"So, you two are here on a scouting mission?" Samus asked as they rode an elevator down to the lower decks.

"That's right," Shinji explained. "My father is a leading officer in the federal air fleet."

"Hmmm, you said your name was Ikari? Wouldn't your father be, by any chance, Gendo Ikari?"

"Yes," Shinji said in surprise. "You know him?"

Samus laughed. "Not personally. But I heard from him. But not really good things... They say he is arrogant and likes to order around his subordinates. No one really likes working under his command."

"Sounds just like him," Shinji sighed. "Well, I don't see him that often lately... but I can't say that bothers me that much."

"What about your mother?" Samus asked. "Does she get along with him?"

Shinji looked down. "My mother is dead," he said.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Samus said in a sympathetic voice. "My parents are dead as well... Space Pirates have killed them..."

"My mother was also killed by them," Shinji said. "On Mar Sara..."

"My parents lived on K-2L," Samus explained. "A mining colony. I was the only survivor... afterwards, the Chozo came. They took pity on me and took me to their home planet, Zebes. Later, when I got older, I left the planet with the Power Suit they gave me and started my career as a bounty hunter. But... when the Space Pirates invaded Zebes, they... they killed the entire population... so no one of the Chozo is still alive."

Shinji felt pity for her. He lost his mother, but Samus lost both her parents as well as her 'foster parents' to the Space Pirates. Her hatred towards them must be even deeper than his own. He wondered if Ridley had been present on the attack on K-2L...

Then, the elevator came to a stop and they stepped outside. They were standing in a small room, and in front of them, there was a big door.

Asuka looked around. "No handle or anything to open it," she said. "Only this strange device on the floor. Hey, there's some text written here. Samus, can you read it?"

Once again, Samus activated her Scan Visor. She chuckled when she finished translating. "Insert metal ball to open door."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shinji asked. "There are no balls around here."

"I guess I can improvise," Samus grinned. "Stand back... and don't be alarmed."

And with a sudden movement, her whole body curled itself up, while her Power Suit reformed itself to compress the bounty hunter in its inside. Samus now resembled what was needed to open the door... a metal ball!

Shinji uncertainly bent forward and looked at the ball. "Um, Samus..." he said. "You still in there?"

"Of course," her muffled voice shouted. "Now, get back! I need space to roll around."

Asuka shook her head. "This is SO freaky..."

"Oh, thanks for the compliment," Samus replied. "If it wasn't for this 'freaky' feature of the Power Suit, many of my adventures would have resulted in failure." The Samus-ball rolled around on the floor. "This is what I call the 'Morph Ball' mode. I can freely control where I'm going, and I can use it to enter narrow passages that would be inaccessible for me otherwise. Even while crawling, my body would still be too big for many of the passages I can roll through as Morph Ball."

She rolled into the device on the ground, and for a short time, got locked into it, while the door in front of them opened. The device released the Morph Ball, and Samus uncurled. She stood up and flexed her shoulders. "Oh man, but it sure is cramped inside that thing."

Carefully, they entered the next room. In front of them, the big reactor of the ship was situated, surrounded by a forcefield. Around the reactor, a metal catwalk was leading.

Directly behind the entrance, several dead Space Pirates were lying. Samus knelt down next to one of them. "Their bodies are still warm... and look, something used that one as a source of food. I think whatever killed them is still around... stay on guard!"

The two space rangers nodded and gripped their weapons. Carefully, they walked further into the room.

Suddenly, a big shape came climbing down from above. An ugly, insectoid head was looking out of the shadows, as it roared at its prey. Drops of acid were falling from his mouth. It climbed down, into the force field and kept hold of the energy generators. Several of the generators that were producing the force field were being knocked down by the creature's legs, as it hung over the reactor and stared at the three humans.

"A... parasite?" Shinji gasped.

Samus shook her head. "A parasite queen. But I've never seen one that big... or one that could produce acid. Be careful, you two!"

The insect reared back and spit a green stream of acid at them, but they managed to get away in time.

Samus quickly scanned the creature. "It's weak point is it's mouth. Aim for it... but be careful! The forcefield can block your shots!"

"Why doesn't it block the acid?" Asuka yelled while dodging another acid splash.

