The first story is 'Martial Artists in Spira' (Ranma/Final Fantasy X crossover), the second story is 'Chaos Scream' (Sonic the Hedgehog/Sailor Moon crossover), and the third story is this one. Enjoy!
The cosmos... in the vast universe, the history of humanity has been a flash of light from a lone star. The life of a single person should be lost in space and time, but among the stars, there is one light that burns brighter than all the others.
The light of Shinji Ikari...
Shinji sighed as he took a look at the stars. Millions and billions of stars, not to mention the planets, the planetoids, the moons and all of the other celestial bodies out there.
He sometimes wondered if space is really endless... Or if, like the sailors on Earth believed in ancient times, there is an end to the known reality, where you plummet down to your doom if you try to cross the barriers.
Shinji chuckled. He used to philosophize with Kaworu all the time about such pointless things. If he started something like that with Asuka now, she would think he was crazy.
Kaworu... it was how long since he saw his old friend the last time? 20 Earth cycles? He wondered how he was doing...
"Hey, don't go daydreaming here," his copilot's voice snapped him back to reality. "I can fly this thing by myself, but it would be really nice of you if you would help me sometimes."
"Sorry, Asuka," he said and climbed back into the pilot's seat of the 'Yui'... his seat. Asuka shook her head. The red-headed girl was always a little impatient.
"Where are we right now?" Shinji asked as he saw a small green planet pass by.
"In Sector Red," Asuka said. "Really, you should pay more attention when we're on a mission. Your father wouldn't be too pleased if he heard how you are slacking off."
Shinji laughed. "My father would never be pleased... I don't think he ever felt anything towards me... Since my mother died, he became cold and repellent. I don't even know if he remembers that I am actually his son..."
"Your father is a leading officer of the Galactic Federation and one of the most brilliant tacticians that ever lived. You should be proud of him."
Shinji didn't reply, and Asuka realized she hit a sore spot, so she decided to drop the subject.
When they reached the outskirts of Sector Blue, she frowned. "Shinji, I just picked up an incoming signal. It's very faint, but I believe it's a distress call."
"Out here?" Shinji wondered. "No federation vessel would normally fly into an unknown space sector like this. That was the reason why we were ordered to do this exploration flight."
"I know that, but there's clearly someone out there who is sending that signal. Perhaps a ship with a broken space drive. Let's go and see if they need our help."
"Okay," Shinji nodded. "Turn around."
Asuka looked at him grimly. "Why don't YOU steer this thing once in a while?"
"I like giving you commands."
The red-head grumbled.
The ship was pretty big, so it couldn't be just a normal star speeder. Perhaps a cargo vessel, or a military craft, Shinji speculated. On the other hand, he had never seen this kind of ship design before. Well, he wasn't really an expert regarding that subject...
It just drifted aimlessly along, sometimes colliding with asteroids. The crew members (if there were any survivors, the distress signal could be sent by a computer) were lucky enough that the ship hadn't drifted into the atmosphere of the nearby, orange-tinted planet by now.
Shinji looked up the name of the planet in the intergalactic database. "It's called Tallon IV," he explained to Asuka. "The Federation doesn't know too much about it, as it lies so far away from the center of the known galaxy. The climate conditions should be similar to the ones on Earth, so life is clearly possible... In fact, it looks like there's a big assortment of flora and fauna on the surface..."
"Never mind the planet now," Asuka said. "We have to take care of the ship. I tried calling them with the intercom, but I only can hear hissing and some weird-sounding voices. I think they're talking in a language that's not stored in our automatic translator."
Shinji sighed. "I guess we have to go down there and look for survivors, then. I already guessed that the ship is no human vessel... it clearly looks alien to me."
"Okay, then let's put on our space suits and head out."
The two humans put on their space suits that actually were a special design for the space patrols. Different from a trooper's suit, they were actually pretty tight. It was a new synthetic fiber technology that made the suits resistant against the vacuum of space. Their helmets had retractable visors, and in their belt, the standard space ranger guns were resting.
