The Huntress

by RYNO IV

There is no rope leading out. There's no trapdoor to find, no map to show the way. And here I am, in the middle of it all. Piss me off and I'll drag you in with me. I have nothing left to lose. My name is Samus Aran. This is where you'll find me.

2. Awakening

1The Huntress: Part IV

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This story, called "The Awakening", is the fourth story in my "The Huntress" series of stories about Samus Aran from the Metroid games. Metroid, Samus Aran, and anything else from the Metroid series is copyright © Nintendo of America .com All other content is from the authors original imagination and is in no way related to the official Metroid Series. Please do not reproduce this story without contacting the author at GieGiex

This story takes place directly after "The Huntress Part III, Resurrection" and is a continuation of that story. Please remember that this is only a continuing fans tribute! I hope you enjoy "The Awakening"!

Chapter 1

"2 minutes until automated self destruct, evacuate immediately."

Kylie was sitting in her transport craft, hearing the warnings coming from the stations computer. After getting her ships computer online, she received multiple messages that the engine was malfunctioning for reasons she didn't take time to read. "Piece of shit!" she yelled and banged her fist onto the console. "Computer, scan this entire station for any ship that is classified as a Hunter Class Gunship registered to Samus Aran."

"One match found."

"Good," she said, hoping that the only reason her ship was still here was because she was about to leave. Kylie was pretty damn sure Samus was the one who'd triggered Ilion Stations self destruct sequence. She began to send a message to Samus then, short and to the point which said, "Samus, I never meant to cause you any ill will. I don't have enough time to tell you everything, there's about one minute until the station blows up, and my ship has malfunctioned, so I'm going to an escape pod. I may not make it. If I do however, I want you to know that I'll do whatever it takes to prove myself to you. Kylie Aran ending transmission."

She sent the message then and quickly got out of her ship, hearing the station's computer once again, "One minute until automated self destruct. Five escape pods unused on Docking bays..."

As the computer went to list the docking bays, Kylie found that none of them were very close to her, and she hesitated for only a moment, looking around the room for any means off the station in time. It was then she saw one of the military ships left abandoned near her own and she felt like smacking herself for having not seen it earlier. Running to it, the computer signaled 45 seconds until the self destruct, and she opened the latch to the cock pit of the small craft, which was a Class 2 space fighter, a small ship used in attacks with room for only one occupant. As she got behind the controls and closed the glass hatch, she looked for the activation switch, glad she knew a little about these types of ships as she had studied them when she was trying to find her own vessel to get around in. The simple design of them had interested her, though she wasn't much for the military or anything related, she just liked how the ships were organized so well with their controls. This ship was a little different but it had the same capabilities and all Kylie had to do was to find the buttons to control it.

"Please state authorization code," the ships computer said and Kylie cussed loudly. "Inncorrect code, please try again."

"Look, if you don't work in like 5 seconds, we're both going to get blown to hell."

"Please restate request."

Kylie was at the end of her rope and she heard the station's computer saying, "30 seconds until automated self destruct."

Kylie only had one chance at this she knew and said, "This is the director of the station, Pamela Owen, request override of ships control commands, authorization code 315-67-009a5."

Kylie had heard Pamela say that code only once, but fortunately she was very good with numbers. The computer beeped a few times and said, "Override successful."

Kylie had never felt so relieved and began piloting the space fighter out of the docking bay, the last thing she could hear was, "15 seconds until automated self destruct."

She began setting in a course for the first thing that popped into her head, which was the space port not too far from the station, and engaged at top speed. She needed to get at a safe distance within the next 15 seconds or it wouldn't matter and she'd still be blown away. After setting in the coordinates, she began to travel away from the station at maximum speed, hearing the large explosion about five seconds later, and looking as well as she could, seeing the blue orb of fire that used to be Ilion Station engulfing a large area of space in a blaze, seeming to grow bigger and bigger, a shock wave encompassing it and traveling outwards.

She relaxed for a moment until she realized the shockwave was heading straight for her, and she heard her computer then, "Five seconds until disturbance impact."

"Oh shit!," Kylie yelled and ducked down hoping the ship she was in could withstand the shockwave.

As the ship was hit and engulfed, Kylie felt as if her entire body was going to explode as well, she was shaking so much in the turbulence. The ship was tossed and spun, and Kylie, her eyes shut tight, held on for dear life. Then a jolt caused her head to hit the side of the glass and she couldn't remember anything.

Kylie was out for an hour. When she finally came to, she heard the ships computer saying, "Oxygen levels low, warning."

Pushing herself up and groaning somewhat she wiped the blood off of her forehead and said, "Computer, where are we?"

""We are 5 light-years from point of impact."

Point of impact? Kylie thought, and then supposed the computer meant when the shockwave had hit them. "What systems are working?"

"Weapon systems malfunctioning, thrusters malfunctioning, helm operable, engines operable."

"The helm is working, can I send a distress signal?"

"Affirmative."

"What are the current oxygen levels?"

"Oxygen levels are at 15% and falling. Estimated 10 minutes of oxygen remaining."

Kylie groaned, wondering when all this shit would be over with. "Send a distress signal then."

"Channels open."

"If anyone out there can hear me, this is Kylie Aran on a small space fighter. My location is," she said and checked to find out what it was, only to see that her charts weren't working correctly, "unknown. I'm running out of oxygen and my thrusters are down, please send help, 10 minutes until my oxygen is depleted."

Kylie supposed that was a proper distress signal, and she waited, finally saying, "Computer, has the message been sent?"

"Negative."

"Then send the damn thing for crying out loud!"

The computer went to work for a moment and then replied, "Message sent."

Kylie sat back then and closed her eyes, wondering if she breathed any slower would it conserve her oxygen. She felt like an eternity had passed in only a few minutes until she received a signal and heard a mans voice saying. "Kylie, we're tracking you now, this is Drevan Arlington."

Kylie opened her eyes and took a deep breath, "Computer, send a response. Drevan, this is a small galaxy isn't it? I don't think I've ever been so happy to hear another persons voice."

"Ask her if she's seen Samus," Jillian said when they received the response.

"I'll wait until she's aboard Jillian, don't worry I'm sure Samus is fine," Drevan replied. They'd been back tracking trying to find any evidence that Samus had gotten off of the station in time, when they'd come across Kylies distress signal. The entire area was swarming with federation ships, ready to arrest anyone near by who may know what had happened on Ilion Space Station and so Drevan had only hoped they didn't pick up on the distress signal Kylie had sent as well. He'd sent his message to her from a secure channel however so hopefully the federation ships that were around couldn't track it. "Affirmative Kylie. We've got a lock on your vessel and we're going to lock our tractor beams now. Please do not respond, Federation Ships are all over the place and could pick up the signal."

After hearing that Kylie did as he asked and soon felt a small jolt as the tractor beams were locked into place.

After finding the emergency space suit in her small cargo compartment and getting it on, Kylie started the task of getting onto Drevans ship.

"She's in Drevan , we can depressurize the room now and get out of here before the federation ships find us."

Drevan nodded and set his course to planet Earth, the closest planet to them, at top speed and shot off into space in a flash of green light. As they began their travels, the door opened and Kylie walked in looking at them both. Then she fell to her knees and said, "Thank God I'm alive!"

Drevan started laughing and Jillian smiled walking to her, seeing that she was injured. "Come on Kylie, sit over here. Drevan, where are your medical supplies?"

Drevan showed her and as Jillian began getting Kylie fixed up, Kylie told them what had happened to her as well as what she was doing on the space station in the first place.

Drevan stayed quiet for a moment before saying, "I see why you're so happy to be alive then Kylie, you had a damn close call. It's a good thing we were in the neighborhood."

Kylie nodded, "Yeah, it is."

"So, have you seen Samus, did she get off the ship?"

Kylie shook her head, "I sent a transmission to her ship which was still on the station a minute before it blew up. I don't know if she made it or not but I'm pretty sure she did. But no, I haven't seen her since before the self destruct was turned on. Let me guess though, the Federation knows she's the one that blew the station up."

Drevan shrugged, "I have no clue, and even if they do, they can't report on it to the public unless they admit to them they were conducting secret experiments and lying about them. Then again they could change the story somehow."

Kylie nodded, "Yes, make it look like she'd blown up another station. I don't blame her at all, especially not after she told me they didn't have her consent to use her DNA. So you don't have to worry about me spilling my guts to anyone."

"I didn't worry about that to begin with," Jillian stated. "Somehow though, I have the feeling Samus won't be working for the Federation again."

Drevan nodded his agreement and sighed, "I just wish we knew if she was alright, she seemed pretty upset to me on the station. And what was the Chozo doing there? I thought they were extinct."

Drevan was still a little lost on all the details . Jillian said then, "They separated her DNA from the Chozos and cloned them. That's the only explanation."

Drevan just nodded then understanding. "I guess she had a good reason to be upset then."

Jillian only nodded and after giving Kylie her medical attention she leaned against the wall and said, "Now what?"

