Note: This chapter, while it doesn't contain any explicit spoilers, is intended to be read after chapter 4 of my story 'Metroid Savior: History'.
Cosmic Calendar Year 2087 – Two weeks after the destruction of SR388
"Samus is gone?"
The tall, black-haired woman, dressed in a dull grey shirt and black jeans, gave the slightly younger, blonde man standing beside her, dressed in a similar, navy, shirt and khaki cargo trousers, a stern glare, which he matched perfectly, not blinking, not giving any sign that he was joking about what he had just said.
"You're sure about that?"
The man sighed and stepped forward, breaking eye-contact and he leaned his elbows on the balcony railing and looked over the slightly luminescent fields of yellowish grass towards the slowly rising sun. There was a slight pause before he spoke, his tone slightly hurt at his companion's reaction, "Siriel, do you not trust me yet?"
Immediately glancing away herself, Siriel bit her lip, she knew Mark wouldn't lie to her, or give her information he wasn't absolutely certain about, especially not about something as serious as this. She had been following Samus for nearly a decade now, picking up the pieces the hunter left behind, searching for anything she might be able to use to finally get to a position to confront the armored hero of the Federation.
Noting Siriel's reaction, Mark turned around, leaning back against the railing before continuing what he had been saying.
"The Federation recruited her for this mission on SR388, the metroid homeworld apparently, I'm not entirely sure about the details, but it seems that she ended up destroying a high-tech bio-research facility as well as the whole planet below, deliberately. The higher ups in the GF didn't like that too much from the sounds of it and immediately put out a bounty for her, dead or alive, the galaxy's new most wanted…but she just disappeared. I've checked with every contact I have, legit and underground, but there's no sign of her, which is strange for a freelance bounty hunter, she's not going to get paid without working, and she's not going to get work if people can't find her."
Siriel sat down on a simple wicker chair on the other end of the balcony and looked up at the morning sky and the handful of stars that could still be seen in the retreating darkness. A whole planet…although admittedly it was the third entire planet that Samus had destroyed, fourth if you counted the whole Dark Aether thing as a planet in its own right. But that said, it wasn't exactly surprising that the Federation wanted her caught, Zebes had been a case where Samus hadn't known or planned for the whole planet to be destroyed, they hadn't know that Mother Brain had been so thoroughly integrated into the planet. Phaaze had been as much an enemy in itself as it was a world, so destroying it was the only option left. But SR388, that had been a world the Federation had research outposts on, and it had been an unauthorized act of deliberate aggression by an individual who was already being watched by the Federation for her knowledge of their various bio-weapon programmes.
"Do you think she's dead?" After everything, that was Siriel's first question, if Samus really had disappeared, could it mean she was dead? Perhaps she was caught in the destruction of SR388, or had already been hunted down…she sincerely hoped she hadn't, what had everything up until now meant if Samus was dead before they ever even met?
Thankfully, Mark shook his head before pushing off the railing and taking a seat in a chair similar to the one Siriel was sitting on, "She reported in to the Federation after the incident, so we know she definitely survived, and there's been no reports of anyone cashing in the bounty for her, so I doubt someone's hunted her down. My best guess is that she's fled the Federation, probably outside of the territory entirely…in which case tracker her down is going to be impossible, there are dozens more worlds outside of Federation Space, and they don't have a unified communications network, so gathering information will be slow, and by the time we find something out, she might have moved on."
Siriel looked back down at Mark as he finished, that wasn't really good news, she needed to be able to find Samus when the time came, she had to, she had to…everything had been leading to this, keeping tabs on her for years, checking all the sites she visited, searching for some clue that might allow her to get the upper hand. She honestly had no idea what to do, the last three years in particular had been focused almost entirely on researching and investigating how Samus operated, but now, suddenly that wasn't an option.
"What should we do now?"
The fear in those words, that tone, the fear of pointlessness, didn't go unnoticed by Mark as he leaned forward in his seat and took a hold of Siriel's left hand, gently running his fingers over the back of her scarred palm, surgery had been able to restore her face, it was easier to move about in public without the scars, but she wanted the rest of her body left as it was, a reminder of what she had come from, a planet that was now no more than a dead orb of dust orbiting that could never again sustain life. He smiled up at her, a gentle smile of support, letting her know that he wasn't about to leave her.
