Well, the one good thing out of Ridley giving all of dragon-kind a bad name was that
he was the only one known for it. He was the only known space dragon pirate, possibly because he was the only one willing to put up with their actions. Every other dragon was either hard to find, wanted to be left alone, would get outright violent if you complained to them about Ridley, or...like Kaze...kept on keeping on, doing the job he set out to do in his life. Misunderstandings were clearly abound, though, such as between Kaze and Scathach, and Scathach and her handler. Yes, she most certainly
could survive re-entry with those powers of hers. Even dulled down by her cuffs, your standard blaster rifle could have trouble...which was why the Federation military forces - and especially her handler - kept around armor-piercing slug weapons and missle launchers. He had the former, not the latter. It just looked similar in design to the blaster, on purpose. We're not stupid here, people, no matter what some members of the press might think in their little columns.
But enough of that guff, enough of the heliokinetic's smug self-satisfaction or surprise time at realizing there's a dragon afoot. After Victor walked in, the nearest man present who could see that they were all here spoke into his helmet mic to communicate that fact. And while Amber's notes and orders did not give her much more insight than the official story - She knew that the basic backstory of how the X Parasites came from the same planet as the Metroid species, that they had infested BSL Station, that Samus had supposedly eliminated them all, but that something had gone wrong or that the Bounty Hunter had actually failed or shirked her duty. Nothing confidential about the mission was known, just the basic file report on what happened before their current situation. - Victor arrived, had a look around, announced that since he was late, they must be ready for them already, and received confirmation of this fact.
The door opened, and a man said the words
"You're right." with the stern attitude of someone who's motto is 'No time to waste here, people. Let's move.'. He was tall, strong-looking, dark-haired and graying slightly at the sides of his military haircut, brown-eyed, and in a blue military uniform with the Galactic Federation insignia on the left part of his chest and markings on his shoulders to indicate that he was an Admiral. Military-savvy people, like Amber, would be aware that this was Admiral Andrew Garrett, the man in charge of spearheading most combat engagements with Space Pirates and hostile alien incursions to Federation Space. Because OF the Space Pirates, he was a man who did not get very much time off, and it clearly bothered him. Because of this incident, he was feeling even
less patient. Nobody who understood how difficult it was to stamp out pirates expected him to do it overnight, but he silently wished that he could, sometimes. Perhaps now, with things going into effect as they were, he could achieve that goal, write his memoires, and tee up on some distant planet.
Only time, and these hired operatives, would tell.
"Follow me."Follow me into fire, into darkness, into hell itself. He was pretty sure the first part came from a show, and that he'd just added the last part from drama. He didn't say it because it was inappropriate and was really more for stirring up the soldiers, not these five. A miner, a dragon, a military scientist, a rogue, and another out-and-out bounty hunter... They had better not disappoint him, because the alternative was burning half the Federation and countless lives just to stop this madness. Garrett led them down a hall and into a room without another word. Not until he, the five, and a number of in-house security that would not speak on such matters under pain of death...and the doors to the conference room shut...would he speak of what was to commence. The conference room was a long-table meeting room with holo-projection and screens on the table and mounted on every wall. He controlled it all, as he did a number of higher functions on any base or ship in the Federation, with subtle occular implants that conveyed signals to the devices in question with impulses from his brain. He was the one who shut the doors, locked them in, dimmed the lights, and switched on the displays with nar'ly more than a glance. he didn't even bother to tell them to sit down, didn't care if they stood or not. He just turned to them all and said...
"Let us begin."It started with a basic map of Gal-Fed space, several red areas marked too indicate worlds that have been attacked and had to be evacuated as much as possible, and then scorched to prevent heavy X Parasite populations from being created.
"For whatever reasons and whatever motivations, you have been chosen for this mission. Part of it is, admittedly, that you were some of the only ones that we could get to say yes, while another part is that we believe you will be able to competently handle this situation, and that whatever reasons you agreed to - whatever bargains you made - will be fulfilled. That's the picture we're looking at right now."He gestured to the map display, facing it with some irritation.
"It's the picture of galaxy-wide infection spreading, the body burning itself out so as to try and save the rest of itself. But there's a problem. If it were as simple as 'Destroy everything causing a fuss', then our Scorched Earth tactics would be the beginning and end of it, no matter HOW the media takes it. We would be safe and sound. Unfortunately, the true source of the infection is the gift that keeps on giving, and it's rather unpredictable."Several screans now projected instances of the X Parasites, in multiple recorded forms taken from the transmitted logs of the BSL Station. Amber would have seen some of these in whatever logs she had regarding X Parasites. The following was NOT in any file she had. Admiral Garrett turned to them once more and started talking confidential material.
"You have been told that the X Parasites are a biological plague species deployed by the Space Pirates, one which they began to use because the last source of Metroids - their natural predator - has vanished. This is a lie that has been contrived by us in order to put a face on the aggressor. It serves no one any purpose at all to inform people that the virulent species is more monstrous than you could imagine, that it's probably become self-aware, and that nobody is controlling it at all. The panic would send anyone still possessed of their senses right out of their minds. You have also been informed that the last Metroid sample was taken by Bounty Hunter Samus Aran to parts unknown, leaving the galaxy vulnerable to these parasites."His eyes narrowed fiercely now.
"That is true, but in a way most people would not understand."A rotating image of Samus in the Metroid-merged power-armor - the basic blue, before she regained any of her abilities - appeared now, in place of the X-related images, as well as an image of Metroid culture in vaccine form.
"Samus Aran is the last Metroid. She was infected by the X and we cured her with Metroid culture from the Metroid hatchling she originally recovered from SR-388. When she discovered that the Metroid species was being recreated to inhibit the X further, after her recovery and return to the BSL Station, she destroyed it and supposedly all traces of X Parasite all in one fell swoop. However...she has abandoned us now, and the galaxy suffers for her mistake."Samus Aran - the last source of any definitive cure for the X Parasite contamination - was gone, the X themselves were apparently loose and out of
anyone's control, and they had to do something about it. Welcome to your suicide mission. You signed up for it, so you'd better stick around and hear the rest. There was still alot of ground to cover, starting with 'What the HELL are they going to do about it?'.