"The force field only protects against energy... not against fluids. Use those gaps in the force field to your advantage."

Shinji nodded. "Got it!"

'I'm awake... after that long time... I can feel it... my new power... flowing through my body...'

"Take this, you ugly bug," Asuka yelled and fired at the clamps that kept the force field generator connected to the ceiling. Three shots, and one of the clamps broke apart, and the parasite queen lost her hold. Stumbling down into the reactor's core, she let out an inhuman wail.

'Something... is here. Someone around here... A fight...? Without me...? I want to rip my enemies apart... with my claws... my teeth... my tail...'

The queen rose up again, trying to climb out of the core, but one final missile from Samus pushed her back. As she stumbled back into the core, her body was being consumed by the enormous heat.

"We got her," Shinji shouted in triumph. But then, a sudden surge of energy ripped the reactor apart.

And all over the place, red warning lights began blinking. From Samus' suit, a computer voice called: "Evacuate immediately! Evacuate immediately! 7 minutes left to escape!"

"Not again..." Samus sighed. "Hurry, I fear the monster has disrupted the energy core's power flow, and in a few minutes, this whole ship will crash down into the planet's atmosphere."

'An explosion... it's too dangerous. I have to escape...

No, I'm still not ready... must stay... must be completed...'

"Dang," Asuka shouted. "We can't reach the door we came in."

"Then we just have to take the other route!"

"But Samus," Asuka protested. "We don't know if we make it in time if we go that way."

"Well, we surely won't make it if you just stand there and waste more time."

"Samus is right, Asuka," Shinji said. "We have to hurry!"

"6 and a half minutes left to escape!"

'That voice... I know it from somewhere... But why do I hear it now...? Doesn't matter... I have to break free, once I'm at my full power...

They entered yet another research facility.

"Be careful," Asuka shouted as a big monster broke out of its tank, killing two Space Pirates at once with a swipe. But then, a big pile of rubble rained down from the ceiling and buried it alive.

"5 and a half minutes left to escape!"

"That's our chance," Samus shouted and used the rubble as stairs to reach the upper level. She instantly got attacked by another Space Pirate that was waiting for her, but she reacted fast and blasted him.

'Now... it's almost time... This time, we will gain the ultimate power of the universe... and nothing will be able to stop us...'

Another explosion ripped off the lid of a ventilation shaft. "Quick, get in there," Samus shouted. "We will use it as a shortcut back to the ships."

The other two followed her, when suddenly, a large crawling mass of green bodies came scurrying towards them.

"Gyaaaah," Asuka screamed. "Parasites! Millions of parasites!"

"We don't have the time to kill them all," Shinji said. "Just clench your teeth and run through!"

SCRUNCH! SCRUNCH! SCRUNCH! SQUIRT! SCRUNCH! SQUIRT!

"Eeeeew..." Asuka groaned as she wiped the remains of a parasite from her visor. "Can this day even get more messy?"

"4 minutes left to escape!"

'They're almost here... I have to get away... those cables... I have to rip them apart... there... my power-up is almost complete...'

They stumbled into another room. Shinji looked around. "Where's the exit?"

Then, a loud screech could be heard from above.

They looked up. There, sitting on some metal girders, ripping away several cables from his skin, sat one of the most terrible creatures this galaxy had to offer. A monster Shinji and Samus saw in their nightmares...

"RIDLEY!"

The enormous space dragon glared at them. He flexed his claws and let out another screech.

'It's them... why are they here? No, I cannot stay... it's too dangerous... have to escape... have to get to the planet... and make sure everything will work just as planned...'

Ridley looked upwards into the shaft that was above his head, spread his wings and pushed himself away from his perch. The metal bars got ripped apart under the strength of the flying beast and clattered to the ground. Samus and Shinji looked after him as he flew up into the shaft, soon losing sight of him.

"Hey, we have to get out of here," Asuka shouted. "We're nearly out of time. Samus, got any idea how we're going to reach that door up there?"

Samus looked up at the remaining girders. "Yes, I think so... Asuka, come here."

"3 minutes left to escape!"