"Now we go Aines. I have someone there I need to talk to," Kylie spoke, saying the words 'talk to' sarcastically as if she had other activities in mind.

"Who?" Drevan asked.

"The guy who sold me my ship. Plus I have a feeling that Aines could be a good place to start looking for Samus at."

"Well, I just quit my job, I'm up for it," Jillian said with a smile.

"Alright, Aines it is then," Drevan replied and changed his course heading to the planet where he'd met Samus Aran.

Chapter 2

The waterfall was peaceful and calm, joining the river it fell into which passed by a building set upon a few columns on the opposite side from which she stood. The skies were as blue as sapphires, and everything there seemed like a paradise. The armor clad hunter stood before it, watching silently. She'd been on Planet Revon for a good week now, the planet she was raised by the chozo upon. The planet where her secluded home was located, a home she looked at right now.

She never traveled home very often, finding it too painful to have gone back there after her Chozo family had died. Also she didn't want anyone to know where her home was located, so let everyone think, even Jillian, that she mostly just lived upon her ship and worked from there.

The home used to belong to her Chozo father Lakia, and while the part of the home that was

visible to the naked eye which stood above ground reminded her of a white marble entrance into paradise, standing before the waterfall and river she was viewing now, the other half of the home, the half underground which she had put together herself after her Chozo father had died, was all technology.

Samus was thinking back now to when she'd first met Jillian. She was wondering why she'd let her live on planet Inia instead of taking her to this home. She supposed it was because of the fact that she seemed to distance herself from everyone, even someone as trusted as Jillian, and that she didn't want Jillian to know anymore about her than she had to. Samus felt some things in her life were far too destructive and simply scarey for anyone to know about. And she didn't want Jillian to become like Samus was. She wanted Jillian to have a simpler normal life. Not one of having to watch your back every minute of every day.

She wasn't wearing her helmet, only her suit, as she hadn't moved from the spot she'd stood in for at least an hour, only thinking to herself quietly. It was a surprise to her that Revon had been left alone for so many years. After the Chozo that populated it were destroyed, the planet had seemed to be abandoned by everyone, lacking any type of interest. Of course, the planet wasn't easy to reach due to a rift in space that had to be traveled through in order to arrive there, and there were also a few cities upon the planet, but far, far from where the Chozo had lived, and no cities that were very advanced, as they couldn't even travel into space yet. Basically the only civilization upon the planet was by far pre-industrial age.

Samus began to walk towards her home then, crossing the river by way of a small bridge that had been constructed years ago. Looking up the walkway of stairs towards the glass front doors, she sighed softly, the build of the house resembling one of Earths ancient Greek and Roman homes. It was constructed mostly from white marble and a few other materials, and the inside of it was not lacking in design either. As she walked inside, she looked at the large living room before her, all in white, with a very large window facing the countryside of trees. This home, her home, was so peaceful and serene, so much unlike the woman that lived there.

Evidence of the homes emptiness for so long showed as dust upon the furniture, but even still it looked like heaven. Samus remembered the last time she was here, which was a good 9 months ago, and she shook her head, deciding she would be here a little more often now.

Though she'd been on Revon a week now, Samus hadn't been to her home save to return Lakia to his slumber. He wanted to be buried there, and Samus thought it was appropriate as well. After she left the home, she went back to the old Chozo ruins about 5 miles north of the home. She'd wanted to take a look around the ruins since she hadn't been there in years.

The ruins were much like the ones she'd come across on Tallon IV save they weren't as old. Also, the ones on Tallon IV were of a Chozo civilization that harmonized with nature. The ruins on Revon held a bit more technology than that. In fact, it was the last Chozo civilization Samus knew of that still had working technology. All the others were far too ruined.

Samus had decided she would come back to her home after she'd had time to recover from seeing Lakia again. Until then, she'd visited the ruins, and stayed on her ship nearby, simply getting her data updated and doing maintenance to her ship and power suit.

Coming back to the present, Samus ran her left hand across a ledge of the wall, wiping the dust away from its white surface and looked towards the door beside the stairs. That was the door that led down to the hidden half of the house, the half she'd put together with the help of a man she didn't trust as far as she could throw, but he had been a decent friend to her none the less. He'd been honorable in keeping her secret of Revon but Samus hadn't seen him in a very long time. She wondered if he was still alive and sighed softly, remembering his name to herself. Eric Lenyrd.

Finally she opened the door and walked down the steps hidden behind it, into a dark room. As she entered, she spoke, "Lights. Computer, restore power to terminals."

Soon after the lights came on, revealing the many computer terminals and monitors along the walls, all for different uses and of different sizes, they all began to glow a green in color and boot up their information, which was now nine months old. Samus felt it was time to refresh their information.

Pressing a few buttons on her cannon arm, a light in her ship, which was just outside the home where she'd been standing not 5 minutes ago, came on and began transmitting information into her computers databanks. She pulled out a chair, fanning the dust away and sat down at one of the terminals. She realized that most of her information on her ship would be deleted now that she was doing this, but she would send the most recent information back to it so that she wouldn't be at a total loss when she was doing missions or the like.

Then she typed in a few codes to her computer terminals, setting her homes security to active. If anyone entered her home right now that didn't contain her biosignature, she would be alerted.

"Good afternoon Samus," she heard a computerized voice then and looked over at a small 10 inch tall robot sitting on top of a nearby desk.

"Damn, I forgot about you." The robot was an AI program she'd been tinkering with on and off. The Artificial Intelligence program had actually come from the Chozo, but she took it and tried to design a robot with it that could actually move and talk at will as well. While she got it's arms and head to move, she couldn't get it to walk, and so the robot had just become somewhat of an assistant to her when she was around and talked to her from time to time.

"I trust you have been well?"

Samus looked back at her terminal as she said, "I've been well enough, sorry for leaving you here alone for so long."

"I understand, you are very busy. Lakia told me you would be when you first began programming me."

Samus nodded, "Yes, he did, I remember." She looked over at the robot then and added, "I've made a decision to bring a good friend of mine here, and after I return I may try to get you to walk again. I'm leaving the power on as well so that you won't have to sleep for so long."

"That is wonderful Samus, I would love to meet your friend. You do not need to leave me on however."

Samus shook her head, "I don't plan to be gone that long. The only thing I think will give me problems is the Galactic Federation. They probably don't like me very much right now."

"Then be careful Samus. I will hope for your safe return."

The small robot hadn't been moving any, and Samus just smirked some at it. She realized then that even though the memories she had with this place hurt, she did miss it. "I'll be back soon."

Then she walked out of the room and her home, preparing to find Jillian so that hopefully she could do something she had needed to for a long time. Tell Jillian about her past and hopefully change things for the better.

Chapter 3

The man gasped as he was slammed against the wall.

"I said I'd be back if anything went wrong with my ship, didn't I?" Kylie asked the man. She'd simply walked into his shop and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, picking him up and slamming him against the wall.

"Yes ma'am!" he sputtered out as she glared at him, "I remember you Kylie!"

She didn't make any outward gestures to him. Only Drevan was with her, wearing his suit as he watched the door incase anyone came in and tried to cause trouble. Kylie finally said, "Ahh, glad you remember. Do you know what almost happened to me?"

"No ma'am!"

The owner of the shop where she'd purchased her vessel was a short, frail twig of a man, skinny and ugly, and Kylie had never liked him much. "Well if I have to tell you I'm liable to get pissed and kill you, so I'll just say that I want a refund. Hell, I might take double that."

"Please ma'am, just don't hurt me!."

"I might not, I mean after all I'm a forgiving person, and even though you lied to me and said the ship wouldn't break down on me for at least six months, I can still forgive you for that can't I?"

The man nodded his head vigorously and pointed to a safety box. "There, take everything from there, whatever you want!"

Kylie dropped him then and let him open it for her. Drevan yawned some, but watched in interest as he leaned against the wall casually.

As Kylie got what she wanted from the box, which was all the money, the man who'd been backing away from them finally got a good look at Drevan . "Hey, you're that guy I've seen with Samus aren't you?"

Kylie looked over at him and tilted her head. Drevan replied though, "Yeah, I've met Samus before, do you know him?"

The man just shook his head, sweating dripping down his cheek as he was obviously nervous. "No, I don't, just that if you know him then now's the time for you to collect. I've never heard of the

Galactic Federation giving out such a huge reward for one person before."

"What kind of reward," Kylie asked then keeping a straight face as if she were truly interested in collecting on it.

"200,000 credits now, and 500,000 on delivery. Whatever he did, Samus must have severely pissed the Federation off."

Kylie looked at Drevan for a second and then back at him, "Do you know who all is looking for Samus?"

"Probably every Bounty Hunter that knows and isn't afraid of Samus, which is a lot because the Federation has broadcasted it to all of its planets including a few outside of its control."

Kylie just nodded and threw him some of his money back. "Thanks for the information."

Then she walked towards the door and Drevan went out behind her. Once they were far enough away from him they looked at each other for a minute and shook their heads. "I hope she's alright."

