AFTERMATH

A/N: If you don't like massive spoilers for Other M, STOP READING NOW. This has massive spoilers for events near the ending of Other M.

All Copyrights belong to Nintendo and respective parties.

BRRRRRRRT! BRRRRRTTTT! BRRRRTTTTT! The alarm system of the Bottle Ship sounded loudly as the orange and red bounty hunter known as Samus Aran rushed to the docking bay and back to her ship. She hopped inside and lifted off, rushing out of the station as it began to implode. She could see the ship exploding, destroying its dark secrets with it. A sigh escaped her lips as she removed her helmet and set the ship to Auto-pilot to the nearest Federation planet to report the success of her mission.

Her breaths were still labored as she went back to her Zero Suit, the cost of the mission heavy on her mind and her heart. The chair turned around, facing her towards the small sleeping room behind the cockpit of her ship. "You idiot…." She muttered as she transferred to the bed, laying down and clinging to a pillow.

Her mission was finished and now she felt as if she could now grieve over the events that transpired on the ship. "Anthony….I wish I could have been stronger to keep Ridley from killing you." Tears started running down her cheeks as she hugged the pillow closer, "Adam…" Her tears came fast as she began to sob in grief, "Adam, you idiot. Why did you leave me all alone like this? I loved you damnit! And you go off and die on me?" Her sobbing began to increase, "I wanted you to make it through this and then we could live a decent life together afterwards."

"Maybe we could have settled down somewhere, gotten married and had a family of our own." Her face pressed into the pillow as she spoke to herself through her sobbing. "I never got to tell you that I'm sorry. Sorry for how naive I was when I served under you. Sorry for rebelling against you, even though you had the best intentions for everyone when you made your decision." Her sobbing became louder as she laid in her bed, letting her heart grieve finally.

She had cried herself to sleep before the command panel started beeping, announcing the arrival at her planned destination. She awoke hearing the sound, piloting into a landing area at the discretion of the military escorts. This was standard procedure- get an escort to a quarantine area and go through the testing to make sure she didn't bring back anything hazardous. The events had gone by uneventfully before she reported to the Council to tell them the bottle ship had been destroyed. She also would make sure to add in that her former team had given their lives in the process.

"The Bottle Ship has been destroyed. The feral life forms began to threaten the safety of the federation, so it was deemed necessary to destroy the ship in order to maintain galactic peace and avoid a resurgence of space pirates. I cooperated with General Adam Malcovich in this event, along with the other members of his team. They were all killed in the line of duty, including General Malcovich. "

She stepped out; hearing chatter from the various members of the council about what the bottle ship was being used for. A man and woman, seeming to be of older age, were waiting for her, "Miss aran, is it true? Was Adam killed in the line of duty?" Her power suit dissipated to show her Zero suit again as she nodded, "Yes it is." The two people began to cry as she answered. She looked at them, guessing they must be his parents. She rested a hand on the woman's shoulder, "He gave his life to activate a self destruct mechanism in a Metroid breeding area to keep them extinct. "

"Thank you, Miss Aran. I hope we didn't bother you." She shook her head gently, "It's fine." The two walked off as Samus sighed to herself, letting a tear run down her cheek as she went to a small rented room for the night. She would leave tomorrow morning and go off to find a new bounty, but she would always carry those memories of Adam with her. She only had one regret, and that was not telling him how much she loved him.