The woman's face filled up the entire screen. Her whitish-blond ponytail fell down in waves to her breast, her face a pale gray and black markings under one brown eye. There was nothing much unusual about her looks, at least not to the untrained eye.
Given the façade of the man staring at the screen, one would think he was not at all perturbed by her appearance. But anyone who knew him knew that he always stared at you with those cold, dark eyes, regardless of what turmoil went on within him.
Truth be told, the General was scared out of his wits.
When the officer asked him what he thought of the image, he gave a curt, "I think you need to do something useful," and left without waiting for a reaction.
Four hours it had been since he had seen that image. He could still clearly recall it, as though it were right in front of him. Those piercing eyes, he was used to. They glared straight at you with an almost overwhelming force. Most of the new recruits were too timid to even glance up at her when she had gone up the ranks. Hell, even some more experienced crew members didn't want to go anywhere near her.
But it was not that which struck him so hard. It was the pure evil and corruption he sensed in those eyes. As though some force had finally conquered her, had made her submit. Worst of all he sensed joy in those eyes, that she had found pleasure in killing and enjoyed the power that coursed through her body.
That was what he was so afraid of.
She could hear the pattering of rain on her helmet before she opened her eyes. Even if she could not touch those heavenly drops, the sound alone soothed her. She wanted to go back to sleep, to dream of childhood and innocence, but she knew better than that.
It was just her and the General. No one else on the crew had the strength or luck to have survived such a crash. The General was lucky; the Hunter was strong.
The GFS Fianna had been sent to investigate a Space Pirate stronghold, and by investigate, the General had been sure the Chairman meant "blow to pieces" to which almost every crew member shrank back like slugs poked by ten-year old boys. There was, as always, the cocky idiot who boasted of skill and said that Space Pirates weren't a big deal at all. A rather brave young girl, a private, asked, "Then why are they so threatening?" and immediately made him shut up. One of the lieutenants, who wasn't too talkative but promised to go into battle like a man, also did not seem to fear Space Pirates. And of course, the Hunter had no fear of them.
The Hunter decided she should get up and check on the General. She took one last glance at the pool of water beside her and then looked to the cave where she had left him. Good, he was still there. For some reason, she had this feeling everyone feared her and wanted to run away from her as far as possible (not that anyone could dodge her, mind you).
The General was resting in a small cave, his leg crudely bandaged, his eyes focused on the ground.
"It's always me who survives."
The Hunter kneeled down beside him. "You sound disappointed to be alive," she replied.
"Better that young private than an old fool like me." The Hunter's normally unreadable gaze suddenly softened at these words. She gave no reply and simply sat down against the cave wall next to him.
There was a long silence. Only the soft fall of the rain could be heard, and the occasional cry of one living organism or another which neither could recognize. The fauna here was so surprisingly green. Imagine Space Pirates enjoying the view of trees and whatnot. The idea was laughable.
"I had a dream I was you," the Hunter said suddenly.
"Funny." The General chuckled. "I just dreamed I was you."
The conversation ended there. And so it always seemed to. The General had always wanted to know about her, but the fact that a man would have be more talkative than a woman didn't sit well with him. He waited for her to say something most of the time, force words out of her mouth, but her language and mind was completely different from his. He was human, she was not. She was more like a god.
"I am not human." Those four words rang in his ears. The first words the Hunter had uttered to him, when he had tried his best to understand her. He always thought he had offended her.
It was as though that suit of hers protected and covered more than just her body. It was like a barrier to the real her. Once the suit was gone, so was the mystery surrounding her. The General did all he could to keep himself from laughing. Reminded him of the time everyone he knew thought she was a guy when she walked into that Galactic Federation Ship in her suit. Everyone was trying to figure where the hell she was and who this weird guy in an orange suit was doing here. The General could still remember laughing at all the shocked faces when she removed her helmet.
"Where was your last mission?" the General asked.
"Regarding Phaaze, sir."
This was the one time the Hunter remembered to call him sir. Most higher ranks scolded her for it and made her correct herself, but the General didn't mind too much. At least one thing he understood about her was that the Chozo never used Honorifics.
"A Chozo needs no pretty titles to ensure respect. It is through one's actions that one determines capability."
