have them go-at the moment. [God's sake, girl, cool yourself off.] She tried, with no success. [He's not a side of beef Samus!] For some odd reason, that brought the image of X walking in front of her into the cocpit. They way his uniform pants formed to his body, especially that perfectly trim ass- Samus chopped off the thought like a gangrenic limb. [THINK girl! The main reason you're dwelling on him in your head is because it's been a damn long time since you've had any good male company. Good meaning he's a good man and not trying to get into your pants. Not that I would probably object to him trying.NO DAMMIT, OUT WITH YOU, EVIL THOUGHT! OUT! OUT!]
Samus rolled over again and punched her pillow. No effect, her mind still wandered to the man sleeping across the three feet of open space between their bunks.
She knew full well why she was reacting this way. Part of it was that she was a bit lonely for some form of companionship from the opposite gender, that wasn't anything bad, or a weakness, she WAS human after all, and had spent almost her entire life away from any human contact. X's actions had kicked the rest of them off. He had gone into her ship, knowing that it was a dangerous and extremely hostile environment, without support and knowing that he'd end up in containment. For the sole reason of rescuing a single person, that was a kind a bravery that didn't exist often in the single-minded world of bounty hunters and mercenaries that she came from. After that he has cared and nursed her unconscious body until she came around, again, something she never would have expected. And when she finally had come to, he had retreated to a safe distance (figuratively speaking, especially in this cramped shuttle) and helped her recover fully. All without uttering a single pick up line or trying anything that could even vaguely be considered a come on. She almost wanted him to, no, with the way she'd been thinking, she did want him to. [STOP IT!] At least part of her was still willing to think rationally.
Another thing was that the way he was slightly nervous around her was unbearably cute. The way he would carefully choose words, or scratch the back of his head when he was afraid of offending her or embarrassed. Or laughing at even the dumbest jokes she put out, as if he was trying to make her more comfortable. She knew the signs. He did find her attractive. The saying "If you got it flaunt it" normally didn't apply to her. She certainly knew that she had it, and that wasn't an overabundance of pride either, she'd been told, by both men and women, that she was very attractive. She just wasn't one to flaunt it. Hell, it was kind of hard to when the clothes you normally wore were crafted of titanium alloy and ballistic polymers rather than satin and silk.
[Stop thinking about him!] The independent part of her mind screamed. [I can't help it!] The rest of her mind shot back.
The final thing was just how gorgeous he was. She was tall, exactly 6'0", X stood maybe an inch taller, his dark brown hair was always unruly, like a permanent case of helmet-hair, but what might have been seen as slovenly on most others was enhancing for him. His green eyes were emerald sharp, and seemed to carry a sense of kind innocence along with unwavering strength and loyalty. Finally, he had the body that would have put a Greek god of myth to shame. She knew that for a fact, because she had caught a glimpse of him changing his shirt after he had finished repairing the replicator. Thin, but not skinny, muscular, but not built, everything perfectly proportioned and sculpted in perfect form that shifted in harmony when he moved.
[For heaven's sake girl, stop acting like a hormone-crazed teenager. Yes, he's easily to best looking guy you've ever come across, and he's got the heart and soul of a Paladin to boot, but that doesn't mean you need to go panting after him like a dog in heat. Focus on those mental exercises you learned with the Chozo, not X's body. There you go. Calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean.]
[Hmmm. X's armor is that same shade of blue.] [Knock it off!]
Eventually forcing her mind into a semblance of order, Samus fell asleep.
[][][][][][][][][][][] Am I evil, or what? [][][][][][][][][][][][]^_^
When Stormrunner dropped out of hyperspace, Isis was waiting. Captain Vesping, who was commanding Stormrunner in X's absence, was more than a bit surprised when she received a priority one hail from the battleship.
As soon as X's heavy cruiser dropped into realspace, Maq sent out a hail to inform her friend that he was being escorted to Centris. However, the face she saw on the main viewscreen was not that of her old friend.
"Commander Maq, this is Captain Vesping, what's the problem?"
Maq recovered from her startlement and spoke her reply. "Captain, I need to speak with Commander X."
