My So-Called Zero Mission

An Interpretation

By Father Hulk

A/N: Greetings! Hot on the heels of The Galactic Tribunal comes my novelization of Metroid: Zero Mission.(Quick! Guess what series I'm into right now?) Anywho, I'm sure I could go on for several of the opening chapters detailing Samus's childhood and the destruction of her home thanks to Ridley, and then her being raised by the Chozo, and all that jibberjabber. However, I want my storytelling to focus mostly on the events in and surrounding the game, with, of course, the magical flair provided by St. Eva's providence. So, enjoy!

Special A/N: This story will contain no Samus/Ridleyshipping. So for the seemingly… large crowd that enjoys this, I apologize.

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Planet Zebes: a big copper marking on the blackness of outer space. It was once home to many peaceful civilizations and a variety of exotic creatures. But that's all over now. Its surface is barren and rocky, and all the life now exists below it. It is said that a mythical race called the Chozo once dwelt here, and some say that remnants of their society remain hidden in the Zebesian caverns. But none that go looking ever return. The Galactic Federation has condemned this planet and deemed it useless. All hope is lost for Zebes… at least, for now.

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"Commander Johanson reporting, sir!"

"Yes, commander," said the Federation General as his lower-ranked comrade entered the conference room, "What news?"

"P.O.G.I. seems to be lying low, sir," Johanson said, walking in further. "All we've heard about them is a small string of ore mine attacks two systems away from Tallon IV."

"You mean the Rubald-A series of planets?" the General inquired.

"Yes sir," the Commander replied. "They broke in, stole all the ore, the money they'd kept safe, and left. No deaths, no hostages."

"What kind of ore was it?"

"Copperphite, sir. It's often used to supply large amounts of power to ships and machinery."

"I know what Copperphite is, damn it!" the General snapped, and then he sighed and went to a computer terminal on the wall and typed in several commands. The screen above him flashed to life, and displayed a portion of the surrounding galaxies, with several red X's in various positions.

"It doesn't seem to make any sense," the General muttered. "They've stolen incredible quantities of trillium-carbonic alloy from 3 different plants on as many planets; they emptied Planet Marumari's entire weapons warehouse; and then they landed all the way out on Godforsaken SR388, stayed there for a month, and there's no record of them even bringing anything back! And now this Copperphite robbery… and in each and every case, they killed nobody!"

"Is that so hard to believe?" the Commander asked, scratching his head.

"You forget," the General reminded him, "that we're dealing with the Pirates for the Overthrow of Galactic Independence. They're usually ruthless and reckless in their doings. But now all they seem to be doing is gathering materials. I wonder what Ridley is thinking…"

"Ridley, sir?" the Commander asked, quizzically.

The General looked skyward. "Ridley is the leader of P.O.G.I. He commands their armies with the help of his newest creation: a half-mechanical, half-organic life form called the Mother Brain."

"What does it do?" the Commander inquired.

"It's like the hive mind of the space pirates. It gives orders and controls their battle outposts, it carries out battle plans and navigates their ships. It's just that…" The General paused mid-sentence.

"It's just that what, sir?" The Commander asked after a moment.

The General sighed. "It's just that, the Mother Brain has such enormous power, it seems foolish to have it do such simple things as fly ships and keep stations up and running. They were doing all that fine before. That's what worries me: I think the pirates have built the Mother Brain for something else altogether."

The Commander and General walked to the window together. The window looked out into the starscape outside the Federation's flying HQ. Several small ships could be seen docking and leaving, running small errands or going on official Federation business.

"I want to know what their plan is," the General spat. "I want to know why they're taking all this stuff, and I want to know what that damn wrinkled monstrosity is for!" He pounded on the glass once with his fist.

The Commander spoke again after choosing his words carefully, "I think we'll find out soon enough." The General shot a glare in his direction, and the Commander took a step back and said, "… Won't we? I mean, come on, they've got to be planning something."

The General continued to stare, then said finally, "Yes… they are planning something, aren't they?" He stalked back to the computer terminal.

The Commander gingerly followed him, saying, "I'm sorry if I misspoke, sir."

The General waved his hand. "Forget about it. Listen, I have a little job for you. Our recruitment facility is overseeing the training of a new group of potential soldiers. I want you to go there and see if any of them stand out. It's been a while since we had some true strength on our hands, and I have a feeling we're going to need it soon."

"Yes, sir!" the Commander said with a salute, and he turned and left the room.

Left alone in the conference room, the General sighed again, and then turned to the computer terminal and pulled up the file photo of Ridley. After staring at it for several minutes, he murmured, "Ridley, you winged bastard… what's on your mind… Both of them?"