After sealing the entrance to the 'Yui', they carefully entered the entrance on the ship's docking platform.
They had no time to see that another ship was approaching some time later. It landed next to the 'Yui'. A hatch on it's top side opened, and a sleek figure wearing a red-orange battle suit came out. Instead of a normal glove, a gun-like weapon was attached to it's right arm.
Samus Aran looked through the green visor of her helmet, then gracefully jumped onto the docking platform...
After going through the air lock, Shinji and Asuka made their way through the narrow corridor behind it.
By using their communicator devices inside their helmets, they were able to talk to each other.
"Pretty quiet in here, isn't it?" Shinji asked. Asuka nodded.
They went through the next door... and gasped.
They were standing inside a big room... and in the middle of the room, a giant creature was lying. It kinda looked like an enormous insect, with a body shell as thick as steel plates.
Luckily, it seemed to be dead. Fire was burning on it's backside.
The whole room seemed to be wrecked. Cables were hanging from the ceiling, glass windows were being shattered, and metal support bars were lying on the ground, fallen down from the ceiling.
Shinji carefully approached the creature. It had powerful jaws and a long, tail-like appendage on it's backside. But, regarding the mouth-like opening near the 'tail's tip, it seemed to be for giving birth... or laying eggs.
Asuka looked at what looked like escape capsules lined up at one wall. "It looks like several of those have detached earlier," she told Shinji. "Perhaps some of the crew members have escaped from this thing."
"Might be," Shinji answered and turned around.
When he saw something moving from the corner of his eye, he got startled. He saw a body lying on the ground...
"A Space Pirate!" he yelled. "Asuka, take cover!"
Asuka yelped and dove behind a pile of crates, followed by Shinji.
For a while, nothing happened.
"You think he hasn't seen us?" Shinji whispered.
"Only one thing to find out," Asuka replied, gripped her laser gun and carefully peered around the corner.
Then she let out a sigh of relief. "Shinji, it's okay! This guy is already dead."
"You sure?" Shinji didn't sound too convinced. "I know I saw something moving."
"Well, it certainly wasn't him." Asuka retched. "Oh my god! Some of his flesh has been melted by some sort of acid..."
Shinji came out of his hiding place. "Okay, okay, you don't have to tell me all the details... but what was that moving thing I saw earlier?"
He walked around the dead body of the pirate, and finally saw some creature gnawing on the dead body's flesh. It looked like some sort of insect, but was as big as a rabbit.
"A parasite," he grumbled. One blast from his weapon later, and the little creature was in pieces.
"Hey, he didn't do anything," Asuka scolded. "Why did you blast him?"
"I can't stand big insects like that," Shinji mumbled. "The only thing I hate more than multi-limbed, crawly things are... Space Pirates."
He looked at the scarred corpse of the pirate. There were several species known to become space pirates and attacking merchant ships or small colonies, just to plunder them. But there was one vicious alien species only known to the Federation as Space Pirates...
They looked like they were a cross between a reptile, an insect and a human. Most of the time, they wore some sort of body suit, which looked like the exoskeleton of an insect. Attached to the arms were generators that could produce photon energy scythes for melee attacks, and Galvanic Accelerator Cannons, the Pirate's primary weapon. They speak their own language, although to human ears, it only sounds like an assortment of snarls and growls. When humanity first came in contact with this vicious species, they believed their culture to be pretty barbaric. But actually, the Space Pirates are dangerously intelligent beings: They have an own weapon technology and a big knowledge about how to decode a creature's DNA. That allows them to clone their own troops at an alarming rate. Up to now, the location of their real home planet, or what it was called, was unknown.
But their goal was common knowledge to all members of the Federation: To become the supreme rulers of the galaxy by domineering and subduing all of the species they see as inferior... and that includes every other intelligent species of the known galaxy.
"Space Pirates..." Shinji growled. "There are two possibilities: This vessel was attacked by them... or this is actually a Space Pirate frigate. If the latter one is true, we should turn around and let them rot here..."
"But we still don't know that," Asuka pointed out. "What if they are just the invaders on this ship?"