"So do I," Drevan replied, "I don't know if she can fend herself off from who knows how many attacks. I would say I wonder how the federation knows she blew the space station up, but she wasn't exactly demure about the whole situation."

"To say the least," Kylie mused, and got into his ship once they reached it.

Once inside, Jillian looked over at them and said, "Bad news. The federation knows about Samus and..."

"We know, sadly," Drevan interrupted her. "I say we find her first."

"Drevan !" Jillian glared at him.

"No I think we should," Kylie said then. "That way she can fake her death and no one will be looking for her anymore."

Jillian just nodded then seeing what they meant. "Well, where do we start then? "

All of them sat quietly for a moment until Jillian said, "I can hack into signals to see who has seen her if anyone, and kind of keep up on the progress others are having finding her. We could probably stop them somehow too if we think they're getting close."

Kylie nodded, "That's a good place to start. Damn it, if Samus wasn't so secretive then we wouldn't have to worry about this mess. I'm sure she already knows hunters are going to be on her ass, but I can't help but be a little annoyed with this whole thing."

Jillian nodded her agreement as she said, "We might have more luck in two ships, did you get your money back Kylie?"

"Yeah, and then some. I know a few good dealers around here, but there is one I've been wanting to see for a while. He sells on the 3rd moon of this planet."

The third moon of Aines actually had an atmosphere and oxygen, which wasn't too common for a moon. Jillian nodded again and said, "Let's get there then. I think we'll have better luck if we can split up."

Drevan had begun lift off and he sat back for a minute quietly, thinking to himself. Actually, he was thinking about Samus. He wouldn't show his true feelings to Jillian or Kylie, but he was feeling damn worried about her. He knew he was still in love with her, but the more he thought about that the more pissed he got, so he pushed it out of his mind for the time being.

It took them a few days to get Kylie another ship. The time spent made them all feel rushed because they wanted to get out and search for Samus as soon as possible, but Kylie wanted to make sure she got a good ship this time. Also the man Kylie was trying to buy from was insistent on being sure the money she had wasn't stolen. While some of it wasn't true, Kylie knew to let him do a few checks on her just to make sure she wasn't a thief. When he found out she was in fact a bounty hunter, though not as popular as some others, he'd figured she'd earned the money performing bounties and finally let her get the ship she wanted.

The ship, which was a hunter class cruiser, almost like her half sisters but without some of the capabilities, was a dark violet and black in color. Maximum speed was warp 3, unlike Samus's which was warp 5. It had a plasma canon mounted on the back of it, and 3 lasers on it's underside.

Finally when everything was done, Kylie got into her own ship, unable to help her enthusiasm with it, and the three decided since Kylies ship had better radios and a bit more sophisticated equipment than Drevan , that Jillian would go with Kylie. Drevan was actually a little pleased with that because he wasn't feeling up to having anyone around him at that moment anyway.

After he'd taken a look at Kylies ship, finding his was almost similar only different in design and color, and hers had more updated equipment, he got into his own vessel and took off to start tracking would be hunters looking for Samus.

Kylie and Jillian took off not long after he did. The ship glided smoothly, faster and faster into the sky, and as they got further up, Kylie exclaimed, "Hot damn I love this ship."

Jillian chuckled at her as she continued working on the radio systems, trying to pick up any signals being broadcast on channels not many used.

"Jillian, I don't remember how you said you met Samus, tell me that again?"

Jillian looked over at Kylie for a moment as she said, "Well, my family lived in a colony located on one of the moons of Delron. Space pirates raided that colony, but unlike Samus's colony where she was the only survivor, they left many people alive. Though none of my family lived, Samus found me hiding in some rubble from a building that had been blown up. I was only 15 at the time. She scared me to death too."

Kylie smiled, "You mean the way she looked?"

"Yeah, I didn't know what to think of her. Then she removed her helmet and told me everything was alright, that she was just here to help. After that she took me to Planet Inia and paid for a small home for me to live in. She didn't leave me alone at first. She stayed with me for a good 5 months before she started to leave and come back on missions. All this happened just before she was sent off to Zebes for the first time. I was around 17 by then and I could take care of myself. She gave me a lot of the money she'd made off of bounties to help me pay for things and when she left for Zebes and was gone for so long I didn't know if I'd ever see her again. But she'd given me enough money that I was able to move into an apartment building where I worked occasionally as a food servant in their dining room."

Kylie nodded listening to what she said. "I spent most of my life hating Samus because of what our father had done to me. When he died, I took out all my hate on her, and vowed that I would let her know my wrath. I can see now how stupid I was. I won't say I've forgiven our father totally for what he did to my mother, but I will say that I'm glad I know Samus now, even if only to see what kind of man he was in her. I have to thank her for that."

Jillian nodded as she stopped what she was doing for a second and heard a voice, though somewhat static, saying, "Any sign of the hunter?"

"Listen, I think I've found something."

"Negative, no sign of Samus Aran near Planet Aines." Then the static consumed the voices.

"Well, at least they haven't seen her," Kylie grumbled, knowing it was going to take a very skilled hunter to track and find Samus. While she had confidence in her abilities and knew Drevans was no pushover himself, she knew that Samus was a lot better at it than they were. Which made her worry some.

It would take them some time to find Samus, a few more days in the least. Kylie was probably the only one of the three who wasn't that worried about her simply because she knew Samus could take care of herself.

Even still, who would be the one to find Samus Aran?

Chapter 4

The orange colored vessel sped throughout the Lavidia asteroid belt as Samus piloted manually to avoid the large rocks with precision. She had someone following her, though they didn't know she knew, and she'd taken a detour through the asteroid belt so they would loose tracking on her, which they had. By the time she emerged on the other side they would have no clue where she was.

Samus had picked up on several signals stating there was a reward for her capture, not her death, and she knew why. She wasn't worried about it however. Most of the hunters knew who she was, and wouldn't try and get the reward for her simply because they knew they'd never succeed. But she also knew some people were greedy and couldn't resist trying to get that money. The rest were all bounty hunters who were young and arrogant, and had no clue about who she was.

As the ship emerged on the other side of the asteroid belt safely, Samus checked her energy seeing that she was no where near empty and engaged her cloaking devices. As she did so she looked into her scopes, picking up on a gunship nearing her position. Scans suggested the ships weaponry matched her own and that the shielding of the ship was no different either. Just then she picked up a signal on an odd frequency and she patched it through to her COM so that she wouldn't give away her position by simply accepting it.

"Samus Aran, this is the Gunship Armada. I've come to accept your surrender so that you may be returned to the Galactic Federation for justification in your illegal actions. Do not make me use force."

For a second, Samus thought the voice had sounded somewhat familiar, but she didn't respond to the signal. Instead, she engaged her thrusters and began moving off to her original destination which was Margides Station so she could start looking for Jillian and get back to Revon.

As she took off at warp 5, the gunship went off of her scopes and she just shook her head.

Sitting there behind the controls for a few seconds, thinking about how she should disappear from the Galactic Federation for a long while, a beep on her monitor caught her attention. The gunship was in full pursuit and she sat forward, "Who the hell is this guy."

Then another signal saying the same thing sounded again. But the man added, "Come on Samus, you don't need to run from me. If you go peacefully, I'll make it as dignified as I can."

Samus shook her head and finally decided to send a reply. "Gunship Armada, you're going to have to do better than that. Cease and desist or be destroyed."

She didn't receive a response and continued on her path before she read them charging up their weapons and then she began taking evasive maneuvers deciding to come out of warp and deal with this Bounty Hunter quickly.

Both the ships came out of warp over the Planet Narceon, an uncharted jungle of alien creatures and forests that could engulf cities it seemed.

The Armada fired off a few shots at Samus's ship, targeting it's engines mainly because the hunter piloting the ship wanted Samus alive as she was worthless to him dead.

Samus was able to dodge the attacks and brought her ship about face firing off her plasma cannons at him mercilessly. The Armada flew over her, getting hit on its left side, a hit which only brought his shielding down about 10%.

Firing his aft missiles towards Samus, she brought her ship up, flying away from him while the homing missiles rammed into her, causing her to jolt uncontrollably inside her vessel. She read that her shields were down to 60% with that one hit of his missiles, and wondered where he'd gotten his technology from. As she pulled back up however, appearing upside down now on the hunters scopes, she fired off 3 missiles at his weapon launchers, the first two hitting, bringing down his shielding to 10%. The last missile flew right by him however and Samus shot off a few plasma blasts at him as well, taking his shielding down even further.

She heard on her COM then the hunter saying, "Your skills have grown very well Samus. Indeed you've earned the reputation you have."

Samus knew he was toying with her, but she couldn't understand why. "If I were you I wouldn't be so concerned with how my skills have grown, but instead what they're going to do to you."

Just then she heard a loud explosion and a vent blew open near the control area, steam escaping it as she grabbed the edge of her console to keep herself from falling.

"Warning, shields are down."

"Computer what hit us?"

"Unknown."

She had been able to track a discharge from the Armada just before she was hit, but it seemed as if he'd fired nothing. "Cloaked missiles," she groaned, and then sent him another signal.

