-Metroid Fusion

--Blackdie

---Chapter 6: Encircled

Tanner picked one of the closest spots near the entrance to park his truck. He had just gotten a call from the elusive Black Hole group. They vaguely mentioned something about having an unexpected guest he might know. When he got out of the vehicle and made sure it was properly secured, he headed toward the entrance with hands in pockets. He really didn't care the least bit about someone noticing him and calling for the Federation Police, because there would be no APB out for his arrest. To do so, they'd have to admit the Sand Trap facility's existence, and whole bunch of other things they'd rather keep under the table at the moment.

There were security guards on the inside, still mopping up after the recent chase. Tanner made his way around the mob of security guards until noticing Scratch in the company of two Black Hole soldiers. He was heading toward the three, when the soldier with the silver stripe stepped right out him.

"Are you Sebester Tanner?" The leader asked.

"Yeah, that's me. Is that the 'unexpected guest' you were talking about?" Tanner pointed to Scratch.

"Indeed. He is incredibly lucky. Had he not talked as fast as he did, we would have shot him on sight."

"Speaking of which," Tanner shifted his weight and put his full concentration back into the soldier. "When am I going to be able to talk to your leaders? We have business to discuss."

"It won't be today. And after this one here..." The soldier raised his gun arm to gesture in Scratch's direction. "Don't expect it to be any time soon. Worm."

"Tch. Yeah, you do that. You guys ain't even from around here. Tell your bosses they should stay under that rock of theirs anyway."

The leader walked off without responding to Tanner's comment and took other two soldiers with him. They went downstairs as Scratch made his way up to Tanner and let out a sigh.

"Whew! Man! You'll never guess who I just ran my ass off from." Scratch began. "Samus goddamn Aran! She's here on Big Blue! If it weren't for Sturm and Drang's men..."

Tanner nodded and showed his teeth in a smile. It looked more like he was grinding them together though as he began to walk toward the elevators. Scratch slowly followed after him, waiting for a response.

"That's just great, cause ol' Red-Dead Ridley just paid two of our guys a little visit a couple hours ago."

The mention of Ridley caused Scratch to twitch uncomfortably and freeze in his tracks. You could tell he was running the words "it can't be, it can't be" through his mind right then.

"Are you sure? How... I mean there's no way..."

His voice trailed off as he noticed Tanner was carrying something for the first time. It was an old yellow bucket, and it was filled to the brim with ash. Some white particles... that resembled bones could be seen sometimes when the dust shifted from side to side. Now the two were looking at each other as they waited for the elevator.

"You can't tell me that's-"

"Ashes to ashes and dust to dust." Tanner said simply.

"Oh my God."

"Come on, we're heading up." Tanner made a motion with his hand. "Just remember what I told you about Vespula."

Scratch shot Tanner an angry look.

"What? Meet with them? No way, I'm staying down here; you go talk to the wasp people."

"That's bad Scratch. Not showing loyalty to your leader and breaking from his side. You forgot the Vespula are all about servitude and loyalty. They hate cowards. The more you make yourself out looking dedicated to me the better."

"There's no way I'm going to act like I kiss your ass all the time."

This statement caused Tanner to laugh a bit.

"You mean to say you don't?"

The elevator dinged as Scratch took a swing and hit his boss in the shoulder. However, he did get in the elevator as it headed upwards toward the Teal Tower Suites. The Teal Tower structure was the left tower when looking at it from the front entrance, while the other tower was known as the Orange Tower. Tanner had learned from a quick communication that the Vespula royal family had checked themselves into the topmost floor of the Teal Tower, and had hit the button leading to the highest floor. The quick scan initiated made it known to the hotel they were expected guests. It seemed like the closer they got to the top, the more nervous Scratch became.

"How long has it been since we were gunning these guys down on Tarsis?"

"Hm... fifteen years maybe. Or was it ten? Anyway, the Vespula memory is sharp as a goddamn laser cut razor. They could remember what they had for breakfast on the first day of their lives when on their deathbed." He looked to see Scratch groan. "Yeah, tough if you think they were going to forget our time in the Galactic Army."

The sound of the ocean greeted them as the high-speed elevator reached the top and let them off into the floor. Immediately they were greeted with two Vespula guards that met them with cold glares.

"Oh yeah, they remember us." Tanner said under his breath.

The wasp men stood upright, with two legs and used their abdomen with a large stinger as a third point to balance from. Four arms could be found on their thin torso to help them accomplish a variety of things. This torso also supported their translucent wings that helped them take to the sky. And since they had very little body mass around the midsection, it allowed them to move extremely fast when off the ground. Tanner couldn't help but make direct contact with the highly developed eyes. They could be compared to humans, only slightly larger with fewer color variations. However, these eyes did not eliminate the need for the two antennae on the head that constantly twitched and moved. It was well known, at least to Tanner, how keen the Vespula senses were.