Shinji pointed towards the giant creature's corpse. "And what about that thing? Do you think federal spaceships would allow such a creature to be brought on board? No, I tell you, that's the result of one of their sick experiments."
He kicked the dead pirate in the ribs. "Space Pirates... I hate them."
Asuka turned her head and went back to the pile of crates they had been hiding behind. Several of them had long cracks in them, and a bluish shimmering substance could be seen on their inside. "I wonder what this stuff is," she murmured.
Shinji walked up to her. "Beats me," he shrugged. "Doesn't look like anything I've seen before... perhaps some sort of mineral?"
Asuka looked at the writing on the boxes, but realized she didn't know the language. After hesitating a bit, she reached out with her hand to touch the blue stuff...
Suddenly, they heard a low groan coming from behind the dead monster. It sounded strange, like a cross between gurgling and growling.
They turned around. Shinji gripped his gun and stormed around the corpse. Asuka followed him.
In a corner of the room, previously shielded from their eyes, another Space Pirate was lying, his legs trapped under some rubble. But... this one was alive, and was desperately flailing around his arms.
When he saw the two humans, he turned around his head and growled at them.
Shinji snarled and raised his gun. Asuka shouted: "Shinji, wait..." But it was too late. Shinji pressed the trigger multiple times, and his laser shots hit the creature right into the chest. It roared and collapsed, now as dead as its brethren.
"Why did you do that?" Asuka wanted to know. "We could have interrogated him on what happened here."
"Didn't you see how he was already raising his cannon?" Shinji asked in a cold voice. "He was ready to shoot us. Besides, I don't think you would have understood him. Up to now, no translating device has been able to decipher their language. No, Asuka... it's best to shoot these creatures down once you see them."
Asuka stared at him. "I know they are a vicious species, but... what makes you hate them so?"
Shinji stared down at the ground. "You don't know it... Several years ago, my family was living in a colony on Mar Sara... it was a colony where mainly humans were living. We were happy there... and my mother was still alive. But then, one day... the Space Pirates attacked! Led by an enormous creature called Ridley, they attacked every single building, every single person, as if they prefer humans to be dead... They also killed my mother..." Tears flowed down Shinji's face as he recalled the events on that day. "If it wasn't for the federal troops, every single one of us would have been massacred. Finally, the Pirate's ship fled from the incoming air fleet of the Federation...
It was only years later that my father told me... that it was that beast, Ridley... who killed my mother. He told me that beast was actually very intelligent and often acts as their leader.
From that day on... I swore to myself to never show mercy to any Space Pirate I would see. And some day... I wanted to take revenge on Ridley..."
He made his hands into fists while tears of anger flowed down his face. Asuka looked shocked.
"Shinji... I didn't know..."
He turned around to face her. "Now you know! And now I hope you understand why I never, never will hesitate to kill any Space Pirate I see."
Shinji and Asuka continued their way through the corridors and rooms of the ship. Shinji was certain this was a Space Pirate frigate, but he agreed with Asuka when she told him they had to investigate what happened here. If the Space Pirates were coming up with another plot of taking over the galaxy, they had to report every single lead to HQ.
On their way, they had encountered several other Space Pirates, either dead or seriously wounded. Whenever Shinji saw one, there was no way of stopping him: He was shooting them down with fierce eyes.
After a while, Asuka asked: "This Ridley... I heard of him, but never really saw him. What's he like?"
Shinji snorted. "Ridley is a bloodthirsty monster that loves hunting down helpless beings. But at the same time, he's also very clever. He often acts as the Pirates' tactician, planning their every step before they go into battle. He is also the one that comes up with most of their plans."
"What does he look like?"
Shinji sighed. "I can't clearly remember seeing him when they attacked Mar Sara, but I saw several pictures of him. He is a winged, dragon-like being with a long muzzle full of teeth. He has two arms and legs and a long, spiked tail. His skin is very robust and is covered with horns and ridges. He also is able to breath searing-hot plasma out of his mouth. He is one of the most dangerous predators in the known universe."
