-Metroid Fusion
--Blackdie
---Chapter 2: Job Offer
The space lanes around the starship Reverov were all clear as it slowly orbited the dismal gray mining planet, Argus. Casual observers to this class of starship always compared it a double-barreled shotgun. Attack fighters and transport ships always entered and exited from the two gaping launch bays on the front. A small tower containing the bridge was towards the back and could barely see out toward the front. It seemed to be patiently waiting for something, as it was clearly out of it's element away from a fleet or armada.
A force field kept the personnel and pilots from getting sucked out the front by any sort of depressurization as they worked on the attack fighters and systems. But as clean as it all looked, it was outdated, probably the last ship of it's kind serving under the Galactic Federation. The Federation Police had slowly begun to replace the Galactic Army. The Reverov was originally designed for frontal assaults on enemy vessels and wasn't too effective at the searching and weeding out that was required for fighting Space Pirates. Occasionally it would run into one of their frigates and give it hell, but cases like that were rare.
No, the only reason why it was still in use was because General Graves, one of the leaders of the Galactic Army used it as a personal ship of sorts. And everyone accepted it, because the Space Pirates would have more than loved it if any great leader of the Federation happened to have an unfortunate death while cruising the galaxy.
Two pilots on the deck had already begun a heated discussion about the mission they were currently on. Both of them had taken up position behind a large transport ship so their superiors couldn't catch them slacking off.
"Two hundred."
"Three."
"Whew." One pilot whistled. "You're pretty confident."
"Absolutely. I bet you three hundred, that Samus Aran is piloting a new ship."
"You're on. I hear Aran got attached to that computer given to him during the B.S.L. escapades. He wouldn't get rid of it so easily."
"Are you joking? Samus Aran and 'taking orders' do not belong in the same sentence. He probably already got a new craft-"
An alarm went off to break up their conversation. Someone was on approach, and all personnel needed to clear the docking bay for landing. From outside the ship, all the crew and pilots looked like ants scurrying toward doorways to get out of the way. A small sleek ship darted toward the open bay moving at a good clip. It was only when the ship was almost on top of the starship did it begin to slow down and retract the landing gear. One thing was for sure, it didn't waste any time landing and was down in a second.
To one pilot's dismay, it was the same ship Samus had been assigned to undertake the B.S.L. operation. The same purple ship with the long legs for landing gear and the green cockpit window. And just as fast as it had landed, the lone occupant had already exited the ship. Samus Aran, the legendary bounty hunter. The crew had already gone back out into the docking bay to resume their work. But all of them took at least one glance at the bounty hunter; it wasn't everyday you got to see someone like Samus.
She knew where she was going, and made her way toward one of the doors to the compartments deeper inside the ship. Her stride was the same stride that made her seem like she owned the place, full of confidence. But her suit had changed a bit since the last mission she took for the Federation. The Fusion Suit influence was still there, but the shape more or less resembled the old Varia Suit the SA-X had gotten comfortable with. The large shoulder pads were covered with the veins associated with Metroid nuclei.
In a ship such as the Reverov, there was no time for wandering around aimlessly and a large shuttle transported crew from the front of the ship to the back. Samus got on the small shuttle as if she had served on the ship her whole life. There was no sense of hesitation or awkwardness the crew shared. Many simply made quick glances and tried not to stare at the bounty hunter, fearing they would regret it later. When the shuttle reached the back of the ship where the bridge was found and let off it's passengers, Samus was off again wasting no time. In the sea of dark gray uniforms, she stood out like a sore thumb in her orange organic-armored suit.
A long walk to the bridge was further shortened by elevators, but when she reached her destination, two soldiers with rifles soon stopped her.
"Samus Aran?" One said.
There was a pause. The blue visor made it impossible to see her facial expressions at a distance. You had to be a couple inches from her helmet in order to see in, and no one got that close for any reason.
"Yes?" The bounty hunter responded, sounding annoyed.
"Come with us."
The two guards needlessly escorted Samus into the bridge where a good half of the wall was just a large view screen showing the planet and the space around them. An overwhelming amount of consoles circled the room just below the screen. Among the officers on the bridge, a man in a dark green overcoat, General Graves, stood at the center. He had his back to the door Samus had just entered through and didn't turn around until one of the soldiers caught his attention.
"General, Samus Aran is here."
It was the first time Samus had ever met with Graves face to face, but she had heard about his reputation in the Galactic Army. Mainly his ability to adapt to almost any situation, both in combat and out. And his appearance lived up to the stories that had gone around. Despite the hardened look on his face, there were no scars to suggest he had seen any combat whatsoever. He was the ideal picture of a handsome man, and appeared flawless. But a closer look would reveal the artificial eyes implanted. The iris and blue cornea were there, but the white section was absent, making each eye look like some sort of black hole. A couple strands of his black hair could be seen peeking out from underneath the officer cap on his head.
"I thought I told you two not to escort Aran in here." Graves snapped.
"Sorry sir, procedure." One explained.
"Well, Aran doesn't care much for procedure," He turned toward her. "Do you?"
Samus said nothing, and waited for Graves to dismiss the two guards. Her quick look over the room shown that all the officers were too involved with their jobs to notice he entrance, and probably wouldn't look anyway due to their training.
"So, how are you hunter? Still getting around?"
"You want to tell me what this is about?"
"Right to the point eh? Good, you have not changed a bit." He paused to adjust his hat. "There is a Federation facility known as Sand Trap, we need you to check up on it and locate some personnel."
"Cleaning up another small mess?" Samus asked with biting sarcasm.
"No, we simply... lost contact."
"Uh huh."
Samus was clearly unconvinced by Graves' explanation.
"What does it matter to you Aran? If the money's good-"
"That's not how it works." Samus shot back.