"Armada, I didn't know you liked to play dirty."

"As you can see I have the upper hand against you. Now don't make me destroy you."

Samus knew he was bluffing. She had received the news that she was wanted alive, not dead, and if he killed her he wouldn't be able to collect. As he said these words, she brought her ship around and began firing everything she had at him, ready to finish this game of his.

Green blasts brought his shielding down to nothing and once she read this, she fired 5 missiles consecutively at him which he tried to avoid but in the end he was hit by 3 of them, taking out all of his weapons but his missile launcher.

"Gunship Armada, I'm reading massive drains on your energy, I suggest you break off this attack now and I won't be forced to finish you off."

She'd spoken those words quit plainly, and the only response she received from him was, "Suggest what you want Hunter, I'm not dead in the water."

Just then she picked up another of the discharges from his ship, and moved to take evasive action, but as she did so the cloaked missile hit her right side, blowing out her thrusters and her missile launchers, as well as her life support and her ship began spinning out of control.

Inside the ship, Samus had fallen from her seat and pushed herself up, hearing, "Warning,

reactor core has been breached, prepare for escape pod evacuation and reactor core ejection."

Samus worked her way towards the hatch near the door to the small sleeping quarters on her ship and opened it as quickly as possible with the ship shaking as much as it was. Her COM wasn't working either and anything the man may have said she wouldn't have heard. The ship was making its countdown to launch of the escape pod and Samus pulled herself inside of it just as the Computer said, "3, 2, 1," shutting the hatch and the escape pod was launched a second later while her ship sped towards the planet they had been fighting above.

The hunter read the ejection of an escape pod as the reactor core was ejection and blew up a few moments later while her lifeless ship, which was now being pulled in by the planets gravity, floated away. "Computer track escape pod to the planets surface."

"Unable to track. Ionic interference and out of range preventing sensor lock on."

The hunter began following it then trying to get back into range of the pod but as he did so the computer kept giving him the same response and he knew that Samus was jamming his frequencies somehow.

"Prepare ship for a ground based recon of the target. Start the landing sequence."

The black claw moved about the controls of the small craft as he had picked up on the activity going on above the planet of Narceon. He sent a signal for back up, knowing that if The Hunters ship was damaged, she'd be an easy target now. His eyes glowed yellow while he proceeded to make his way towards the planets surface, engaging his cloaking device.

This time Samus Aran would die. The Space Pirates always kept their word.

The escape pod entered into the atmosphere unscathed and Samus knew his ship wouldn't be able to track her because she'd implemented a device into her escape pod that would prevent tracking of it should an emergency like this ever arise.

She felt the pod going down towards the ground quickly, reading the terrain as she went, seeing the ground wasn't very friendly to land on with stones jutting up out of it almost everywhere. Bracing herself as the ship neared it, she felt the pod shake and then jolt quickly, turning over as it hit a stone. She held on tightly, while even though the pod was well protected to land in any type of environment, you could never know what might happen.

As if clockwork though, the pod did come to a stop, hitting a tree, and Samus felt a jolt as she flew forward even in the confined area, her entire body smacking the front of the pod. The force of the hit had knocked her unconscious.

The Gunship Armada landed over a small open area, the only one he could find that would probably be secluded enough to make sure that no one could find it his ship quickly. As he exited his ship by the bottom ramp, looking though the fog at the jungle of trees about him, he picked up his tracking device, reading a faint life sign about 117 yards away from him. It was definitely human, but he couldn't get a good lock on it to see if the person was injured or not.

"Well Samus, I guess you haven't changed that much, you're still stubborn as a dog."

He was a bit mad at himself but he couldn't help what had happened. She probably just didn't know. But he'd find her now. He was sure she wasn't going anywhere.

Chapter 5

Kylie and Drevan had been looking for Samus for three days now, and while Jillian had gotten a few good leads, they still hadn't seen hide nor hair of Samus. The last they picked up on was some guy near the Lavidia asteroid belt who'd said he'd spotted her, but then lost tracking on his target due to asteroid interference.

Kylie knew better than that. She knew Samus found out he was tracking her and so she'd taken a detour through an asteroid belt to loose him. Kylie laughed silently over it.

Drevan had picked up on a small explosion which he'd been tracking for the past half hour and had narrowed it down to somewhere in the Lavidia system. He'd informed Kylie of it, and Jillian had done a search for all the recent events in the Lavidia system that she could. She had picked up a faint signal, hearing a mans voice saying suggest what you want...I'm not dead in the water.

Jillian had said it was coming from somewhere near the planet Narceon. Though what she'd picked up wasn't a lot to go on, it was still more information than they'd gotten in hours.

Drevan was the first to arrive as he was closer, and he scanned the area for anything he could find that might show whether or not Samus had been there. He was picking up on traces of plasma energy as well as exhaust from a type of ship that matched Samus's but also exhaust from one that he couldn't trace.

After Kylie arrived, she performed a scan of the surface of the planet just around the area they were hovering above.

"Drevan , I can't pick up anything, there's too much ionic activity in the atmosphere, not to mention the plant life on the surface isn't helping any."

"Then we'll have to land to check it out," Drevan said and didn't give them a chance to say anything. His ship began landing then as Kylie looked at Jillian and said, "He still loves her doesn't he?"

Jillian nodded with a small grin, "Oh yeah, I think it's a love hate thing."

Kylie nodded, following Drevan down to the planets surface as she said, "I've been to this planet once. Not for long, it was more of a haven for me while I repaired something on that old ship I used to have."

Jillian nodded saying, "Well any help you can give us on it would be good. This planet is uncharted by the Galactic Federation."

"Like I said, I was just repairing something on my ship. I didn't take any pleasure walks." Kylie laughed a bit then as she thought about that and got a signal from Drevan , "I'm not finding any good places to land, what about you?"

"Scanning," she said and paused for a moment. "Affirmative. It's a long way from here, but not too far that we can't check out this area."

Drevan replied, "Alright, lead the way oh fearless one."

Kylie smiled and did as he asked, leading them to an open plain about 300 yards away from where they'd been scanning. As they landed, their ships side by side, Drevan let Kylie do a better scan from where she was as he exited his ship and took a look around the area, his plasma rifle in hand.

As he waited for Kylie and Jillian to join him, Kylie came towards him once they were out of her ship and said, "I picked up 2 human life signs. One of them I got a very positive tracking on, the other was very faint, inside an escape pod. From the looks of it, Samus is the one in the escape pod."

Drevan clenched his rifle somewhat tighter as he nodded. Kylie continued then, "There's also a gunship nearby, and I picked up traces of a crash about 500 meters to the south of us. That ship is Samus's Drevan , and while it's not in disrepair, it's pretty badly messed up, and missing it's reactor core."

"Alright, we get to the escape pod first. Kylie, you go to the hunters ship and track him down, how far away is he."

"Wait just a damned minute Drevan . I'm not going after him. We won't save anytime by splitting up, and you know that. We both go for Samus, and we leave now otherwise this person after her will reach her before we do."

Kylie took off then. She even grabbed the laser pistol off of Drevans side, wishing she were a little better equipped to deal with this, but she didn't have the time. She promised Samus she would prove herself, and by damn she meant to keep her promise.

Drevan didn't argue with her and just followed behind her until Jillian cleared her throat. "Do you want me to come or stay on the ship where it's safe?"

Drevan handed her his other pistol then and said, "Come on." He knew Samus made her stay on the ship all the time when there was danger around, but Drevan figured they may need all the help they could get. Jillian nodded, taking the weapon and following behind them, hoping she wouldn't have to shoot because she was a very bad shot.

She groaned inside the pod and lifted her left arm, looking at the armor upon it and squinted somewhat. As she pushed herself forward and looked for a door out, she felt blood dripping down the side of her head, a head which ached like nothing she could remember. She finally found a switch and flipped it, watching as the door began to open, making a hissing sound in doing so. She literally crawled out of the hatch and rolled onto the rocky ground. Where the hell was she?

She shook her head in an attempt to remember.

But she couldn't.

She tried to remember what she was doing there.

Nothing.

She then tried to remember who she was.

She didn't have a clue.

She had amnesia, and took a deep breath as she pushed herself onto her knees, looking down at the armored suit encasing her body. "What is this . . . " she said and trailed off, then saw the large cannon on her right arm and pulled it closer to her visor. For some reason she could remember what the cannon's functions were, and she could remember what button did what, but she had no clue why she was wearing it or where she'd gotten it.

Out of instinct, she said, "Computer, report damage."

She had no idea why she said it, it had just slipped out and the internal computer of her suit went to work, showing information on her visor that said, "Gunship not operational. No damage to Power Suit detected."

"What about me. Who am I? Why am I wearing this suit?"

The computer once again displayed the information. "Neural damage indicated. Nerve pathing in the brain has been obstructed which can cause temporary memory loss indicating amnesia."

"But who am I!," she yelled then. The computer finally brought up that information.

"Samus Aran, Bounty Hunter. Skilled in 5 fighting style techniques, 3 of them originated from the extinct species Chozo. Born on the Colony K-2L to John and Olivia Aran."