Asuka ran up to her and Samus let her step onto the solid foot of her Power Suit. "Now hold on tight!" She raised her left arm and shot a blue-shimmering beam out of a little device that was attached to it. The magnetic Grapple Beam attached itself to the metal bars, and Samus pushed herself off the ground. Swinging up to the door, she helped Asuka getting up as well.

Shinji got nervous. Ridley was here... that means the Space Pirates are up to something big... His gaze wandered through the room... and by pure coincidence, fell onto a monitor that was on the wall. He froze.

On one monitor, several images of Ridley could be seen. According to those images, his new form was being provided with several new upgrades, such as a metal coating on his skin.

But Shinji wasn't looking there. Directly next to that, on the monitor on the right, was the image of a young human boy...

A boy he knew well...

"Kaworu..." he whispered.

Samus landed next to him. "What's the matter with you? Come on, we have to get out of here."

Shinji forced himself to look away from the image and let Samus pull himself up to the exit. Samus deactivated her Grapple Beam, and together, they continued running for their life.

"2 minutes left to escape!"

"1 minute left to escape!"

"We're almost there," Samus shouted. "Just through the air lock..."

A big explosion shook the room behind them around, as they reached the docking platform. They ran towards their ships...

When suddenly, a flying behemoth swooped down from above, grabbed the 'Yui' with his claws and pulled her upwards. He let her fly... and while Ridley continued his flight towards Tallon IV, the ship of Shinji and Asuka slowly drifted away.

"30 seconds left to escape!"

"Our ship..." Asuka groaned.

"We can take mine," Samus yelled. "Hurry, the frigate is entering the atmosphere..."

"10 seconds left to escape!"

They all struggled into the cramped cockpit of Samus' yellow gunship.

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

Samus took off... and behind them, the frigate was plummeting down towards the orange planet, while still being shaken by explosions.

"Now what are we gonna do?" Asuka mumbled. "How are we gonna contact HQ?"

"Well, my ship can only broadcast at close range," Samus explained. "I'm sorry, but it looks like you're stuck with me for a while... and I'm going down to that planet and see what Ridley and the pirates are up to, no way around it."

"Yeah," Shinji nodded. "Me too. I have to find out what's going on..."

Especially what the Space Pirates had done to his old friend. And if Kaworu was still alive, he certainly was down there, on that planet...

Tallon IV.

Ridley... or Meta-Ridley, as he was now called after his upgrade, had no problems of shaking off his pursuers. By hiding in the clouds, he was almost untraceable. Soaring on silent wings, he felt like he was the ultimate predator.

And now he was even deadlier...

When breaking through the clouds, he finally saw his destination.

From above, the big crater looked like an evil eye that was directly gazing into outer space... and above it, a small structure was floating, connected to the main land with a thin bridge.

Below the enormous pit, Ridley could feel it... the masses of that substance his pirates were digging out, to become the ultimate species of the galaxy...

The Phazon.

Near the crater, he could see several buildings marking the entrance to the main facilities on the planet... the Phazon Mines! It was here where they dug up the substance that was so valuable to them. Near the crater, most of the Phazon could be found.

What a pity that they couldn't dig directly underneath the crater, where the largest, purest amount of Phazon was waiting for them. But sadly, the crater was surrounded by a powerful force field, impenetrable for every weapon system they tried out. It even surrounded it underground.

Those damn Chozo... if they only hadn't constructed this temple... everything would be so much easier...

Ridley descended and landed softly in the entrance area of the mines. Several Pirate Troopers were waiting for him.

They greeted him with several screeches and growls, but Ridley could understand them perfectly.

('Lord Ridley! An honor to see you again, sir!')

('Yeah, yeah, whatever,') grumbled the winged alien. ('Report... how are we faring?')

('Well, shaft Gamma and Delta are still our main resources, sir,') the trooper reported. ('And we are making great progress with experimental soldier 'Epsilon'. We believe he will be ready for his first mission in three cycles.')

('Very good,') Ridley chuckled. ('Now, I want you to alert every single unit, as well as our secondary base in Phendrana... The Hunter has arrived on Tallon IV.')

The troopers were shocked. ('A... are you certain, sir?') they hissed in fear.