"Commander X is in full bio-containment with the woman he rescued, Commander Maq. They're both in the shuttle used in the operation, in full lockdown in shuttlebay one."
"Can I speak with him?"
"Or course, I'll reroute communications to the shuttle."
On the Isis the screen went blank for a moment, only to re-activate a second later to bring the view of the cocpit of a standard RCN shuttle. The door behind the two seats opened, and X, followed by a woman Maq didn't recognize stepped through and sat sown in the pilots and copilot seats. X was the first to speak.
"Hey Maq, long time no see. What are you doing in this sector?"
[Dear god, he hasn't figured out why I'm here] Maq looked gravely at the screen. "X, as much as I wish otherwise, I'm not here to catch up on what we've been doing since we last met."
X met Maq's gaze and now had the same kind of serious look she had. Samus sat silent, a tight feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Let me guess why you're here instead of patrolling." X said, "The council, let me rephrase that, the idiot-bitch Trent gave you orders to arrest me and take Samus into custody?"
Maq sighed. "Sadly, yes. X, dammit, you know damn well what Trent thinks of you, and you also knew what would happen when you stepped into this situation. I don't agree with my orders. I support you, you know that, but I don't have your background. And even if I did, I still couldn't refuse this order. And yes, I do know that the only reason Trent called for me and the Isis to take this mission is to test my loyalty-"
"Maq, I don't blame you" X interrupted "And yes, I did know all of that. So I can assume that I can consider myself in your custody?"
Maq sighed again. "Not quite that far. I was to order you to put Stormrunner under the command of Vesping, but you've already done that out of safety, so now all I need you to do is for both of you to stay in that shuttle until I escort the Stormrunner to Centris."
X smiled sarcastically. "So, Trent's going to push for me to get demoted again, eh?"
Maq met his smile. "Probably, although Katsuragi is putting a block on that, saying you were following the First Directive, and that's something Trent can't get through in this case, as you haven't really violated any laws -this time."
"I do have a reputation for disregarding the will of, how does that stupid bitch put it? 'Properly constituted civilian authority' don't I?"
"That would win the understatement of the year award. So you and you're new friend there will be a good little boy and girl and stay in that shuttle until I escort you to Centris, right?"
"We were planning on staying here until we got to Antiga for decontamination. Actually we need to, I think both Samus and I would like to get out of here, it's a little cramped."
[Again, understatement] Samus thought [Although I do like having him bump into me.] [I thought I told you to stop that.]
"Makes sense" Maq said "Well, Antiga is only twelve hours away now, so I'll escort you there, then get you both to Centris after you get decontaminated."
"Sounds good to me" X replied "See you then" He switched off the screen and turned to Samus. "Well, looks like you'll get to see the slimy political side of the Concordant before the good parts, sorry."
Samus laughed, "It's okay, I've dealt with political types before. But aren't you a bit cheery for a man about to face a tribunal?"
"It's nothing so serious as that." X said "Councilwoman Trent has had it in for me ever since I had her brother court-martialed for cowardice in the face of the enemy. So he never misses a chance to have me on trial for any reason."
Samus fully understood. "Politicians and military don't mix."
"That they don't" X smiled at her. "Well, it's 0500, Oatmeal again?"
"No thanks, if it's allright, I'd like to get a few more hours sleep, I guess I'm still recovering from that virus."
X made a dismissive gesture "You don't even need to ask, in fact, it's a damn good idea, I think I'll follow you on it."
[Oh, how much that can be misconstrued, should I take him up on it?] [Not again, you know he didn't mean it like that.] [If he did, I'd be hard pressed not to take him up on it.] [* Sigh * Calm blue ocean, Samus, calm blue ocean.]
X got up ad headed for the door. "In twelve hours we'll be ready to get out in the open again, so you'll probably want some more rest anyway." The door slid open and he walked out, followed by Samus, who watched him walk. [Stop looking at that Samus] Samus crawled back into her bunk and slid back off into sleep.
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]^_^
At the same time as Samus and X were falling back asleep, hundreds of light years away, a different scene was playing out.
In a dark cavern complex, buried deep in an obsidian mountain a figure in blue and gold armor was kneeling before a man in red armor and with long golden hair sitting on a throne made of basalt and bones.