"That doesn't sound too pleasant," Asuka said. Shinji nodded. "Yeah, I know... but the worst thing is, it looks like the Pirates are also able to clone him. Reports indicate that he must have died once in his life... It was after the Metroid incident, after the Pirates took control of planet Zebes and its cyborg computer system, the Mother Brain... They captured several of the strange creatures living on the planet SR-388 for their own purposes. The Federation had sent out a female bounty hunter... I still can't remember her name... who destroyed the Pirate base, the Mother Brain, Ridley and his lieutenant, the monster Kraid. But, several years later, Ridley appeared once again when the Pirates attacked a military base on one of the outer planets. That means either he didn't die that day... what is highly unlikely... or that they were able to clone him, somehow putting his consciousness into that new body."
Asuka gaped. "If they can do that, it must be pretty hard to truly defeat them."
"I know," Shinji said. "That's why we must... WATCH OUT!"
He pushed Asuka away, as a blast of energy was being fired at the place where she had been standing. Shinji looked up at the ceiling, where he could see a special device aiming for them.
"An Automatic Defense Turret," he shouted. "Be careful! Their shots are lethal!"
Asuka and Shinji quickly ran back behind the corner. Once the turret lost visual contact, it ceased firing. But once Shinji looked around the corner, it once again fired its blasts at him.
Cursing, Shinji pulled back his head. "I hate those things," he mumbled. "And the corridor is so narrow... we can't both shoot at it without becoming easy targets ourselves. Let me try to shoot it down, okay?"
Asuka looked at him and nodded nervously.
Shinji quickly looked around the corner and fired several shots at the turret. Some actually hit it, but didn't seem to do anything. He quickly pulled back again.
"Damn, this thing has to be covered in some kind of metal coating... my shots are useless."
"What now?" Asuka asked. "Should we just run underneath it?"
Shinji shook his head. "Too dangerous! We would never make it to the next door. Damn, what to do..."
Suddenly, the door they came from opened, and an armored figure appeared. The face they could see through the green visor was clearly female. The design of the suit was unlike anything they've seen before. Attached to the right arm was an impressive-looking cannon.
The armored woman took one look at the turret, before stepping back to where Shinji and Asuka were hiding.
"A special Defense Turret used by Space Pirates," she said simply. "I think I can get rid of it. You don't mind if I try my luck?"
Shinji gestured towards the corner. "Be my guest."
From behind her helmet, the woman smiled. "Thanks."
And she jumped around the corner. The turret instantly began firing again, but she dodged the shots with a nimble roll and raised her own weapon. Splitting off its tip came several metal ridges, as if she was changing into a different weapon mode. And out of the weapon's opening, a miniature missile came flying, surrounded by a blue trail of energy. It flew towards the turret and blasted it away.
All that happened in only three seconds.
The woman stood up. The metal ridges on her gun retracted themselves. She turned around. "Space Pirates like to use machines and barriers that can only be pierced by ballistic weapons. Remember that."
"Wow," Shinji said. "The way she fights remembers me off that bounty hunter that fought the Space Pirates and Metroids on Zebes." He scratched his head. "If I could only remember her name..."
The woman smirked at him. "The name's Samus. Samus Aran."
She walked up to them. "I guess you're also here because of that distress signal, right?"
Asuka nodded. "Yes, we were on a scouting mission when the signal reached our ship. We were wondering why a federation ship would be here, that far from every trading route or federal outpost."
"It's a Space Pirate frigate," Samus explained. "That much I've found out until now. And as mostly no federal ships would appear in this space sector, the signal originally wasn't meant for us to receive... what in turn means there has to be a pirate base somewhere around here, or at least another frigate..."
"I knew it," Shinji grumbled. "I we wouldn't have been on this mission, we wouldn't have found this hidden ship. I'm sure they are up to no good again..."
"That's true," the bounty hunter sighed. "I scanned their computers and realized that they are experimenting with some sort of unknown substance that is mutating the bodies of other life forms when being exposed to it for too long."
"That blue stuff in the metal crates?" Asuka asked. Samus nodded. Asuka yelped. "And I almost touched that stuff."