"We keep working, right now, there's an opportunity for us, for you. Samus may be gone, but the need for her won't, and you can fill that gap, I can help you take her place, perhaps if you do that, you'll find what you're looking for."
Siriel couldn't help but smile back, as always, Mark was able to keep a level head, to focus on the big picture when she had gotten caught up in what they were doing right now. And it wasn't a bad plan, what better way to figure Samus out than to be her, to do what she did, and while he hadn't mentioned it, it was also an opportunity to encounter Samus. On the chance that Samus hadn't left Federation territory, she might continue working on the missions that needed her, she was the Galactic Savior after all, so there was always that chance. Although there were worries about that plan:
"You think we can do that? We still don't have that kind of equipment, it's been dangerous enough combing through the areas after she's already been through them."
Gently releasing Siriel's hand, Mark stood up and brought a fist to his chest, "You've got twice the hands, feet, eyes, ears and brains as her, just because you don't have some fancy alien armor suit doesn't mean you're not her equal." He was under no illusion as to the truth of Samus, he didn't know a single person who actually worked with her in any direct, consistent way, for all intents and purposes, Samus was alone, and no wonder, every time she worked with others, things seemed to go badly for them. During the Phazon incident, she was supposed to work with three of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy, but ending up killing all of them. The Federation Army's 7th platoon on the bottle ship was completely wiped out but for one member, who quickly found himself demoted and removed from the service.
While Mark didn't want to overplay himself, that was Siriel's biggest advantage, she had him, he wasn't as strong or as fast, he didn't have the same Chozo enhancements as his friend, but he could cover her back, he had his own network of contacts from his days in the army, he knew how to work the system to allow them to track Samus' movements through secure Federation channels, and he wasn't too bad on the battlefield himself.
Siriel stood up herself and wrapped her arms around Mark's neck, resting her chin on his shoulder briefly before pulling away, she knew she worked perfectly fine on her own, she had done so for years before meeting Mark, but she wouldn't want to work without him now. Being independent was all well and good, but it had been limiting, there was only so far one could go alone and, beyond the practical help, it gave her someone to talk to, someone to trust, someone she could be friends with.
"Can I leave it to you then to find us something?" Taking a step back inside the house as she spoke, Siriel suppressed a yawn, she had been up all night waiting for Mark to return with what had he managed to find out about Samus' location, a little sleep now would help her think of their next move when she woke up.
"I'll find enough to give you a choice, you go get some sleep, we'll do this well enough that Samus will have no choice but to come and find who's replaced her." Smiling warmly as he waved Siriel into the house, Mark turned back towards the rising sun and leaned on the railing again as she disappeared into the building.
Had it really been four years already? His time in the army seemed so fresh in his mind that it was hard to comprehend how long he'd been helping Siriel, that he'd been out of the army now almost longer than he'd been in it, but it had been worth it. Under Federation command he never felt like he was actually accomplishing anything, just going through the motions, but meeting her had given him a new purpose, she was so driven to confront Samus, to surpass her, even before he knew the reason why, he had decided to help her, and it had been worth it.
Whatever would happen, Mark knew one thing for certain, whatever the odds, whatever the situation, he would make sure that Siriel got her dream, one day he'd make sure Samus met her match, one day…
Author's Note: This is a pretty short chapter, but I want to be careful with giving things away about Siriel's story, as not to spoil anything for Metroid Savior. For those wondering, Siriel is indeed the woman who uses the second power suit in History and lured Samus to the station and Mark is the guy she is talking to at the end of chapter 3, you'll find out more about both of them as the story goes on, although Mark will for now mostly appear in this story, he won't get involved with Samus until later on in the story. Feel free to read and review, I'm especially keen to hear what you guys think is going to happen or what your ideas about Siriel's past is and how she is connected to Samus, just what is her agenda? Why is she so focused on tracking down the hunter? What exactly is her relationship to Mark? Why is the grass on this planet luminescent? I love hearing any and all theories people have about my stories, so please let me know if you've got any interesting ideas.