"I have returned, master."
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
Dun, dun, dunnnnnnnnn. Nice ending no? It was too, shut up!
Ok, before every rabid Samus fan comes running after me with pitchforks and torches, let me explain Samus in this chapter.
I wanted to make Samus seem more human. As she has almost no known character background pertaining to what she is like, I had to make it up. And no, I'm not going to portray her as some giddy schoolgirl. On the shuttle, she's experiencing a sense of infatuation. Nothing more. And no, nothing will come of this bit. Samus may be noticing how attractive X is, but despite her thoughts, she's still not about to jump into bed with him.
Have I explained myself now? Good. No put the sharp objects donw nad extinguish those torches.
I'm starting Chapter Six right after I finish this chapter. So hopefully it won't be such a long wait this time.
Send reviews, ideas, money and feedback to: max_sterling83@yahoo.com
ankle. *
Ok, ok, I know it's been a long time. Assembled crowd: NO SHIT!!
Hey, it's not my fault that my boss is a slave-driving bastard, I DO need to get paid after all. Anyway, here is Paths of Life Chapter Five. Brought to you by the master of literary creation, Veritech.
Disclaimer: For god's sake, it's written on the first damn page, how many times must I say this? Stop looking for legal hoop-jumping and get on with reading the real story.
Paths of Life: Chapter Five
Repercussions / Musings in the night
By: Veritech
"You understand, Commander, that the actions taken in this situation have been far from ideal, and have, in fact, violated statutes passed by the Council."
Commander Maq, Reploid Concordant Navy, commanding officer of the Battleship Isis and friend of Commander X thought happy thoughts and worked to keep herself from putting the greasy politician she was taking to in his place. "Yes, Councilwoman Trent, what are your orders?"
Trent ignored Maq's question and continued on with her rant. "This is the third time Commander X has disregarded orders given by the council with full knowledge of his actions, using his standing with the rest of the Concordant population to shield him from the legal chastisement of properly constituted civilian authority." The councilwoman narrowed her eyes, looking under her brow and puffing out her cheeks. "This is the last time." When, she thought, would people come to realize that the military existed to carry out the will of elected civilian officials? "Your orders, approved by the council, are to make all due haste to intercept the Stormrunner and bring Commander X, as well as the woman he rescued -against standing order- into custody. Then to bring them both to the Council Chamber on Centris to be reviewed by the Naval Oversight Committee."
Maq choked down a scathing retort to Councilwoman Trent's orders and was about to firmly -bust respectfully, or course- object to the orders, but the councilwoman terminated the comm. link before Maq could speak. Maq sat behind her desk seething for a moment, damming every slimeball politician in existence to hell, until she managed to reel herself back in under control. It wasn't the first time, she thought to herself, that good warriors had been betrayed and written off by the political swine they served, and she doubted that this incident would be the last. "Damn it, and damn you to whatever cesspit you slithered out of Trent."
This wasn't the first clash between X and Trent. That particular pile of filth had had it in for X since the day her corporate-world friends in the Liberal Progressive party had bought her into office. The bitch just couldn't seem to understand why X, a single warrior, had more power with both the military and the populace at large no matter what rank he held, than she and her party's political empire could ever hope to wield.
[It might have something to do with the fact that X has almost 700 years of experience behind him. Not to mention that he's a hero of every single Maverick war since 21XX, and the founding father of the Concordant. Maq thought. He's EARNED his standing, not bought it. He's not just Commander X, the soldier, he's a fucking historical figure that children in school read about in their history books.]