('Of course I am,') Ridley snapped in annoyance. ('But don't worry... This time, she won't be able to stop us... We have several surprises waiting for her... And when we reach the middle of the crater... we will be unstoppable, and even the Hunter won't be able to harm us.')

('Well, if you say so, sir...')

('Now... what about project 'EVA'? Are you making any progress?')

('Well, most of the subjects are weak in comparison with the original... but the latest results of our research are showing promise... Units 003 to 001 are stronger and healthier than any of the previous examples. Our hope lies within the final subject... Unit 00! If our predictions turn out to be true, we will have a fierce warrior that has almost the same abilities as the original.')

Ridley let out a screeching laugh. ('Excellent... These are truly glorious times. The Hunter will have no chance if what you said is true. But now, let us go inside. I want to see the latest results by myself.')

('Sir, perhaps you should transform first...')

('I know that, you imbecile...')

And the draconic alien raised his head while folding his wings and curling his tail around his waist. He stood up to his full height and crossed his arms over his chest. He closed his eyes.

A glowing aura began surrounding his body, so bright that no one could see through it. His body was completely shielded from the outside. Only his outline was visible. But then, slowly, it began to shrink and change shape...

And when the glowing aura disappeared, a much smaller, human form was standing on the ground.

The commander of the Space Pirate troops looked up and grinned. "Let's go..."

It was getting dark when Samus, Shinji and Asuka climbed out of the gunship. The raindrops were flowing down Samus' visor. Asuka and Shinji had taken off their helmets, as the atmosphere was almost identical to Earth... fresh and full of oxygen.

The ship was hovering over the ground while they got out. They were standing in a big valley between several hills. All around them, different types of plants were growing... shrubs, ferns, mushrooms... At a small distance, they could see a small lake.

"It's getting dark soon," Samus pointed out. "We should search for a place to shelter."

"Why can't we just stay here?" Shinji asked.

"This place is too far in the open," Samus explained. "We could be easily attacked from all sides."

"And what about the ship?" Asuka asked. Samus grinned. "Don't worry, it'll be safe. It's hull is unbreakable when it's completely sealed off... and no one will be able to open the hatch, not even the Space Pirates."

"Okay, if you say so... Well, let's try searching over there." Asuka pointed towards a rocky cliff. "Perhaps there are some caves."

"Good idea," Samus nodded, and they left.

And indeed, they found a cave. It was a little gloomy, but dry and safe. There were even big mushrooms growing at the cavern walls that gave off a shining light.

"I'd say this tunnel leads to a bigger cave," Samus said. "If that's the truth, we can camp in there."

"Finally," Asuka sighed. "I'm so tired, I could fall asleep right here..."

They followed the tunnel, which led them around a corner. They continued and...

Samus stopped. "Wait," she whispered. "There's someone there."

"Space Pirates?" Shinji whispered back.

"I'm not sure," Samus said. "But it's clearly not a wild animal... Stand back..."

With her beam cannon slightly raised, she slowly went around the next corner. She could hear the footsteps and the breathing of the other person approaching them.

She turned around... and found herself face-to-face with a human, a middle-aged man carrying a plasma rifle. They both sighed. "Lady, you sure can give a man a heart attack," the man said. "I thought you were a Space Pirate."

"I thought the same of you," Samus replied. Then, she called her friends: "Don't worry! You can come out. It's a human!"

The pony-tailed man shouldered his rifle and grinned. "Hey, I have a name, you know? Kaji Ryoji, at your service."

"My name is Samus Aran, and these are my friends Asuka and Shinji. We were following the pirate commander Ridley to this planet, but lost sight of him on our way."

The man named Kaji whistled. "THE Ridley? On this planet? Wow, and here I thought it would only be a small outpost of them. My partner and I are here to search for rare minerals... we also saw some old ruins in the jungle, so perhaps there are some old artifacts or other treasures..."

"You're treasure hunters," Asuka sighed. "Oh boy..."

"Hey, you have a problem with that?"

"Well, treasure hunters are known to collect all kinds of valuable objects and selling them for their own profit... while the laws of the Galactic Federation state that every ancient artifact that is being found, may it be valuable or not, has to be reported to the Archaeological Institute of Ancient Civilizations."

