Metroid: Regeneration
Chapter 6: Goldensteen and the Story of New Chozodia
The interior of Goldensteen's New Chozodia apartment was carefully carved out of the rock and the walls smoothed, like those of the Chozo Ruins. He had obviously made a few homey touches by adding the usual chozo furniture, including the table which Samus and Goldensteen both sat.
"Now, Samus, I have some questions for you, but I must ask, do you have any for me?" Goldensteen began.
"Yes, I have many," replied Samus. "But first, I must quench my curiosity. When did the chozo return to Tallon IV?"
"Oh, not too long ago. Actually, the plans for this establishment first began to formulate shortly after the chozo's first arrival. But, unfortunately, the meteor struck, marking the coming of the Great Poison, or phazon, as you know it." Goldensteen sat back in his chair.
"If the phazon caused the original evacuation, is the phazon supply on Tallon IV depleted?" Samus was slightly worried that her trip to Tallon IV would soon be rendered useless and a waste of time.
"No, no, of course not! The presence of the phazon gave us chozo an interesting challenge; we had to find some way to control the phazon. And we found the answer. The plans for a phazon storage unit was made. The unit was then constructed and tested, successfully, too!"
"So there is a phazon storage unit here in New Chozodia?"
"Yes. Many actually. They are what made the building of New Chozodia possible. When excavation began for this underground city, the construction crew came across many phazon deposits, which were extracted and stored in the temporary storage units they had nearby. Upon completion of New Chozodia, permanent storage units were built in the city core and the phazon was transferred from the temporary units to the permanent units."
"The whole process seems to be quite taxing, if you ask me," Samus said, rather bluntly.
"No doubt. In fact, the city coffers were virtually empty. Now, us chozo do not believe in the material, but sadly, the universe revolves around it. To be able to survive, one must have the money. So, the future of New Chozodia seemed dim. That was until someone else took interests into our inventions. The space pirates. They soon sent some ambassadors to New Chozodia and said they wanted to buy the plans to our phazon storage units. But, knowing the space pirates, we turned them down.
"Did they return?" asked Samus, with renewed interest.
"Thrice they did. And upon the third visit, they not only made an offer so magnificent that we could not refuse, they threatened to start a war."
"That's the pirates for ya'."
"Yes, well, the deal was signed. But then the chancellor did something uncalled for. He offered our other device to help with the phazon problem. The P.M.E. Phazon Manipulation Equipment. For this, the space pirates offered twice as much as the storage units. Believe me, the chancellor was swiftly revoked of his title."
Samus laughed. "Shows him to do a deal, undiscussed with the council, especially with the space pirates. But this whole deal with the space pirates in the first place discomforts me greatly."
"I know, Samus, but we were desparate. New Chozodia was on the verge of collapse."
"Yes, I understand that. But the space pirates have launched forth with a scheme to hoard phazon, and they are using your equipment to do it."
"How do you know this?"
"I saw their Otocon headquarters. The worst part is, they have already began to recreate elite pirates. Soon, they will undoubtedly recreate not just one, but many omega pirates. The whole galaxy is in grave danger . . . again."
"I feared something grave, but something as grave as this, I could not imagine. That explains the space pirates' return to Phendrana Drifts and the Phazon Mines."
"So they have, indeed, returned; resuming operations."
"I assume so. Why else would they come to a place like this?" said Goldensteen, still bewildered by the sheer magnitude of it all.
"Look, Tallon IV is the galaxy's largest and only source of phazon. If I can put a stop to the space pirate operations here, operations all over the galaxy would also have to quit."
"What if they rebuild?"
"I deal with that when we get there. But you know what I have to do, can you help me?"
"Yes, I believe I can. I have spent many days exploring the surface of Tallon IV, and I may have come across some passages that you have not." Goldensteen stood up and made his way for the door. "First, we must go to the city core. They may have some equipment we can use. Then, we leave for the Chozo Ruins."
"Chozo Ruins? If my memory serves me correct, we can get to Magmoor Caverns from the Tallon Overworld." Samus stood and followed Goldensteen.
"You can do that, but think about what you propose. The Magmoor entrance to Phendrana is the front door of your rival's lair. It will undoubtedly be heavily guarded. I have discovered in the far reaches of the Chozo Ruins an elevator which leads to the far reaches of Phendrana. From which point we can attack the space pirate research facility from behind. What would you rather do?" Goldensteen said, mockingly.
"Lets go with your plan, Goldensteen."
"Like I said, I have explored this planet to great extent. Trust me with the directions, and I trust you in battle." Both Goldensteen and Samus left the apartment for the city core.