Samus closed her eyes for a second. She couldn't remember any of this. "Computer stop, how temporary is this amnesia?"

"Unknown. Indefinite time period until Nerve Pathing in the brain returns to normal. Suggest to seek medical help."

"Where am I?"

"Unknown."

Samus pushed herself up to stand. She took a look at her environment and said, "wherever this is, I have a feeling it's not a very good place to loose your memory in."

She heard something nearby then, sounding as if someone were walking towards her and instinctively dropped down behind the pod in which she'd crashed.

"Samus I know you're here. I told you not to run, but you're still as stubborn as anything aren't you?"

She peered over the side of the door, having forgotten about her X ray visor, and didn't respond to him.

"Come on, just come out from behind there and I promise..." the large man standing before her escape pod, dressed in a black suit of metal and a helmet which didn't look as if it had a visor stopped suddenly as a few shots were fired at him, causing him to dodge to the side.

He rolled and came too in a small crack of rocks nearby, having realized the shots came from behind him and not from Samus. "What the hell," he muttered.

Drevan had climbed into a tree to see better while Kylie made the first few shots at the man, and Jillian was slowly working her way up and behind Samus while the two distracted the hunter who was after her.

"You'd better be on your way hunter. Believe me I won't hesitate to kill you." Kylie yelled.

Jillian finally got close enough to the ship and whispered to Samus who was listening to everything being spoken. "Samus! It's me, Jillian, come on while he's distracted, or are you too hurt to move."

The helmet looked over at Jillian then and Samus asked, "Who?"

Jillian blinked, not sure she knew what Samus meant. "Come on, are you alright?"

Samus shook her head, "I can't remember."

Something was wrong, Jillian knew. As she got closer, Samus held her cannon up at Jillians head quickly and said, "Not so fast. Someone's after me, and how do I know you're not one of them?"

"Samus, it's Jillian, don't you remember me?"

Samus didn't move.

It dawned on Jillian that Samus couldn't remember who she was then and that she had amnesia. "Listen to me. I know you don't trust anyone right now, but I can swear to you that I'm not about to hurt you. Just put your cannon down and come with me. I'll help you."

Samus wanted to believe her, but her instincts didn't let her. She heard someone yelling then, the same man that had gotten there first, saying, "Samus stay away from these people, they're trying to collect a bounty on you."

"He's lying Samus! He's the one trying to collect a bounty on you, don't listen to him."

Samus shook her head totally confused now and she grabbed Jillian roughly, pulling her infront of herself as she walked out from behind the wrecked pod. "No one move or this girl dies!"

Kylie and Drevan saw this and did a double take. "What the hell is she doing?"

"Maybe she's trying to lure the hunter out," Kylie replied then.

"No, this doesn't feel right. Keep your aim at the other hunter incase he comes out from his hiding place."

Jillian couldn't believe this was happening. Samus grabbed the pistol from her hand then and pushed Jillian away, still aiming at her. "Come out now all of you or watch her die."

Jillian didn't move after Samus pushed her away, knowing that probably the only thing Samus could remember right now were her survival instincts, and so she didn't try to do anything.

Slowly Kylie, Drevan , and the armored hunter came out from where they were hiding and held their hands in the air. "Drop your weapons now!"

Samus had aimed the other weapon at the armored hunter, and watched them all do as she asked. "Now I don't know who you people are, and frankly I don't give a damn at this point. The only thing I care about is finding out what you want from me."

Everyone was quiet, too confused at what she'd said to do or say anything.

"Samus," the armored hunter said then, "It's me, Eric Lenyrd, don't you remember me?"

Samus didn't move.

"I helped you when you lived on Revon, remember? The house you wanted to stay in of your Chozo father?"

Something flashed in Samus's mind, an image of a waterfall and a house standing by it. Probably the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She called out then, "Pick up your weapon Eric."

"No Samus don't," Drevan called out to her.

"Shutup!" Samus yelled loudly, the robotic voice through the mask seeming to echo. Eric was slowly leaning down to pick his weapon up and aimed it at Kylie and Drevan , as Samus had aimed the weapon in her left hand at them as well. She was stepping towards Eric now and began to talk with him silently.

Kylie got Jillians attention and said, "What the hell is wrong with her?"

"She has amnesia, she can't remember who she is, or any of us," Jillian replied. Kylie took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment.

"You can help me remember who I am?" Samus asked Eric at the same time across from the others.

Eric blinked for a moment. "You don't remember who you are?"

Samus shook her head, "I can't remember anything, but if you know me then can you help me?"

He nodded then, "Yes, I can tell you everything that's happened. These people are sent by the Galactic Federation to collect a bounty on you that's quit large. I say we kill them now and get back to Revon."

Samus nodded, and then stopped.

"What?"

"I'm picking up something large moving into this area on my radar."

As soon as she said that a large avalanche of boulders began falling near them as a creature with 5 eyes on each side of its head which stood at least 50 feet tall and resembled some type of lizard came over the large hill of rocks they were standing on. Samus pushed Eric out of the way as one of the boulders came straight for them and landed about 3 feet away while Jillian and the others all jumped to the opposite direction.

Samus wasted no time in turning around, firing as many missiles as she could at the creature. Eric pushed himself to his feet and began to blast at it as well.

The creature was working its way towards them, letting out loud shrills as the missiles hit it and it made a swipe at the two shooting it with its large claws.

Jillian groaned as she pushed herself up, and went over to Kylie and Drevan . Both of them were getting themselves off the ground, and heard the loud roars the creature was making as they turned and saw both Samus and Eric pounding their weapons into it. Drevan wondered if Kylie or Jillian picked up on it but both Samus and Eric's stances were the same. They seemed to have the same type of coordination, but Drevan only noticed it for a moment before he started looking for his plasma rifle so he could help kill the creature as well.

Kylie found that the pistol she had was smashed by the falling rocks which had tumbled passed them, but she had to do something to help. "You wouldn't happen to have any other guns would you Drevan ?"

Drevan didn't reply as he started firing charged blasts at the creature and with 3 people shooting it so fiercely it got a lot more angry, beginning to pound its feet on the ground which caused more rocks to fall.

Kylie pushed Jillian out of the way just in time as another boulder rolled past them quickly, but Drevan who didn't see anything coming continued his barrage of fire upon the beast.

Suddenly a huge boulder fell from high atop a cliff, rolling downwards after Eric who jumped out of the way, but the lower half of his body was side swiped, and it knocked him about 10 feet to the left against a wall of rock. He didn't get back up.

Samus found that the creature seemed to be focusing its attentions on her then. It let out another loud yell and quicky swiped a claw out, grabbing her in a large hand.

As the creature grabbed her, Kylie had run over to Eric and grabbed any weapons she could find on him, tossing one to Jillian who turned around to fire until she saw the creature had Samus. With her bad aim she was afraid she'd hit Samus instead and yelled, "Kylie, it's got Samus."

Kylie was seeing if Eric was still alive, but she couldn't find anywhere to check his pulse, so instead, looked back at the creature and aimed, firing off a few blasts of the gun hitting it right where she intended to; its legs.

She thought that if shooting it wasn't going to slow it down, perhaps it's skin was too thick for regular blasts to penetrate, then maybe she'd have better luck shooting at it's legs so they could slow it down. Yelling at Drevan to do the same, he obliged and soon the creature began to fall to its knees.

As it had held Samus, it seemed intent on walking away from them. Perhaps it had planned on taking her to it's nest so its young could feed. It fell forward though, and as its arm hit the ground Samus flew away from the creature at high speed, only stopping when she hit a tree at full force and slid to the ground.

The creature didn't move, it's legs broken and bleeding, and with it out of the way for now, Drevan ran to where Samus had been thrown, dropping his rifle when he got near her and lifting her head up slowly, saying, "Samus, answer me damn it!"

Samus just groaned through her helmet and then looked up at Drevan . She pushed him away weakly then and slowly, taking deep breaths, started to pull her helmet off.

Drevan didn't say anything, just watched her, and pulled his own helmet off, hoping that maybe seeing his face would help jar her memory.

Soon she turned her hazel eyes onto him and pointed her cannon at him before she coughed, spitting out blood. "You'd better...step back."

Her left arm was clenching her right side, the side that had hit the tree.

"Damn it Samus, we're not trying to kill you. That other asshole was. He was lying about us!"

Kylie came running up then, seeing the blood trickling down the side of Samus's head and flowing from her mouth.

"This is your half sister Kylie, and that's Jillian. God you have to remember."

Samus eyed them both, a primal look in her eyes as if she only knew one thing and that was to stay alive. "And who...are...you?"

Drevan didn't answer for a minute, "I'm Drevan , a friend."

"Where are we?"

Jillian answered that as fast as she could, wanting to get Samus back to the ships so they could help her. "Samus, we don't know how you got here, just that you're wanted by the Galactic Federation and we're trying to prevent you from being captured. Eric is the one who came looking for you on that bounty. Maybe he does know you somehow, but not like we do. We're your friends."