Those facts had immediately made X the number one enemy of the entire Liberal Progressive Party. They had labored mightily to discredit X, and even harder to strip him of his authority. After X's first "transgression" against the dictates of the council (he had, in fact, been acting in accordance with laws set in place by the council he himself had headed two-hundred years before the current council had rewritten them) in which he had covertly escorted a Terran colonization ship through Pirate space, the Lib-Progs had tried to have him court- martialed and stripped of all military power. That hadn't gone over well. After amazing amounts of support from the civilian populace for X, and hard political fighting from the military's representative to the council, First Admiral Katsuragi and her supporters, the council -Trent mostly- had been forced to live with just demoting X from Third-Admiral to Admiral (only two steps down the command chain). Three years later X, and the ship he had then commanded, the dreadnought Paladin, had singly fought a frontline combat action against three Pirate cruisers and a Maverick battleship to protect that same group of colonists on their new world. After that, the council had tried to demote him again, only to run into a brick wall of support from all directions, especially the human citizens of the concordant. So Trent had to go with merely putting X on probation for six months, and reassigning him to a battleship command. Not even a year after that, X, commanding the battleship Alia had openly, and blatantly come the assistance of Terran Federation Navy ships fighting Pirate and Maverick vessels over the planet SR388, he had maintained communication silence, but the presence of a RCN battleship in full offensive mode is a hard thing to hide from sensors. That action had enraged the whole council, even First Admiral Katsuragi. Since the citizenry still gave outstanding amounts of support, X had been demoted again instead of court-martialed. He went from Admiral to Commander, a huge five-step drop in rank, and got reassigned from his beloved battleship Alia to the heavy cruiser Stormrunner. Each time the moral ground had been fully on his side of every argument. He had been carrying out the first directive of the entire Reploid Concordant Military: Defend any Terran ship, colony or world from any attack made by Maverick forces. And since Zero had created Mother Brain and the Pirate guilds, that directive had extended to them as well. But the council had enacted laws to make stealth and secrecy more important than protecting the Terran race, hence all the trouble X had been in. And now X had flaunted the council again, although this time FA Katsuragi wouldn't be out for his blood, so he wouldn't get hit too hard.
Maq shook those thoughts from her head and tried to focus on the task at hand. As much as she hated it, and her orders, and Trent, she still had an iron-hard duty to carry those orders out. Unlike X she had no grounds for breaking them, and unlike X, she wasn't a war hero. So now Maq had to intercept and capture one of her greatest friends. She wasn't going to like this mission, nobody on her ship would. But them again, they didn't have to like it, they just had to do it.
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] [][][][]^_^
The shuttles lights were off, and both Samus and X were going about getting some shut-eye. Well, X was getting some sleep. Samus was restless, tossing and turning in her bunk trying to get comfortable enough to slip into temporary oblivion.
[Dammit, I just can't get comfortable! Why the hell is this happening, I've slept in this bunk fine for three days for gods sake, I'm used to it now.]
She tossed.
She turned.
She punched her pillow, turned it over to the cooler side, and lay back down.
More tossing.
More turning.
[DAMMIT! I hate temporary insomnia!]
Flopping down onto her back, Samus tried in vain to get control of her wandering thoughts, thoughts that had been plaguing her since earlier that morning.
The trouble had stemmed from the fact that she was trapped in this small shuttle, unable to leave, with X, A man who had saved her life, and in three short days, had become a friend. That was rather strange for Samus. She was notorious for being hard to get along with, and even harder to befriend. Thus far, the only humans to ever be befriended by Samus were a fellow bounty hunter named Sam Houston, and Sullina Julianno, a mercenary that had helped re-introduce Samus to Humanity after she had left the Chozo. But that was only a small part of the problem that was keeping Samus awake. She was trapped here, that she wasn't upset about; the X- virus was not something to mess with lightly, so she understood the security. No, the problem was whom she was trapped with. Not all who he was, but what he was. That being a good hearted, kind, but undeniably brave and devastatingly handsome man.
The mere beginning of that line of thought made Samus' thoughts wander to places she'd rather not have them go-at the moment. [God's sake, girl, cool yourself off.] She tried, with no success. [He's not a side of beef Samus!] For some odd reason, that brought the image of X walking in front of her into the cocpit. They way his uniform pants formed to his body, especially that perfectly trim ass- Samus chopped off the thought like a gangrenic limb. [THINK girl! The main reason you're dwelling on him in your head is because it's been a damn long time since you've had any good male company. Good meaning he's a good man and not trying to get into your pants. Not that I would probably object to him trying.NO DAMMIT, OUT WITH YOU, EVIL THOUGHT! OUT! OUT!]
Samus rolled over again and punched her pillow. No effect, her mind still wandered to the man sleeping across the three feet of open space between their bunks.