Scratch could care less on how the Vespula looked, because his view was centered on the large weapons they carried. This weapon was commonly compared to an 21st century Gatling gun, because of the similar design and fire rate. The gold barrels were not aligned straight, but were instead twisted to a spiral pattern. It was a weapon with four different triggers, two on top and two on bottom; all used to fire the Vespula Autorifle. Tanner couldn't help but grin looking at it.

"Hadn't changed a bit." He realized.

"Late." One Vespula said angrily.

"Hey, that's pretty good." Tanner laughed. "You managed to pronounce all the letters without royally screwing them up. Good job. Come a long way from that damn buzzing sound you'd all make a long time ago."

There was a long silence they simply stared at each other.

"Well enough of this crap, we wanna talk to your queen. Ok?"

Tanner was talking to them like they were five years old. Scratch was turning white. But eventually one of them turned and began to lead the two down the extravagantly decorated hallway. Paintings from human and otherworldly artists covered most the walls, and simply moving down the hallway revealed chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. They weren't needed, but it was added to make the floor more presentable. It also contained glass tables and specially designed chairs to accommodate all sorts of differently shaped guests. Of course, it was hard to make much else out, because the entire floor was swarming with Vespula. They hard turned it into a hive.

Nearly every single Vespula they passed made one glance at Tanner, if not a full out stare. It seemed like every one of them knew the humans passing by, but not for any reason that could be described as positive. No, it was more of a fear, and Scratch could sense it. They watched Tanner because they weren't sure what he would do, and if he did pull something, they'd have to be faster than he was. This whole process had taken up so much of Scratch's attention, he hardly noticed when they had finally entered the master bedroom, where the Vespula queen sat with her back to them.

"Your highness... he is here."

"Tanner Sebester... My children and I have not forgotten you."

The Vespula queen did not even glance over her shoulder as she said his name. She shivered and made a gesture with her two left arms to come closer. All the times Tanner had fought against the Vespula, he had never gotten this close to the queen before. The stories he had heard did not do the matriarch justice. The abdomen of the queen was much larger than the normal Vespula in order to make room for the reproductive and egg laying organs. Her wings were also much broader to accommodate the extra weight. She had also developed dorsal spines that ran in-between the wings and along the abdomen.

"Damn," Tanner whistled. "I always thought your stinger would be longer. Guess I owe Chester that 100 credits now."

No one was amused by his joke, not even Scratch.

"What is this meeting about, Tanner Sebester? Have you finally decided to stop your little auction and give me the Zonagen?"

"No, that wouldn't be any fun." Tanner answered, in a dark and sarcastic manner. "What I came to do... is tell you about a couple problems of ours." He dropped the bucket in the middle of the room.

The large plunk caused by the dropping bucket made the Vespula queen turn completely around to see what was inside. Needless to say, it caused her to raise an eye.

"Ash?"

"Ridley torched two of my boys while they were leaving a restaurant- that's them in the bucket. He works for the Space Pirates just incase you haven't heard of them over in your side of the universe."

"Do you think me stupid Tanner Sebester? Whoever has not heard of the Pirates Space are conceited fools."

"Good, nice to know we're on the same page." Tanner moved toward the bed, and the four guards stationed in the room did likewise. "You see, Scratch just informed me that Samus Aran just showed up as well. Now... one of them has to go, or by the time we get any deal set up we'll all be dead or arrested."

"Quite a situation for you. However, it has nothing to do with the Vespula. The Pirates Space have currently been very occupied with the Federation Galactic. I do not wish to warrant their attention."

Tanner laughed. He had expected such an answer. No one wanted to have a visit from the Space Pirates if they were smart, no matter what kind of reward was at the end of the tunnel. But this wasn't the end of the conversation.

"What about the bounty hunter?" Tanner grinned.

The Vespula queen's four hands balled up into angry fists. Scratch backed up toward the door, even though he couldn't escape with two more guards on the other side.

"Who would not want to get even with the Chozo devil, Aran Samus?" The queen hissed as if mentioning Samus was a painful act. "She has put many of my children to death."

"Peachy. Thought you'd say that. So I brought you a present. Think of it as a free sample."

The queen stood up from her bed and walked around to the side where Tanner stood. He had moved back to the bucket and kicked it over so the ash spilled out onto the floor. A round device rolled out and he picked it up quickly. This was Scratch's cue to step up and start talking.

"It's a... Zonagen enhanced bomb or uh... a Zonagen Bomb to put simply." Scratch explained, his mouth going a million miles per hour.