Every word out of the Hunter's mouth was like a Chinese Proverb.
"What in the fuck is China?"
Except for maybe that.
"I am surprised at your question." She certainly never sounded like anything she spoke of, so the General supposed her statement of feeling was necessary. "I imagine you would have read the logs regarding my latest mission."
He sighed. "I did."
The Hunter spoke as she stood, facing outside. "What I do not understand is why you never ask me anything directly." A pause. "I will tell you anything regarding my life. You will not offend me with anything you say."
The General was quite surprised at this statement, and for once it showed on his helmet-less face. "You're sure?" He was a little letdown at her hesitation. Perhaps then, she was being too open and had not meant what she said? It was then that the General realized she was laughing. She turned to him with an apparent smile, even through the helmet and said, "I know you try to understand me. I do trust and respect you, even if it is not obvious."
He supposed there was some truth in this, now that he thought of it. While in the Federation, her demeanor was normally cold and the General was rather naïve in dealing with her, she had always seemed to tail him around. If there was some mission with him, her stroll became a bit lighter, and she always attempted to be on his team. Even as a bounty hunter, she tagged along in his missions.
This rather touching moment was interrupted by an explosion not too far from where the Hunter and the General were. The Hunter's ears were well-accustomed to the language of Space Pirates and easily recognized it among the clash of sounds in the distance.
"Stay here, General!"
He had no choice but to consent.
The Hunter kept her feet light. In this situation, with the General wounded, it was best to keep hidden from Space Pirates. Even if she could take all of them on, it was only a matter of time before they found the General, used him as a hostage and lured the Hunter into a trap. She would not succumb to such a cheap trick, but it was best to avoid the whole thing altogether.
The crash had left her with a damaged suit, and as bounties rarely came, she had a habit of selling off all her weapons to the black market to feed herself. Even so, with a little effort, she could manage. It was the General she was concerned about. She knew as humans grew old, they became weaker, the General being no exception.
She fell back each time the Space Pirates came her way.
The Hunter suddenly changed her mind. They were heading towards the lake, and at this point, regardless of her actions, they would find the General sooner or later. If she waited for the Pirates to find him, they would have to leave now. If she killed this team, on the other hand, she would have time to look for another hiding spot. The General was too weak right now to leave in time. Guess there was no choice…
Five of them. The first one was dead before the others even realized what was going on. Space Pirates were a farce to the Hunter at this point.
One turned to leave, to warn the others perhaps. The Hunter shot him dead with little struggle. The last three knew that their only option was to kill her or die in the process (the latter being the more likely result).
One of them, a runt, fired three shots. Left. Right. Left. An easy pattern. It had become second nature to pummel these bastards after so many years. A second Pirate tried to slash her with a melee strike as she was busy dodging. The charged shot which she had saved for the first one went into the second's face. Two left.
The runt tried to fire shots from a distance, which only gave the Hunter more time to maneuver. She charged and fired until he fell dead on the ground.
This last one was smarter and more experienced than the others. He easily dodged most of her shots, and the ones that hit him did little damage. It went on for some time of them just shooting unproductively at each other, until the Space Pirate disappeared behind a boulder.
Smarter. Smarter than she realized until now. That last Space Pirate wasn't trying to kill her; he just fended her off and left…to where the General was.
Of course. The infamous Hunter, known by all Space Pirates as the woman who destroyed their bases and every futile attempt at ruling the galaxy. She would not be so stupid as to provoke a small team of Space Pirates when she could easily avoid them. So she had to be hiding something. Damn intelligent Pirate. And all of this reasoning in the heat of battle.
Now what? Was the Space Pirate waiting to follow her, or had he already stumbled upon the injured General? At this point, she didn't even give a damn if she was being followed. She was too concerned about putting the General in danger. As long as he was in front of her, she could protect him, but trying to shake a Space Pirate loose would result in his capture, anyway.
She went back to the cave and lo and behold, no General.
The Hunter outwitted by a Space Pirate. This was so embarrassing.
Space Pirate Log.
Decoding…
She vaguely understood the log without translation, a product of years and years of glancing at Space Pirate words and symbols. Something about a planet and a base of operations.