"But wait a minute," Shinji said. "Hoe were you able to decipher the Pirates' language, or even gain access to their computers?"
Samus smiled and tipped against her helmet. Instantly, her green visor took on a light blue color. "The Scan Visor," she explained. "A very useful tool on my journeys. I can use it to scan creatures and special objects, unlock certain doors and decipher unknown languages."
She let her gaze sweep over Asuka, scanning her.
"Female human," she murmured. "Wearing standard space ranger clothes. Special synthetic fiber technology detected, allowing the space ranger more freedom of movement, while still being protected from space vacuum. Armed with a standard laser-pistol."
"Wow, now that's a piece of high-tech," Asuka said in awe. "Your whole suit seems to be something special. Where did you get it?"
Samus turned off her Scan Visor and sighed. "It was a present... from the Chozo. I spent most of my childhood under their care. They also infused me with some of their blood, granting me the use of their technology."
"The Chozo..." Shinji repeated. "Awesome... they're a race of wise, bird-like people, right? Possessing psychic powers and originally living on Zebes..."
"That's right," Samus replied. "But I'm afraid we don't have not much time to talk about my past... whatever killed those Space Pirates is still around here somewhere. I'd guess one of their research experiments broke out and the situation got out of control."
"Should we leave and contact HQ?" Shinji asked nervously. Samus shook her head. "No, I want to access more of their computers... maybe we can find out what they're up to. And this blue substance... it really disturbs me somehow."
Asuka nodded. "Yeah, me too. Let's go together, okay?"
Samus smirked. "Fine by me. By the way, I didn't get your names..."
"Oh, sorry! I'm Asuka Soryu Langley, pleased to meet you!"
"Shinji Ikari," Shinji said. "Nice to meet a legend like yourself, Samus! What you did on Zebes was amazing!"
"Please," Samus seemed bashful. "The Federation always likes to exaggerate... I only defeated their leaders... the rest of the base and the Metroids only got destroyed because their mainframe, the Mother Brain, had initiated a self-destruct sequence... The explosion of the bomb destroyed everything."
"Well, now that that's settles, could we go on?" Asuka wanted to know. "I don't want to become lunch of... of... of whatever killed those pirates."
"I agree," Samus said. "Let's go!"
They marched on. In another research facility, they stumbled over a small group of Space Pirates, wounded ones as well as two pirates that were only lightly injured. When they spotted them, they could see just HOW formidable Samus was in combat. It seems she is showing the Space Pirates no more mercy than Shinji does...
After the battle, Samus lowered her gunarm, which was still smoking from the rapidly fired Power Beam. "Bastards..." she snarled, then walked over to the computer consoles.
Asuka gulped. "Shinji, it looks like you have found yourself a soulmate."
Shinji looked at her grimly, but didn't respond.
Suddenly, Samus let out a whistle. "Wow, looks like I hit the jackpot! This is a Pirate's Log... listen to that...
'Zebes has fallen. All ground personnel are presumed dead, either killed by the Hunter clad in metal or in the subsequent destruction of the underground facilities. Our research frigates Orpheon, Siriacus and Vol Paragom were in orbit at zero hour and managed to retreat. Frigate Orpheon is now docked at Vortex Outpost. Orpheon's cargo appears to have a 100 survival rate: Metroids are healthy but on restricted feeding schedules due to uncertain supply status. We are ready to begin research on the Metroids and other promising life-forms. Security status remains at Code Blue: no signs of pursuit from the Hunter.'"
"Sounds like your mission on planet Zebes, Samus," Asuka pondered. "That means you must be that 'hunter clad in metal'."
"Yes, it also explains how, after their main base was destroyed, the Space Pirates still were around to attack colonies and ships of the Federation... they simply had other bases in addition to that on Zebes."
"Looks also like they still have some Metroids in captivity," Shinji said. "I wonder if their base is situated on Tallon IV..."
"Most likely," Samus sighed. "I think I will pay the planet a little visit... but only after I finished searching for clues up here."