Space rippled and tore. A small ship was disgorged from the distortion, shooting out into reality. It was small compared to most FTL capable ships, barely more than a fighter. Bright orange plating covered it, with a green V shaped view port situated just above the beaked prow. Twin weapon pods swept forward, giving the ship a predatory appearance. This was a ship of war.
Its engines flared and the ship altered course. A medium sized gray planet, floating at a habitable distance from the sun. Its thrusters flared and the ship shot forward. It reached the planet in only a few minutes. It shifted and orbited the planet for a few moments. Having oriented itself, it plunged downward.
The ship shot through the atmosphere. Though the wind roared as it whipped past, its engines produced nothing more than a whisper. The ground rushed past beneath it, changing from barren desert to deep ocean to rocky mountains.
The ship began to slow as it neared a certain location. The sky above was overcast, grey clouds concealing the sun but not ye threatening rain. Lush forest spread across the ground, trees reaching up to the sky. In a few places the trees thinned, revealing hints of stone and metal. The ship came to a stop above one such patch, engines downturned to hover in place.
It lowered itself to the ground, engines whining quietly. Avian creatures launched themselves into the sky as it neared, shrilling in alarm. It stopped a few meters above the ground, the grass beneath it pressed flat by its propulsion systems. For several minutes the ship sat quietly.
Then a hatch on its upper surface hissed and slid open. A platform rose to the opening, bearing the ship's pilot. She stood nearly two meters tall and was clad in armor of similar design to the ship. Law abiding citizen and criminal alike would have recognized the figure. Samus Aran stood atop her ship, looking into the trees. She stood silently, listening to the calls of the animals and the sound of her own breathing. Her left hand tightened slightly around a thin package she held.
She stepped forward and off her ship. She landed with a quiet thud, feet sinking into the grass. She walked forward, leaving slight footprints on the soft soil. The trees around her were relatively newer, not yet reaching the towering height they would in the next few years. Though she could have pushed through them easily, she moved slowly to avoid touching them.
Soon the trees thinned even more. Though several still grew here and there, most of the surrounding area was visible beneath layers of growth. Vines and shrubs crept across the terrain, but Samus could still distinguish what lay beneath. Broken pre-fab homes sprawled out around her, their form breaking down. Most were missing their roofs, though a few still supported them on rusted support columns. Others were almost completely gone, nothing more than a few fragments of wall jutting up from the ground. Trees pushed up amidst the ruins, roots cracking the foundations and branched pushing through the damaged walls.
Samus walked down what had once been a road. Moss covered the path, grass creeping up through the cracks formed as roots grew beneath the surface. She moved erratically across the road, seemingly without pattern. Only she knew the reason she walked where she did. She had memorized the places to avoid stepping long ago.
Samus turned down a side street, then another, and another. She moved deeper into the ruined town, seeking one particular spot. Creatures skittered in the undergrowth and flew overhead, but she aid them no heed. Eventually she reached her destination.
Samus stood before a ruined building. The roof was gone, as were most of the walls. What was left was a portion of wall about as tall as a fence, with a few jutting spots. She walked over to the doorway, one of the few intact portions. She went to enter the building, then stopped. She hesitated at the doorway for a moment. Then a flash of light surrounded her and her armor vanished.
The imposing armor was gone, leaving only the woman within. She still stood taller than most humans, with bright blonde hair and piercing blue-green eyes. She shifted her grip on her package and entered the building.
A layer of grass covered the ground inside, masking the rubble. Despite the damage, most of the interior was fairly level. The most noticeable feature was the flowers. Over a dozen flowers bloomed throughout the grassy clearing. No two plants were alike, all varying in size and form. One had tall thin stalks tipped in wide yellow petals. Another was short and stocky, with blade-like orange petals that stuck straight up and turned in the wind. Yet another had almost black petals rimmed with bioluminescent projections.
Samus walked carefully past them, feet sinking slightly in the layer of soil that covered what had once been a floor. She walked to the center of the room. There, half sunken into the grass and soil, lay a clean stone square. It was a light gray, smooth and polished but not gleaming under the dim light. The surface had several lines of writing carved into it. Part was in the simple script of the Chozo. Sharp curves and lines as if scraped into the stone with a talon. Samus read these, recalling her lessons in Chozo speech and writing.
"The parents of Samus Aran. May you soar forever in the light."