Planet Cygnus X-1 is surprisingly hospitable, despite its two suns. Landed approximately five Earth days ago. Space Pirate Team Gamma sent this morning to Lake Polyp in search of our mission, but only one reported back. In his arms lay a wounded human…
Fuck.
…no doubt a member of Galactic Federation Ship Fianna.
So they knew.
The Hunter still didn't quite know what "our mission" referred to yet, but she had an understanding. They had landed here to intercept the team, why else would they head directly to where the ship was? But if there were only a few Space Pirate ships, the Hunter could easily handle all of them, so was this a trap or just a flaw in their plan?
She refused to be tricked so foolishly again. She would not underestimate the capabilities of the Space Pirates, but she had no choice but to go in. Without a ship, there was no way she could live the rest of her life out on this lonely planet with Space Pirates to disturb her.
The General felt like a princess.
Here, in the base of the evil, malicious Space Pirates, the poor defenseless creature lay, awaiting his valiant hero and defender of the galaxy to come rescue him. Try as he might, there was no way to look past that dark gaze of the gatekeeper that pierced his soft heart like a sharpened knife.
Though, at least he wasn't being rescued by a man.
It was a miracle what boredom could do to a grown man. After rotting in this cell not knowing any longer whether it was day or night, the panic started to ease off. It was clear he was being used as a hostage, and since the Hunter went through Pirates like a sick brown girl going through a tissue box, he had nothing to worry about. Right?
He was so bored now, he actually fell asleep.
The Hunter's anatomy.
On the screen read her name, age unknown, sex female, and short description of her association with the Galactic Federation, her removal due to "inappropriate conduct," as well her achievements.
"A truly fascinating specimen is she." The scientist who made this remark was dark-skinned with naturally blond hair, common with all the racial mixing in the past few generations. To a young man like him, the idea of men being judged and forced into slavery because of dark skin was unfathomable. Not to say that everyone nowadays treated other races with respect.
Take the General's parents, for example.
"Indeed. Extraordinary."
"Oh, will you cut the crap and start talking, Lamarck?"
The scientist put his hands into his coat pocket and giggled. "Sorry." With a sigh, he began. "She's a perfect mix between a human and a bird. Let's see…Where should I start? Well, we've been conducting a number of experiments, and in all honesty, that last surgery was just an excuse to get a look at her bone structure-but don't tell her I said that!" The General couldn't help but smile. Lamarck might do things out of the ordinary, sometimes illegal things, but he was honest.
"Now that I've said that…" He slid his hand across the screen, which showed bone structures, apparently the Hunter's. "Hollow bones, like a bird. Redundant organs dissolved, from our understanding. Most of these traits aren't really advantageous to her since she doesn't fly, but having an efficient heart and form of respiration…" He slid the screen again, this time showing a heart and lungs. "…results in her ability to function with heavy activity with little fatigue. Her heart takes up a larger percent of her body than that of a normal human. Resting heart rate." He pointed. "You can see right here."
"Eleven beats per minute?"
Lamarck nodded. "Birds usually have faster heart rates than humans, but because she doesn't fly, she doesn't need as much oxygen."
"I see." There was a pause. "Well, if that's it…" The General turned to leave.
"Oh, and she can't reproduce!" The scientist added with a chuckle. "So don't get hopeful."
The General mumbled something indiscernible to Lamarck and left.
Lamarck chuckled. "As an individual she is incredibly successful, but as a species, she is a complete failure. Fascinating. Truly fascinating."
So far the infiltration had been…normal. Alarms going off, Space Pirates being called for backup, all fine and dandy. Same as always. So what the hell were they thinking?
Of course, they must have had some super powerful weapon that was awaiting the Hunter towards the end of the ship. They always did that, so why did they think it would work this time?
Incoming Scan.
Unusual radiation signatures in Laboratory Room.
Nothing to do but head there.
Again, nothing unusual. Rooms and rooms of exploring and some Space Pirates in the way. To her, it was almost like an exciting adventure a ten-year old would go on in the woods now.
The Laboratory was next. She could almost sense some sort of hidden weapon the Pirates had been constructing on the other side of the door. Some giant species twice her size with a laser. This was almost ritual now.