Samus just watched them for another minute and tried to stand up but stumbled back again.

Jillian tried to go help her but Kylie stopped her. "Samus, I know you don't remember us, but for gods sake, at least let us help you! If we wanted to hurt you, we could've just now gotten the upper hand when you fell."

Samus didn't respond for a moment. She seemed to be trying to decide on whether or not she could trust them and finally said, "I think my ribs are broken."

Drevan took that as her acceptance that they weren't her foes and went over to her quickly, grabbing her arm gently and putting it around his neck. "Jillian, get her helmet and let's get the hell out of here."

Jillian nodded and Kylie got Samus's cannon arm, pulling it around her neck as well and they began helping Samus back to their ships. "Wait, is Eric ok?"

"Who cares Jillian, he was trying to kill Samus!"

"I know, but still, if he knows Samus then maybe he can help get her memory back too."

"Jillian, come on, just forget about him."

"Wait," Samus said softly then. "She's right. When Eric said...what he did about Revon...I remembered something. Maybe he...would help if he's alive."

"Fine," Drevan grumbled and added, "Jillian, take Kylies place. Kylie you go see if he's alright."

Doing as they were asked, Kylie ran off to go find Eric again and Drevan started working on getting Samus back to the ship with Jillian.

Chapter 6

Kylie continuously hit Eric in the side with her gun, trying to wake him up until he finally started moving. She wasn't even sure if he was alive, but she wasn't going to take any chances and drop her guard with him. If he was able to get Samus to the point she was at then he was definitely not someone to mess around with.

Eric groaned somewhat and looked at Kylie through the black helmet he wore, saying, "Where's Samus, is she alright?"

"What do you care asshole, just get up and come with me now."

Eric pushed his way up then and said, "I care because I know her." He felt a pain in his right leg but knew it was nothing more than a good bruising. "Unlike you who only want the bounty."

"We don't want the bounty, we're her friends, I'm her half sister."

"Liar, Samus has no sister."

"Yes she does, she didn't know about me until recently." Kylie tilted her head then in the direction she wanted him to go, aiming his own gun at him. "That way, now move."

Eric didn't hesitate but he said, "I'm not after Samus for the bounty either. I only wanted to make it look like she'd been killed. I knew her a long time ago before she really got a reputation started and when I heard about the bounty on her head I came to try and help her by making it look as if I'd killed her."

Kylie listened and when he stopped talking she responded, "Why should I believe you? I don't trust anyone."

"You sound just like her, maybe you are her sister, and I have to admit you look like her too."

That did make Kylie think for a moment. She knew Samus didn't show her true face to many people, and if he knew what she looked like then maybe he was telling the truth.

"Alright, let's say you aren't lying," Kylie began then, "Samus has amnesia, would you help her get her memory back?"

"Yes, I will. She asked me if I would help her when we were standing there speaking to each other before the creature attacked us."

"Ok, but I'm not taking any chances with you."

"That's understandable," Eric stated simply. It was starting to make more and more sense to him now. The only reason Samus was holding them at bay was because she couldn't remember them and she didn't know who to trust. Also from each others point of view, Drevans, Kylie, and Jillian all thought he was only going to turn her in to the Galactic Federation, and he thought the same of them. After a moment he began explaining that to Kylie who listened and nodded, "Yeah that does make sense, but I still don't have any reason to trust you yet."

Eric didn't respond and continued walking with the gun held at his back. "I know you'll probably say no, but my ship is only about 30 yards to the east of here. If we go there I can get some medical supplies to help restore Samus's memory. I also have a great deal of Chozo technology to work with, and some of that can be used in the regain of memory."

"I'll think about it. Samus broke some of her ribs, and she needs to take care of that first. If you stay true to your word we'll consider doing this."

"That's fine," was all Eric said as they walked on.

Drevan, Samus and Jillian had arrived at the ship but with no sign of Kylie or Eric.

"Let me," Samus gasped as she was short on breath, "rest here."

Drevan nodded and said, "Jillian, stay with her and I'll go get my mender."

Drevan was referring to a device which was commonly used for healing wounds and mending broken bones. The process it took to fix the broken bones depended on how bad the injury was. If it was something simple like a finger, it only took a few minutes. But for other bigger injuries such as legs, or in Samus's case, ribs, it took it a while longer to set the tissue and the muscles around the bones, then set the bones themself and heal them.

It was commonly used in not only hospitals but homes as well, and as Drevans went to his ship to retrieve it, Jillian helped Samus lay down on the grass. She coughed again, and Jillian tore some of her black coat off, wiping the blood from Samus's mouth away while Samus looked up at her. "Sorry for threatening to kill you back there. I don't remember you."

Jillian just smiled and nodded, "It's alright, when you can't trust anyone you tend to do things irrationally I think. That situation was by far no different."

"I feel like I can't breath in this thing, do you know how to get it off?"

"I've only seen you do it once, a long time ago, but I think it opens from a latch in the torso section."

"Then help me get this chest piece off."

After a few minutes and upon Drevans return, they had opened the torso section of Samus's suit and she lay there quietly. Drevan began using the device on her side, lifting up the tanktop, the skin beneath red and swollen.

The mender looked like a gun, but from the tip of it came a green glowing beam that fanned out, and he moved it slowly around the red area of Samus's side, and the display on the opposite side showed Drevan the extent of Samus's injury. "Yeah, you've got 2 fractured and one broken rib. The fractured ones won't take long to heal, but the broken one has punctured your lung. That's why you're coughing up blood and short of breath."

Samus didn't move or respond when he said that. She was too busy trying not to breath much to stop the pain to care at the moment. Jillian held Samus's left hand while she tried to comfort her, saying the pain would be gone soon.

"Damn it where's Kylie and Eric. I hope nothing happened to her."

Samus could feel the pain easing in her side and looked at Drevans when he said that. "You're just a friend?"

Drevan looked down at Samus and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, something like that."

Samus smiled and closed her eyes, "Oh, well, it surprises me."

"What does?" He asked.

"That I would only be a friend with someone as good looking as you."

Drevan grinned arrogantly, "Well I am attractive."

Jillian rolled her eyes and said, "Be quiet Drevan , Samus just rest, the mender will work faster if you do."

Samus just nodded then and did as Jillian suggested, but had a little grin on her face anyway.

It didn't take too much longer for her ribs to be healed completely, and Drevan moved the mender up to her head to heal the wound there as well. After he finished Samus pushed herself up, fully healed except for her loss of memory, and got her armor back on. She felt vulnerable without her memory, and putting the armor back on helped her to loose that feeling a little. "It's odd," Samus started, "With this armor on, I feel like I'm at home. I just feel normal, and yet I can't remember where I got it or why I have it."

Drevan and Jillian listened to her, letting her do or say what she wanted to, hoping it would make her memory come back, or help a little. Drevan was the first to speak as she began to put her helmet on, "I wonder how long this amnesia will last?"

"My suits computer says indefinitely. It says the neural pathing in my brain has been obstructed leading to memory loss and that it could come back at anytime."

Drevan nodded, but he didn't know her suit had a computer as well, finding that somewhat humorous, and he was about to say something about it before a blast shot passed them and into a nearby tree. They ducked down and Samus pointed her cannon to where the blast had come from, seeing 5 creatures, all with glowing eyes of yellow and a black exoskeleton, walking towards them.

Soon you'll know the wrath of the Space Pirates!

Samus run!

Samus blinked as those glowing eyes jarred something in her head. Damn it why couldn't she remember!

"Drop your weapons," came a garbled voice from the Space Pirate standing infront of the others. "Or the human girl dies."

Jillian grumbled somewhat getting tired of being used as a pawn all the time. But Samus lowered her cannon and Drevan pulled his rifle off, tossing it to their feet.

The pirate grabbed the rifle then and walked over to Samus, getting right into her face, the glowing green visor meeting the golden colored eyes as he stared at her for a moment. "Kill the others, she's the only one we want."

One of the pirates spoke something in their own language then, causing the one who'd gotten into Samus' face to turn around and reply. They seemed to chat for a few minutes as Drevan whispered to Samus, "These are Space Pirates. They hate your guts."

"Silence human!"

Drevan glared at the pirate who'd yelled that and didn't say anything else. The pirate stepped back then and said, "We've decided you will live, for now. You may be of use to us."

Suddenly a ship could be heard in the distance and flew slowly over them as a platform was lowered and the pirates each grabbed one of the humans. The leader of them grabbed Samus' arm and pushed her towards the platform as well.

Then the platform began to rise onto the belly of the ship and the ship started turning, rising into the atmosphere until it was no longer seen.

Chapter 7

Kylie and Eric had been watching near by. "This isn't good," Kylie grumbled, "But at least they seemed to have fixed Samus' wounds."

"Well, at least Samus can't remember anything to tell them if they want information from her. Somehow I doubt that's the case though."

The ships flew away, uninterested in Drevans or Kylies ship they'd left behind. They were more interested in the fact that they had captured Samus Aran.