Kaji grinned. "The Federation is far away, right? That's why we chose this planet... we really were surprised when we realized that the Space Pirates were here, though." He sighed. "Now they shot down our ship... and we're stuck here." He looked at them hopefully. "You came here with a ship, right? Would you let us come with you?"

"Well, it looks like we aren't leaving this planet for a while," explained Shinji. "And I don't think two other people would fit inside the ship..."

Samus nodded. "Under normal circumstances, it only seats the pilot. I only took them with me because Ridley wrecked their own ship."

"Man, that sucks," grumbled the treasure hunter. "But, anyways, I should go back. My partner's getting worried, I'm sure. Hey, you can stay the night with us. It's mighty comfortable in this cave if you have food, warm blankets and a big supply of beer." He grinned.

They followed him into the bigger cave, where several sleeping bags, blankets and other stuff was lying around. A big tent was standing in one corner of the cave. Someone was moving around inside.

"Yo, Misato," Kaji shouted. "I'm back! And we got some guests!"

A beautiful woman came out of the tent with a smile. "Hey, how nice to have guests. Make yourselves at home... our cave is your cave!"

"Thank you," Samus replied, smiling behind her visor. "We were looking for a sheltered place to spend the night, but we never thought we would find other humans around here."

"Well," the violet-haired woman said. "We weren't expecting any visitors, but I hope what we have will be sufficient... Camping style food, beer, even some coke for those who don't drink alcohol... a deadly sin, in my eyes." Her cute wink told them she wasn't too serious.

Asuka groaned as she sunk down on a blanket. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked Kaji and Misato. "I'm so beat... after what we went through, I think I can sleep for hours."

"Why, what happened to you?" asked Misato curiously.

"We just escaped from a Space Pirate frigate that was about to crash down to the planet, fought a giant parasite queen and had to wade through masses of parasites."

Misato grimaced. "Doesn't sound to comfortable..." Then she recognized the emblem of the Federation on Shinji's suit. "You're from the Federation?" she gasped.

"Yes, but don't worry: We're no troopers, we're just scouts," Shinji assured her. "We've originally come here to explore this sector. So you have nothing to fear."

"Well, that's good to hear," Misato said in relief.

Samus sat down on the hard cave ground, without any blanket. Her thick armor wouldn't let her feel the hard surface of the floor, after all.

Kaji looked at her. "Say, don't you ever take off that suit?"

"Not when I'm on an unknown planet," the bounty hunter explained. "I like to be prepared... I wear that suit most of the time. By now, it's almost like a second skin to me."

"And you always wear it, nothing else? Phew!" Kaji waved his hand. "I don't think I'll try out how you're smelling by now."

"Hey, I take baths regularly," Samus shouted. "And I change my body suit underneath."

"I'm thirsty," Asuka mumbled. "I think I'll have a beer... Misato, you have one?"

"You drink beer?" Misato smirked. "Hey, how old are you anyways?"

"Hey, I turned 16 two months ago," Asuka said. "I can drink anything I want."

Misato looked around. "Well, I think we have to catch some from our stash... I already emptied all of the other cans."

"It's okay! Where is your 'stash'?"

"Well, it's in the tent, but..."

"Okay, I'll get some myself," Asuka said.

"Hey, wait a second..."

But before Misato could say anything more, Asuka already crawled into the tent...

...and found herself looking directly into the muzzle of a machine gun.

"Wark!"

Asuka blinked. Standing in front of her, holding the MG and wearing a bandoleer with ammunition, was a small penguin, guarding a large pile of beer cans.

Asuka nervously crawled back outside. The penguin followed her, all the time aiming at her forehead.

"W-w-what...?" Asuka stuttered.

"Sorry, I wasn't able to tell you in time," Misato smirked. "Pen Pen can be VERY protective of our beer stash..." He made a reassuring gesture towards the penguin. "It's all right, Pen Pen. She's a friend! She can have one of the beer cans, right?"

"Wark?"

"Please?"

Pen Pen shrugged. "Wark..." He lowered his MG and waddled back inside. Suddenly, a single beer can came flying towards Asuka. She quickly caught it.

"Um... thanks," she said.