Samus sank to her knees before the stone. The Chozo hadn't understood the purpose of doing this, but they had done it out of respect for human culture. She hadn't known their names back then. They were just Mommy and Daddy.
Below the Chozo writing was another piece of text. Small and precise, made by a young woman with a portable engraving tool.
"Rodney and Virginia Aran. May they rest in peace."
She'd added the text the first time she got leave from the Galactic Federation. She'd spent the first few months of her employment researching her old colony, then the next few preparing for the trip. When she found the images and names of her parents, she'd spent nearly an hour in a combination of grief and elation.
She reached out and placed a hand on the stone slab, feeling the cool material under her palm. There were no bodies beneath this tombstone. Her father had been incinerated in the destruction of the pirate ship. Her mother… Samus tensed in anger as she remembered what had happened to her.
A few fragmented images flashed through her mind. Her father reaching down to pick her up. Her mother laughing as they played together. The images quickly began to fade as others were dragged to the surface. Samus fought against them, but memory was a more unassailable opponent than any monster. Images of fire, shadowed figures moving through the smoke, her mother's face twisted in desperation and fear…. Her hand clenched into a fist on the stone. Images of Ridley.
Samus took a shuddering breath as she shook off the memories. "Hey mom," she said quietly, "Hey dad. I'm back. I guess that means I didn't die after I was here last."
Her mouth twitched into a wry grin. "But I guess you knew that." She sighed and sat back, kneeling in front of the stone. "I fought some more pirates. Killed them all."
She winced. "I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I'm trying to avenge you, but that means you have to deal with their ghosts."
She sighed again. "I wish I could talk to you. Know how you feel. Would you be upset at the killing? Would you think I should do something more with my life?" She thought about some of the GF soldier's she'd known. A lot of them talked about their parents. Some hated each other, some supported them, some felt like they should be doing something else. A lot wanted grandchildren, which she'd never understood. "I hope you'd be proud of me though."
A drop of water fell onto the stone. Samus stared at it for a second before she realized she'd started crying. "I miss you." She whispered, her throat tightening.
She moved the package in front of her and unwrapped it. Inside lay a flower. It had a thick rubbery stem and broad red petals. As it was uncovered, the stem bent and twisted as the flower sought the sun.
"I bought you another flower." Samus said. She didn't try to hold back her sorrow. She restricted her emotions enough that she wasn't about to lose the chance to be open, even if it was only for a little bit. "It's from Hendras II. I don't remember the name though."
She smiled through the tears as she moved to a spot without a flower. "I could scan it and find out," she said as she dug a small hole, "But that would be cheating."
Samus placed the flower's base into the hole and pushed the dirt back onto it. The flower seemed to adjust to its new location, twisting around in all directions before pointing back towards the sky. "I hope you like it." She said quietly as she watched the flower move.
She walked back to the headstone and stood in silence for a few more minutes. She tried to feel the peace people said you would feel when the spirits of your loved ones were nearby, but all she felt was grief and anger as raw as the day she fully realized what had happened. She didn't understand it. She knew about afterlife more than anyone. Hell, she'd fought actual ghosts for crying out loud! But the feelings everyone else knew still eluded her.
She wiped tears from her eyes and looked around. The flowers shone like beacons among the plain plant life. The idea had started the first time she'd visited her parent's grave. They were dead and would never see the wonder and beauty she discovered through her travels. So she'd taken to collecting flowers from dozens of worlds to bring a piece of the beauty back to them.
"I hope you guys like your gift." She said quietly. "I love you. Wish you were here."
She stood quietly for a moment, hoping for some sort of reply. She would have thought the idea laughable if not for her own experiences with ghosts. But nothing came. She sighed, repressing a flare of anger. She couldn't be mad at them. It wasn't their fault.
"Well," she said forlornly, "I'll do it for you. Happy birthday Samus."
She smiled sadly and left. Her armor flashed back into existence as she stepped out of her ruined childhood home. She was back at her ship in minutes, preparing leave.
As she took off, the ship passed over the jagged tree covered ridge of the crashed pirate ship. Samus rose into the sky, watching the shrinking planet on the viewscreen. After the destruction of the afloraltite mines, K-2L was of no use to the Federation or the Pirates. Subsequently, neither had made any attempt to return to the planet. It was left bare of human life, with only ruins as evidence of their existence. An entire planet as a memorial to a colony.
Minutes later, Samus's ship went into FTL, leaving the planet devoid of sentient life once more.