"General?"
The General was emitting radiation?
His eyes widened when he saw her. "Get out!"
Before she could react, two Space Pirates had her pinned to the floor by her arms. She felt less panic and more embarrassment. Once again, the Pirates had outsmarted her. Today was not a good day. She knew writhing around was a waste of energy and instead went limp, trying to think of some other way out of this hold. All thoughts halted when she saw another Space Pirate holding a tube glowing bright blue. Her scans were going off the charts. She could hear the usual low beeps accompanied with such signatures silenced only when the Pirate forced off her helmet. She flinched as the needle went into her neck and felt a familiar feeling flowing throughout her body.
The Hunter was suddenly aware of her heart beat. Deep, pulsing. Everything around her was going in slow motion, and she could no longer hear the General's protests. It was just her heartbeat, and that familiar feeling. That hot energy in her body, an eagerness, a desire. She could feel the energy crawling from her heart to the tips of her fingers and down her spine.
Phazon.
In actuality, the Hunter had never really gotten rid of it forever. When Phazon begins its corruption upon someone, it is like a stain that can never be washed out, a scar that can never fade away. It is not Phazon that causes any sort of corruption. There is no substance that leads one to evil. It is simply the desires of the person it touches. And when released, it can never be forgotten. Fighting Phazon is an endless battle between the host and her own sanity. It is like a creature's battle with life to make it to the end, a human's battle with himself to preserve his own morals. And it can never be forever erased.
The Hunter could hear the voices of the Space Pirates.
"Come, Mistress. We need you, we are nothing without you. We are but humble creatures that fulfill their Master's desires. Come…"
The General's voice was nothing but an indistinguishable echo, unimportant. In fact, his constant whining was beginning to bother her. She wanted to kill him.
The General flashed back to when he had seen that frightening image upon the screen. Her, corrupted, her, losing, her, giving up. It was impossible, a nightmare. The Hunter was an undefeated warrior, a god. She could never lose because she was perfect, and there was no one in this world that could ever help her.
He wanted to help her. Despite her protests, he wanted to help her. He knew she had only been made more bitter by his humanish ideals and way of thinking, something she regarded as narrow-minded and childish. But if there was something he could have ever done to help…
"Kill him, Mistress. We are only weak Pirates. Our attacks mean nothing to him. But if you kill him, you will destroy him…"
"Samus Aran!"
The thudding stopped. That was right. That was her name. She was a hunter, a warrior, defender and protector of the weak. She could not lose to this pitiful trick, and she would never let anger and desire overcome her.
She pushed outward, breaking the invisible wall around her. Phazon flew in every direction, including the General's. The Pirates were too weak to move or shoot, and that left the Hunter to pick up the General.
"Injured and almost corrupted. You are completely useless."
The General gave a painful smirk. "I know. What…ugh…now?"
"Do not talk. We have a ship now." She picked up the General in both arms and tried to remember where the piloting area was.
"You can fly a Space Pirate ship?"
"I said not to talk. And no, but I can probably figure it out."
The General had been in the hospital for a few weeks now. It wasn't too bad, considering she had been out for a month (although, she had been hit directly with a powerful beam). The Hunter could finally visit him.
"Have I ever mentioned how stunningly gorgeous you are?" The General was in hospital garb, sitting up against the bed.
The Hunter took a seat beside him. "Any woman who came out of that hideous thing would be considered beautiful."
The General raised his eyebrows. "You consider something of the Chozo to be hideous? I thought you worshipped them."
She simply shook her head with a defeated smile.
"I am sorry."
"For what? You saved my life."
"And you, mine."
The General coughed. "How?"
"You brought me to my senses. You saved your own life as much as mine. If you had not called out my name, I would have forgotten myself."
He smiled. "So I am important to you?" His face fell when she didn't answer. "What?"
She stood and placed her hand on his. A rough hand, something the General did not quite expect regardless of her status as a bounty hunter. It wasn't soft, but her touch still comforted him.
"…So much emphasis…on words." Her lips barely moved as she said this.
The General smiled again. The last thing he felt before fading into darkness was the Hunter's hand clasping his, her gentle caresses lulling him as though the Chozo themselves were rocking him to sleep.