"It's more than enough to kill Aran. And you'll get your free Zonagen demonstration. Since you know, you think it's a load of crap."

"I said nothing of the sort."

"That's what's funny about the eyes. Window to soul, or so the saying goes."

They stood in silence, as the Vespula queen seemed to be sensing the Zonagen Bomb over with her antennae. It seemed like she was losing interest, and Tanner spoke up again.

"Black Hole downstairs just kicked dirt in my face. So if you want to sway some of my favor in your direction. I suggest you take this opportunity. We might be able to take a couple zeroes off the final figure."

The queen made a motion to her four guards, and they stepped up to carefully receive the bomb. Tanner let go of it gently as if passing of a child of his or an expensive vase. The guards were quick to take it into the next room and any place far away from their queen. She looked toward Tanner and observed the smirk on his face, it had gotten bigger.

"Enjoy it."

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It had been not to long since Samus ran into the Serpent Reef Hotel to chase after Scratch. She soon discovered that the message from Graves was no lie, and returned to her ship to receive the call on secure channels. As the man in green had implied, Graves was very angry.

"What the hell do you think you are doing Aran? Why are you on Big Blue?" Graves was shouting.

"You talked with Victoria Maitlin correct? She said Tanner came here after abandoning Sand Trap."

"Hell, Maitlin..." Graves muttered as if it was a bad memory. "She hasn't recovered from the encounter with Phantoon. Our Psychological check says she's a mess."

This was no surprise to Samus.

"Of course, you knew she'd never recover." He realized.

"No one ever forgets Phantoon." Samus admitted. "He makes sure the fear stays well after he leaves."

"Humph, well, whatever reason you're there. Take into account you're not on a desolate planet with miles of terrain to destroy. You're on a major population world with countless Federation inhabitants. If your weapon even misfires-"

"Adam has made that point quite clear." Samus interrupted. "I saw Sylus Thompson in the Serpent Reef. Tanner is here. What he plans to do with Zonagen I'm still trying to figure out. He's either trying to find another system to back him, or he's trying to move the weapon well out of Federation space."

Graves paused and turned to look at something off screen. He removed his hat and looked back towards Samus.

"Zonagen is not to get off Big Blue. Do you understand?"

"More than you could possibly understand. Samus out."

The transmission ended as the ship became quiet. Samus spun around in her chair to look about the cockpit to realize something.

"Adam, where did they go?"

Adam needed no explanation of who "they" referred to.

"The creatures apparently wanted to stretch their legs and left the ship while you were exploring the city. There's no need to worry, they're quite close. They haven't left the spaceport."

"Strange." Samus thought aloud.

It was then she could hear a metallic plink. Something had hit the outside of her ship, and she moved to look out the cockpit window to see if there was something or someone moving around. The sound could well have been caused by the Dacholas and Etecoons wanting to get back in the ship. However, all she could see was the flutter of translucent wings. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Samus! A foreign device has been attached to the hull! I couldn't sense it until it's activation. It's nothing listed in the databanks!"

"Adam! Initiate emergency download of consciousness into the databanks!"

"Complete. Now get out of there Samus!"

Samus pressed a couple of buttons on her arm cannon and activated a beam down. Now under the ship, she could see a round blue device with flashing lights stuck tightly to the hull of her ship. It looked like a bomb, but something was moving inside it that was nothing like she had seen before. When she tried to step away, the lights went red and initiated bomb detonation. There was a flash, except it was not bright. In fact, it had seemingly sucked the light out of the area, and when it dissipated a fluid black substance began to pour out of the bomb.

It almost seemed to be alive as tentacles formed and began to wrap around the ship and the landing gear. Some of the tentacles reached out to Samus as she moved to run away. A second blast came when the whole ship was overtaken by the black substance. The explosion was on par with the explosion that destroyed Zebes the first time, only miniaturized into the area around her ship without expanding. She was tossed clear of the blast area and didn't stop until hitting a ship parked near by. Supply crates on the ground were also thrown and any sort of glass compound making up the cockpit window of neighboring ships were blown into millions of tiny fragments.

And when the bomb was done exploding, the damage was far from over with.

Samus's suit began to malfunction in ways she had never seen it act before. Her visors switched manically, hurting her eyes with the sensory overload. The arm cannon on her suit sparked and almost threatened to self-destruct. The alternate functions of her suit collected over the many missions switched on an off, from functional to beyond repair. It was only the few moments when her visors stopped shorting out could she tell a powerful radiation had saturated the area, wrecking havoc with anything and everything. The insane nature of her suit's malfunctions could be attributed to the fact half of it was heavily affected by Metroid DNA. It was probably her saving grace as the chaotic system failures slowly came to a halt and everything went black.

-To be continued...

--Next Chapter: After the Bomb