Hovering above the surface of Naju was one of the terraformation cruisers. With a cup of coffee in his hand, John was standing near the illuminator, watching as the powerful rays of light being cast from the vessel were causing all kinds of seismic mutations below. This particular area was supposed to be filled with breathable air in few hours, thanks to the advanced orbital tools used by the United Space Federation government.
John Targa was a Space Hunter - one of the rogue mercenaries crusing the stellar infinity in search for any cries for help or easy cash. This particular assignment seemed to lean towards the latter, as his only order was to observe and report in case of extreme conditions. There were not supposed to be any, as no hostile fractions (such as the Pfhor or Space Pirates) were sighted across the whole Naju star system.
Suddenly, a beeping sound penetrated his earshells. John's neural interface has captured an instant message.
- Hi there, cowboy! - he sure recognized this feminine, yet a bit cold-hearted voice. That was Samus Aran, the ballsiest bimbo from this side of the Universe. - Wasn't expecting to see you here, just standing still with your arsenal holstered!
- Neither was I expecting you, honey. - John grinned, - Are you in this, too?
- Nah, I was just flying by to Na Pail. Ever heard of it?
- You mean this huge archaeological paradise filled with prehistoric villages, sky temples and those Skaarj bastards? Nope, never heard of it.
Samus's laughter filled the comm channel.
- Haha, that was a good one. Anyhoo, hope we'll meet again soon. Love ya!
- Love ya, - John drank a little from the cup. The coffee was cold as hell, but he liked it even more this way.
Samus was a legend. A mere month ago she travelled to the planet of Zebes and stopped the Space Pirates from producing a new kind of weapon of mass destruction, known as Metroids. These creatures were able to suck out all lifeforce from a victim in seconds, and when exposed to radiation, they mutiplied. Considering how much of Solar radiation was floating in outer space at any given moment of time, this made the Metroids even more horrifying.
John, on the other hands, wasn't that high in the global Hunter rankings. He wasn't an especially powerful fighter, as well - it was all about his endurance and pure luck. He, too, had his moment of glory, when he was among the Turrican assault suit fighters that were storming the Machine's hideout on Katakis. It was a horrible slaughter that cost so many soldiers their lives. However, thanks to John's suicidal lunacy, the Machine's defenses were successfully breached, allowing Commander Bren McGuire and his elites to put this Giger-esque nightmare to an end.
All these flashbacks were interrupted by the annoying sound of red alert. John turned from the window and saw both the guards and scentists running back and forth the observation room's corridor, some of them being armed with plasma rifles.
John rushed to a nearby random guard and asked:
- What's going on? Why's all this panic?
- The team below! - said the guard. - Looks like they've stumbled upon the hostiles.
- They WHAT?! - John scratched his head while watching that guard sprinting away to a nearby planetary shuttle. - Awww shit...
* * *
When the docking locks were released, EinhanderZwei rushed out of the launch tunnel towards the planet. John flipped several switches to channel all available power to the afterburner system, thus disengaging the gunpod manipulators and disarming himself. It didn't matter right now anyway, as speed was essential.
After breaking through the orbit, EinhanderZwei zoomed across the surface to the alarm source, as it was broadcasted on the shuttles' maps via mothership's comm center.
- Oh my... - sighed John, as he noticed a smoke pillar rising at the horizon. The closer his gunship flew, the louder were the laser blasts and terrified screams somewhere ahead. Must be something really bad attacking the villagers. The civilian casualties can be tremendous in this case, as John was aware that their armament was supposed to be ridiculously weak.
John's gunship has finally reached the destination and quickly hard landed on a plateau made of alien matter. As the cockpit has opened, John jumped out, already carrying his S-gun. Before his eyes was a burning village with its inhabitants shooting at something John has never seen before. The attackers looked like some kind of geometrical shapes spewing energy balls at their targets. A couple of S-gun bursts made the two most unfortunate enemies to break into shards.
- Eat some Contra, you fu..! - John's glorious entry line was interrupted by a close-range blast. He tripped over a crack in the ground and fell on his back. While he was attempting to stand up under heavy fire, one of the geometrical enemies flew towards him without firing. At the same exact moment, John heard a strange voice in his head, which presumable belonged to the creature.
- We know that you are not with these people, soldier. Get away from here. That is not your war.
- I am a Space Hunter, a peace keeper. - John replied and raised his weapon. - So every war is mine, bitch!
With this shout, he squeezed the trigger.
[[ to be continued ]]