"Are one of those ships yours?"

Kylie nodded to Erics question. She had stopped aiming his weapon at him after she'd seen the space pirates and said, "Yeah, the one on the left."

Eric nodded and looked over at her. "We need to follow them quickly. My ship can track cloaked targets which is how I found Samus. I suggest we use mine."

Kylie grumbled some but didn't argue. Eric pressed a button on his right bracer and said, "It won't be long."

A few moments later a ship hovered over head and then stopped, hovering over Kylie and Drevans ships.

They ran to get aboard and Eric engaged his thrusters once they were inside, taking off as he began to track the small ship that had taken Samus and her friends captive. Though Erics ship had maintained some damage due to the missiles and blasters Samus had fired at him, the only thing she'd been aiming for were his weapons, all of which were non operational but his missile launcher.

"They've docked." He said speaking of the small ship that took Samus and the others.

"Where?" Kylie asked.

"They have a larger vessel above this planet that they've docked with. This ship is a galaxy class cruiser."

Kylie cussed loudly and leaned back against the wall. "Well give me some weapons damn it, I don't have any."

"I can see that," he said as she had given him his gun back. "Don't worry I have some weapons on board as well as some old equipment too. Might help if you get shot at."

Kylie nodded then as he told her where it was and got it out, putting it on. It was somewhat loose, but not badly so. She also found a multitude of different weapons in his cases and took her pick of the ones she was best with using as well as the most effective. "You've got a small armory back here, you know that?"

Eric nodded, "When you're as old as I am, you tend to need a little extra just incase."

"How old are you?"

"57."

Kylie shook her head and then said, "Isn't it about time you retired?" She walked back towards the cockpit, wearing the black suit which was made of a thick leather like material and a helmet with a small visor reaching across her eyes but not the bottom of her face. On both her hips were plasma dischargers and on her back was an S-579, a rifle like gun with 5 different weapon settings, the last was for vaporizing. It shot off rounds with only a 2 second delay and didn't overheat very quickly, making it a very powerful weapon to have.

Eric nodded his approval when he saw her and then said, "We'll be within distance of the Galaxy Class Cruiser in 2 minutes."

Kylie nodded and watched the view screen while she prepared herself for the worst. It wasn't long before the humongous oval shaped ship came into view and Kylie's eyes widened somewhat. "I didn't think it was that big."

"I've only seen 2 in my life, and I've never been this close, but yes, they are rather large. There's one thing that concerns me however, and that doesn't involve us getting onto the ship."

"What would that be then Eric?"

"Galaxy Class Cruisers usually carry people of high importance to the space pirates. You can bet your ass the high command, or at least some of them, are on that ship."

Kylie didn't make any gestures save to shut her eyes and groan for a moment. She was glad she'd prepared herself for the worst now.

Samus was taken separately from Drevans and Jillian. Drevan wasn't too pleased and tried to resist, but found the end of a weapon rammed hard into his gut. As they were separated though, Samus watched Drevan and Jillian being walked down a hall towards a containment cell, and waited where she was for the pirates near her to take her wherever it was she was going.

On the platform, before they'd been separated, the pirates had secured both of Samus's arms at her sides, using what looked like leather ties, but they were stronger by far. She couldn't lift her cannon now or her left arm.

Finally the pirates began leading her off to a different part of the ship, taking an elevator shaft up at least three levels. None of them spoke to her, but they weren't gentle in leading her around, causing her to almost stumble more than once. Samus thought to herself for a moment that she should be frightened, but she honestly felt no fear in her heart or her mind. In fact, she felt angry, and wondered if that was part of her personality. Damn it, she only wished she could remember right now.

It was at that moment that something snapped open in her mind, and she could remember some of the past, the pain of losing her parents and the chozo flooding back into her mind, but she still couldn't remember who Drevans or Jillian was. Samus tried her best not to let onto them that anything was wrong with her. She was having difficulty capturing a single thought though before it fled away and a new one took its place. Samus Aran, she thought, and could remember, but it was as if only some of her memory had returned. It was as if she only knew who and what she was now, but not any of her friends and relatives, saying she had them. At least now, she thought, she could remember what it was she'd done to the Space Pirates to make them hate her so much and in turn why she hated them.

As the doors to the elevator shaft finally opened, a large room was revealed, the lights casting a dim orange color to the walls and seats, and 5 decorated space pirates stood at the head of the room.

The pirates pushed her out of the elevator hard and she began walking towards them.

The one who'd pushed her spoke in their own language, translating to English as, "We present The Hunter to you, Samus Aran."

They bowed then as the 5 pirates standing there didn't move for a moment, seeming to be taking her in. The one in the middle finally began to speak after a moment in English. "Well, finally Samus Aran has been brought before us. You have no idea how long we've waited for this day to come."

Samus didn't move an inch. The same Pirate, who was known as Trenbor, took a step closer, "Why does she not kneel before the high command?"

At that, the pirate behind Samus hit the back of her knees, causing her to fall forth onto them.

"That's better," Trenbor said. "You know Hunter, you have caused us great worry in our affairs, but I think the tables have finally turned."

Still Samus was silent. She'd never met any of the high command before, but they were the same to her as all the others.

"Well Hunter, have you nothing to say?"

Still silence.

The pirate reached down and lifted up her helmet then until he was staring down into the green visor. "Perhaps you'll find comfort in knowing we aren't going to kill you. The downside is that you'll be begging for death before we're through with you."

"That day will never come," came the robotic sounding voice from the mask. "I'll never beg anyone for anything, least of all a cowardly fool such as yourself. Untie me and prove me wrong."

Trenbor hissed and hit the helmet with his hand, knocking her head to the side some, rattling her, but she knew it caused more damage to his hand than it did her helmet. "I bet that felt good, didn't it pirate?"

Trenbor called to one of the other pirates then and had him press a wave shock device against Samus's side, causing her to stiffen.

"Just how good does this feel, Hunter? You'll soon learn some respect."

When Samus didn't cry out in pain, he made the guard turn the settings up. Samus jolted when he did that, and the pirate finally stopped at Trenbors command.

As Samus fell to the side, breathing heavily, Trenbor said, "You're strong, and it disappoints us to break such a warrior, but you've brought this upon yourself. All the laws you've broken and things that you've stolen from us have condemned you. We've also decided on what we're going to do with you."

Trenbor stepped around the hunter laying upon her side, still breathing heavily. He looked down at her menacingly as he finally said, "Tonight, you'll do battle with a Kihunter. You'll most likely be killed, but if you do not die, you'll be a slave, a pawn for us to do with as we please."

Samus was finally able to catch her breath, and rolled onto her back. Then she propelled herself upwards without using her arms, standing before Trenbor now, who had to look up at her. "We shall see who will become the slave."

Trenbor didn't respond at first, but finally he started laughing, a garbled sound being emitted from his throat while he signaled for them to take her away.

As Samus walked back to the elevator shaft, she heard Trenbor say, "Oh, one more thing hunter. This battle is to be done without your...suit. So we shall indeed see who is made a slave."

Then the elevator doors shut and Samus took a deep breath. Turning off her voice controls for a time, which would allow her to speak to her computer without the pirates near her hearing, she began to prepare for the upcoming battle. She turned off the voice controls by pressing a button inside of her cannon arm.

"Computer, at the next removal of power suit, deactivate suits power and restore power only with my voice authorization."

Words flashed across her visor then that said, "Power suit ready for deactivation. Please state authorization code."

Samus groaned somewhat, trying to remember what it was. Omega something? "Samus Omega?"

Then she saw the words, "Authorization code accepted. Power Suit deactivation ready at next removal of suit."

Samus took a deep breath then and walked from the elevator with them. She realized they were right outside the same hallway that Jillian and Drevan had been in, and the pirates began leading her towards a containment cell. As the door to one of the cells opened, the pirate pushed her in and then said, "Remove your suit."

Samus saw that it was the same cell, as Jillian and Drevan were chained to the walls by their hands. She watched the pirate aim his gun at Jillian then and she did as he told her.

Air hissed as she removed her helmet and set it down, followed by the same sound and the torso of her suit opening. Then she stepped out of the suit, which stood there before them like a person itself. The lights upon the shoulder and hips which had glowed a green color went dark as she did this, and she felt pretty damn certain that should the pirates take her armor to do with as they pleased they wouldn't get very far with it. Without the power to the suit, if the pirates took the leg pieces apart as they could, it wouldn't latch back together, let alone function properly.

She stood before all of them then, wearing a black bodysuit and matching boots, and the pirate grabbed her hand, something that make her feel sick as she never wanted one of those foul creatures to touch her skin.

As he chained it to the wall, he said, "You'll be taken to the arena along with these two in the hour."

Leaving the three of them alone, Samus sat down and closed her eyes, taking deep slow breaths. She was preparing herself mentally for the battle ahead and after a moment heard Drevan saying, "Samus, are you alright?"

As he spoke, she cringed somewhat, remembering something about fighting this man she was sitting next to.

Images flashed through her head and she remained quiet.

"Samus?" Jillian added then.