She knew full well why she was reacting this way. Part of it was that she was a bit lonely for some form of companionship from the opposite gender, that wasn't anything bad, or a weakness, she WAS human after all, and had spent almost her entire life away from any human contact. X's actions had kicked the rest of them off. He had gone into her ship, knowing that it was a dangerous and extremely hostile environment, without support and knowing that he'd end up in containment. For the sole reason of rescuing a single person, that was a kind a bravery that didn't exist often in the single-minded world of bounty hunters and mercenaries that she came from. After that he has cared and nursed her unconscious body until she came around, again, something she never would have expected. And when she finally had come to, he had retreated to a safe distance (figuratively speaking, especially in this cramped shuttle) and helped her recover fully. All without uttering a single pick up line or trying anything that could even vaguely be considered a come on. She almost wanted him to, no, with the way she'd been thinking, she did want him to. [STOP IT!] At least part of her was still willing to think rationally.
Another thing was that the way he was slightly nervous around her was unbearably cute. The way he would carefully choose words, or scratch the back of his head when he was afraid of offending her or embarrassed. Or laughing at even the dumbest jokes she put out, as if he was trying to make her more comfortable. She knew the signs. He did find her attractive. The saying "If you got it flaunt it" normally didn't apply to her. She certainly knew that she had it, and that wasn't an overabundance of pride either, she'd been told, by both men and women, that she was very attractive. She just wasn't one to flaunt it. Hell, it was kind of hard to when the clothes you normally wore were crafted of titanium alloy and ballistic polymers rather than satin and silk.
[Stop thinking about him!] The independent part of her mind screamed. [I can't help it!] The rest of her mind shot back.
The final thing was just how gorgeous he was. She was tall, exactly 6'0", X stood maybe an inch taller, his dark brown hair was always unruly, like a permanent case of helmet-hair, but what might have been seen as slovenly on most others was enhancing for him. His green eyes were emerald sharp, and seemed to carry a sense of kind innocence along with unwavering strength and loyalty. Finally, he had the body that would have put a Greek god of myth to shame. She knew that for a fact, because she had caught a glimpse of him changing his shirt after he had finished repairing the replicator. Thin, but not skinny, muscular, but not built, everything perfectly proportioned and sculpted in perfect form that shifted in harmony when he moved.
[For heaven's sake girl, stop acting like a hormone-crazed teenager. Yes, he's easily to best looking guy you've ever come across, and he's got the heart and soul of a Paladin to boot, but that doesn't mean you need to go panting after him like a dog in heat. Focus on those mental exercises you learned with the Chozo, not X's body. There you go. Calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean.]
[Hmmm. X's armor is that same shade of blue.] [Knock it off!]
Eventually forcing her mind into a semblance of order, Samus fell asleep.
[][][][][][][][][][][] Am I evil, or what? [][][][][][][][][][][][]^_^
When Stormrunner dropped out of hyperspace, Isis was waiting. Captain Vesping, who was commanding Stormrunner in X's absence, was more than a bit surprised when she received a priority one hail from the battleship.
As soon as X's heavy cruiser dropped into realspace, Maq sent out a hail to inform her friend that he was being escorted to Centris. However, the face she saw on the main viewscreen was not that of her old friend.
"Commander Maq, this is Captain Vesping, what's the problem?"
Maq recovered from her startlement and spoke her reply. "Captain, I need to speak with Commander X."
"Commander X is in full bio-containment with the woman he rescued, Commander Maq. They're both in the shuttle used in the operation, in full lockdown in shuttlebay one."
"Can I speak with him?"
"Or course, I'll reroute communications to the shuttle."
On the Isis the screen went blank for a moment, only to re-activate a second later to bring the view of the cocpit of a standard RCN shuttle. The door behind the two seats opened, and X, followed by a woman Maq didn't recognize stepped through and sat sown in the pilots and copilot seats. X was the first to speak.
"Hey Maq, long time no see. What are you doing in this sector?"
[Dear god, he hasn't figured out why I'm here] Maq looked gravely at the screen. "X, as much as I wish otherwise, I'm not here to catch up on what we've been doing since we last met."
