[LOG FILE 041: TORVUS BOG, AETHER]

Upon entering the chamber I immediately noticed a gnarled tree in the center, the base of which was raised up by a few massive roots and created a hollow. Upon further inspection, two of the roots on one side seemed to be mutated in an unnatural fashion. I wondered what could cause such a mutation, then I noticed the transport barrels of phazon under the tree. I had solved the mystery; I also knew that where there was phazon, there were also Space Pirates.

No sooner had I finished the thought then the battle cry of my lifelong foes filled the air of the open chamber. I heard the sound of a thruster getting closer, and dodged to the side just as an energy scythe swung where my helmet had been a moment ago. As I came to a stop I saw the pirate shut off its thrusters and turn around to face me, along with another pirate on a ledge above him. I could tell these weren't ordinary grunts, and decided to turn on my scan visor to find out for certain what I was dealing with.

The scan results were not comforting in the slightest. These were Pirate Commandos, and they were dedicated to one task: "hunting the Hunter". Their arsenal was nothing to scoff at either; each of these units were armed with the aforementioned energy scythe and thrusters, along with a pulse cannon, e-grenade launcher, and a portable barrier shield. One thing was certain, these enemies were not to be taken lightly.

I opted to pull out the heavy weaponry I had recently acquired. My Super Missile ended up being perfect for the job, and within a matter of minutes both Commandos were down for the count. With no other hostiles in the vicinity I looked around the chamber one more time. There were two other exit doors, but one of them was too high to reach. Being left no other choice I made my way through the other door and found a portal generator. I activated the generator and headed for Dark Aether once more…

[END LOG FILE_