Graves crossed his arms and tilted his head back. Small click and whirrs went off as his artificial eyes kept track of Samus.
"Sand Trap was dealing with a delicate Federation program. Materials that shouldn't fall in the hands of interplanetary gangs or..." He paused and put on a smirk. "Space Pirates."
"How much?" Samus asked after a time.
"200,000 for each day on assignment and a million upon completion. You are just lucky you are as good as you are, or I would not so much spit in your direction."
"Thank you for the complement, now, details."
"An ex-Marine by the name of Sebester Tanner is in charge of Sand Trap operations. The rest of the people involved will be detailed in the personnel roster, which we are downloading into your ship's computer. You need to find out why we can't contact them."
"Why can't the Federation Police do something as simple as this?"
"That is because we already sent a team of officers, and they failed to report back as well." Graves answered darkly. "Why are you complaining? It is a job, is it not?"
Samus turned away, and effectively pissed off General Graves almost immediately.
"Hey!" He shouted. "It is not like I can take command of a couple starships and go over there. Things are different now. We have... new rules and regulations to keep up appearances. But I refuse to just keep sending those Police pinheads and hope I get lucky with one of them succeeding."
It wasn't enough to get Samus to turn back around.
"What's a matter Aran? Did our Metroid program piss you off? I can not see how, when it was you who brought us the last sample. It was not like we weren't going to experiment on it. We had to play a lot of catch up with the Space Pirates, who are probably still years ahead of us on Metroid research."
"No, the Metroid program was to be expected. It's just that I've found out that some of you have a hard time realizing when you've bitten off more than you can chew."
With that she left, and one of the guards standing outside the door was almost pushed out of the way. Graves made no motion to go after her and just narrowed his eyes. One guard remained outside the bridge as the other entered and approached his superior.
"Sir, should we begin to search for another mercenary or bounty hunter?"
Graves laughed.
"What are you talking about? Samus Aran never walks away from a job."
The guard nodded, then saluted.
"Then begin stage two then?"
"Proceed." Graves confirmed, then turned to watch Samus's ship shoot out of the launch bay. "Don't disappoint, hunter."
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"So." Adam, the computerized entity that existed within the ship's computer, began. "How did your meeting with General Graves go?"
Samus shrugged while setting a course for the Sand Trap facility. From the location given by the Federation databanks, the installation was on the edge of civilization. In other words, it was definitely tucked in a sector no one would find unless they were really looking.
"It went well." Samus answered.
"In other words, you made him beg for your assistance." Adam corrected.
"Everyone needs to be humbled someday."
"In the future, try not to start with Federation Generals. As much as their use have slipped lately, they're still respectable and powerful individuals."
That got a smile from Samus, who had already turned over controls to Adam for the rest of the trip. Originally, the computer was intended as strictly a digital CO to keep tabs on Samus for the Federation. But after taking her new ship to a couple shops, the computer could now take full control of the ship and carry out any other tasks needed to keep it flying. It was simply more convenient and comforting for Samus, having found a partner was sometimes good on a mission, even if it was a computer.
She turned her chair away from the controls and stood up to remove her Fusion Suit. There was a lot of time in-between Argus and Sand Trap for some relaxation, which she didn't get much of lately. The only form of relaxation she had in the ship was her adopted research specimens turned pets. The Etecoon trio and Dachola mother and baby had been with Samus ever since the end of the B.S.L. mission, and it wasn't really her choice anyway. Their natural habitat Zebes had been destroyed by the Space Pirate's self-destruct mechanism, and they had been too helpful and friendly in the past to simply drop off at the nearest planet or asteroid belt.
Samus's ship had gotten awfully crowded in a very short amount of time.
She was still adjusting to the strange feeling of waking up to the sound of the five creatures living in her ship, where it had usually been silent and peaceful. As of right now, the Etecoon trio was going about some strange dancing ritual of hopping up and down. Somehow, Samus knew it was far more complicated than just dancing. Then not too far away was the Dachola mother, keeping a careful watch on her baby trying to navigate the ship.
"One of these days, I'm going to have to find somewhere to drop you all off." Samus sighed.
"There is always Science colonies willing to accept donations." Adam suggested.
"It's my personal experience that they don't last very long."
Scrolling through his databanks, Adam immediately pulled up the Ceres colony and the more recent B.S.L. station to know what Samus meant by that statement. Now Samus was over by a large wall, with a space that was an outline of her suit. She began to press several buttons on her arm cannon and the suit began to come off.
"Adam, tell me about Sebester Tanner. Supposedly, he's the one in charge."
"Of course. Served ten years as a Space Marine in the Galactic Army. When the Space Pirates arrived and started the need for the Federation Police, his unit was disbanded as the new Police force was steadily increased. He was only retired for three months before being recruited to run a top-secret weapons facility known as Sand Trap. The file doesn't mention what Sand Trap produces. But it does mention that Tanner is a trained killer and experienced in handling nearly all forms of weaponry, even the lesser-known Vespula Autorifle."
"Hm... Those weapons need four hands to operate..." Samus recalled, having run into a few of the humanoid wasp-like creatures on previous missions before.
"Apparently, he has ways around it."
"Which means he's one of the best." Samus realized. "Now I know why Graves hired me. But it doesn't explain why someone with that kind of skill lands a desk job. Sounds like he would have made a good mercenary."
"A quick addition," Adam began quickly. "Nearly all of the personnel on base have some relation to Tanner through the Galactic Army."
Samus had finished removing her suit, and now stood in a full body jumpsuit.
This will be an interesting mission. Samus thought, while retiring into her small but practical sleeping quarters.
"I will notify you an hour before arrival." Adam said, before the lights in the cockpit went dark.
-To be continued...
--Next Chapter: Three-Eyed Devil