X met Maq's gaze and now had the same kind of serious look she had. Samus sat silent, a tight feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Let me guess why you're here instead of patrolling." X said, "The council, let me rephrase that, the idiot-bitch Trent gave you orders to arrest me and take Samus into custody?"
Maq sighed. "Sadly, yes. X, dammit, you know damn well what Trent thinks of you, and you also knew what would happen when you stepped into this situation. I don't agree with my orders. I support you, you know that, but I don't have your background. And even if I did, I still couldn't refuse this order. And yes, I do know that the only reason Trent called for me and the Isis to take this mission is to test my loyalty-"
"Maq, I don't blame you" X interrupted "And yes, I did know all of that. So I can assume that I can consider myself in your custody?"
Maq sighed again. "Not quite that far. I was to order you to put Stormrunner under the command of Vesping, but you've already done that out of safety, so now all I need you to do is for both of you to stay in that shuttle until I escort the Stormrunner to Centris."
X smiled sarcastically. "So, Trent's going to push for me to get demoted again, eh?"
Maq met his smile. "Probably, although Katsuragi is putting a block on that, saying you were following the First Directive, and that's something Trent can't get through in this case, as you haven't really violated any laws -this time."
"I do have a reputation for disregarding the will of, how does that stupid bitch put it? 'Properly constituted civilian authority' don't I?"
"That would win the understatement of the year award. So you and you're new friend there will be a good little boy and girl and stay in that shuttle until I escort you to Centris, right?"
"We were planning on staying here until we got to Antiga for decontamination. Actually we need to, I think both Samus and I would like to get out of here, it's a little cramped."
[Again, understatement] Samus thought [Although I do like having him bump into me.] [I thought I told you to stop that.]
"Makes sense" Maq said "Well, Antiga is only twelve hours away now, so I'll escort you there, then get you both to Centris after you get decontaminated."
"Sounds good to me" X replied "See you then" He switched off the screen and turned to Samus. "Well, looks like you'll get to see the slimy political side of the Concordant before the good parts, sorry."
Samus laughed, "It's okay, I've dealt with political types before. But aren't you a bit cheery for a man about to face a tribunal?"
"It's nothing so serious as that." X said "Councilwoman Trent has had it in for me ever since I had her brother court-martialed for cowardice in the face of the enemy. So he never misses a chance to have me on trial for any reason."
Samus fully understood. "Politicians and military don't mix."
"That they don't" X smiled at her. "Well, it's 0500, Oatmeal again?"
"No thanks, if it's allright, I'd like to get a few more hours sleep, I guess I'm still recovering from that virus."
X made a dismissive gesture "You don't even need to ask, in fact, it's a damn good idea, I think I'll follow you on it."
[Oh, how much that can be misconstrued, should I take him up on it?] [Not again, you know he didn't mean it like that.] [If he did, I'd be hard pressed not to take him up on it.] [* Sigh * Calm blue ocean, Samus, calm blue ocean.]
X got up ad headed for the door. "In twelve hours we'll be ready to get out in the open again, so you'll probably want some more rest anyway." The door slid open and he walked out, followed by Samus, who watched him walk. [Stop looking at that Samus] Samus crawled back into her bunk and slid back off into sleep.
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At the same time as Samus and X were falling back asleep, hundreds of light years away, a different scene was playing out.
In a dark cavern complex, buried deep in an obsidian mountain a figure in blue and gold armor was kneeling before a man in red armor and with long golden hair sitting on a throne made of basalt and bones.
"I have returned, master."
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Dun, dun, dunnnnnnnnn. Nice ending no? It was too, shut up!
Ok, before every rabid Samus fan comes running after me with pitchforks and torches, let me explain Samus in this chapter.
I wanted to make Samus seem more human. As she has almost no known character background pertaining to what she is like, I had to make it up. And no, I'm not going to portray her as some giddy schoolgirl. On the shuttle, she's experiencing a sense of infatuation. Nothing more. And no, nothing will come of this bit. Samus may be noticing how attractive X is, but despite her thoughts, she's still not about to jump into bed with him.
Have I explained myself now? Good. No put the sharp objects donw nad extinguish those torches.
I'm starting Chapter Six right after I finish this chapter. So hopefully it won't be such a long wait this time.
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