The same thing happened when Jillian spoke, but she could only remember bits and pieces of things that had happened.

"Yes, I'm fine. They're making me fight a Kihunter without my armor or cannon, and if I survive, they want to enslave me."

"What the hell is a Kihunter," Drevan asked.

"It's a space pirate essentially. Only 10 foot tall and a lot more powerful. They also bear some physical differences."

"Wait, have you gotten your memory back, Samus?" Jillian asked.

"Only bits and pieces of it. I can remember my childhood now and I can remember these bastards sadly, but you two I can only remember certain things about, and by the way Drevan, we're not just friends."

Drevan blinked when she said that and looked at her. She was looking at him and said, "At least not from what I remember," and grinned sheepishly.

Jillian rolled her eyes, "Good grief."

Drevan smiled some as well, "I see that you've remembered all the good parts."

Samus didn't say anything but looked at him with a raised eyebrow suggestively. Jillian looked up as if to say why me and turned her head away from them.

Drevan chuckled and said, "Sadly that's ended though. You didn't think it would work out."

Samus nodded and replied, "Well, maybe if I don't get that part of my memory back I'll change my mind."

She then looked away from him and closed her eyes again, taking the same slow deep breaths. "Now be quiet for a few moments so I can prepare myself for this."

"I hope you can fight this thing without your armor Samus," Jillian stated.

"I'm not weak without it, I know plenty of fighting styles."

Drevan nodded and said, "Well I'm glad you're getting your memory back then," and they sat in silence.

Samus was only worried about one thing. What had happened to Kylie and Eric?

Chapter 8

"She won't stand a chance against that Kihunter without her armor."

Trenbor was speaking with his other high command associates, and replied to them, "Speaking of the armor, did you confiscate it?"

The pirate he addressed, who'd taken Samus to her cell, said, "No sir, but she's not wearing it either, and it is out of her reach."

Trenbor shrugged it off. "It won't be going anywhere. But I want you to collect it after the battle is done."

The pirate nodded respectfully. Trenbor walked towards his seat. He was the highest ranking of the High Command among the 5 there, and thus had the final say in everything that went on with their prisoner for the time being. They had already consulted the rest of the high command however on what should be done, and the fight was ordered. Some of the high command was even coming from their duties to the vessel which was named Battalion.

Trenbor was simply enjoying the final victory. Samus Aran was no longer a problem for the pirates to worry with. And now that she was out of the way, the Galactic Federation would be shaken in a way it had never felt before.

Samus was still meditating. It had been around a half an hour but no one had shown up yet. Drevan was about to say something when Samus opened her eyes and stood up, looking at the door, waiting.

"God I wish they'd hurry up and get this over with. I hate waiting." Jillian said that as she pulled on her chains some, just trying to find something to do.

"They're coming."

"How do you know that Samus?"

"I have that same feeling I always get. A feeling of dread mixed with a lot of adrenaline."

Drevan nodded as he said, "Yeah, I feel that way too sometimes."

"You know, if we weren't chained, Samus could put on her suit and whip their asses when they got here."

Drevan chuckled at Jillian softly. "That would be good. Wait, did you hear that?"

Jillian looked up at the door then for as soon as Drevan spoke the door opened and 3 pirates walked in, 2 of them going to unchain the prisoners while the other stood at the door waiting. As the chains were unlocked, they placed their hands inside some kind of handcuffs and began leading them to the door, Samus infront of them all.

The long corridor seemed to reach on forever as they walked, finally reaching the elevator shaft and descended it down into a place the pirates referred to as the pit. It was an area where prisoners were taken who were condemned to fight to the death and it consisted of a small area where they waited to fight which was beneath the stands and surrounded by glass which you could see through to the arena. The arena itself was empty and covered with a dirt floor. When in combat a large force field dome was erected around the field so that if any blasts were fired in a battle it wouldn't kill the audience watching.

As Samus and the others were lead into the small holding area, they could see that most of the ship were in the stands waiting and watching. This fight was also being broadcasted on a secure signal to other pirate ships within range so that they could all witness the death of Samus Aran as well.

Stopping them in the small holding area, the pirates removed Samus's handcuffs and pushed her towards the door into the arena itself.

She came to a stop once inside and heard several roars of disapproval, but also heard several cheers because of the fact that they probably thought she was going to die. Samus ignored them though. She took slow deep breaths still, focusing only on herself and what she had to do.

Soon, at the opposite end of the arena, a being covered in a black exoskeleton with large crab-like pinchers and webbed feet emerged, taking slow steps towards Samus. It's golden eyes stared at her menacingly, the long snout on its face opening as it roared loudly. It stood at its full height of ten feet then, and Samus only glared up at it waiting.

"That is a Kihunter?," Jillian asked. Drevan was too busy watching to have heard her.

Loud horns blew then and the force field came on. As soon as that happened the Kihunter began towards Samus.

Making swipes at her with its claws, Samus jumped back avoiding them until she hit the wall. It then moved its arm forward to punch her but she dodged to the side, causing its claws to get stuck in the wall.

While it struggled to get them out of the wall, Samus took a few steps back, looking for anything she could find that would help her, such as a weapon.

Finally the Kihunter turned around and came back after her. Samus leaned down and picked up a handful of the sand as it reached, wrapping its claws around her waist, pulling her into the air.

She then tossed the sand into its eyes causing it to stumble back and drop her. Samus felt the wind knocked out of her as she rolled to the side and crawled towards a pipe on the wall. Reaching for it, she pulled hard. The Kihunter had just gotten his eyes open again and after locating his foe went after her, swiping a claw at her back.

Samus turned around though, having pulled the pipe from the wall and met his swipe, the pipe clanging against his claw.

She turned the pipe then, intending to get on the offense as the Kihunter blocked that attack with his opposite claw. Samus repeated that action numerous times while the Kihunter continuously blocked, and reached her foot up finally, pushing it into the Kihunters gut which caused him to have to step back and drop his guard for a split second. Then she swung the pipe low knocking him off his feet.

"Yes! Kill him Samus!" Jillian yelled.

The pirates watching weren't pleased. Samus only displeased them more, swinging the pipe around in intricate patterns, bringing it down to hit the Kihunters head. It's claw came back up though and it grabbed the pipe, getting back onto its feet.

Then it began to pull on the pipe, ripping it from her hands and used its other claw to knock her away, causing her to fly through the air and hit the force field.

Samus cringed while electricity surged through her and fell to the ground, taking deep breaths. Moving the frazzled hair from her face she saw the Kihunter breaking the pipe in half with it's pinchers, and throw them to the side before coming at her.

Samus didn't have time to move and found herself being pressed into the force field again, only this time she didn't fall.

She cried out in pain while the Kihunter held her there for a few seconds before dropping her.

"Shit, it's going to kill her!"

Drevan was banging on the glass trying to break it, and heard a weapon go off, turning around quickly.

"Did anyone miss me?" Kylie said standing there behind the pirate she'd just shot. Eric was busy strangling the other one.

"Oh shit you're a site for sore eyes," Jillian exclaimed, "We have to get Samus out of there."

Drevan saw Eric then and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I'll save the explanation for later. Just say for now that I hate these bastards too."

"That works for me," Drevan said and looked at Jillian, "Why don't you take Jillian out of here Eric and Kylie and I will help Samus."

Eric nodded and they ran from the room.

Samus lay on the ground breathing harshly as the Kihunter stalked around her slowly. She looked up, seeing it raise it's foot to try and crush her, rolling to the side as quickly as possible and coming between it's legs. She reached up and grabbed it then, punching her fist into it's inner thigh, breaking the exoskeleton after punching it as hard as she could, which caused her knuckles to bleed but she could care less, it's green blood oozing from its new wound. The Kihunter roared in pain. Samus then dug her fingers into the cracked skeleton and grabbed hold of a chunk of flesh. After pulling as hard as she could, the flesh came loose along with the skeleton, and the Kihunter fell onto its side in pain.

She stood up then, throwing the flesh to the side and ran to the Kihunter, kicking it and pounding her foot down into its chest. She then kicked it in its head and reached down for it, only to find its claw around her waist quickly, holding her back. It began to squeeze and Samus couldn't catch her breath, trying to push the pinchers apart, pushing so hard she could almost hear the cybernetic implants in her arms squeaking as they worked, the jagged edges of the pinchers digging into her hands.

It was at that moment that a blast of energy hit the Kihunter in it's side, causing it to let go of Samus who stumbled back and fell on her side. Looking to where the blast came from she could see Kylie standing there holding her S-579 and reminded herself to thank her half sister later.

It dawned on Samus then that she could remember Kylie, and everything else. She hadn't even realized it but her memory had come back.

Trenbor stood up when he saw Kylie in the arena and said, "Someone open the force fields and kill them!"

One of the pirates nearby said, "Sir we can't, they won't shut down."

"Get someone in there now!"

Kylie threw Samus one of her weapons then and catching it, Samus stood up and turned around, blasting the hell out of the Kihunter along with Kylies help. Soon it lay on the ground dead.

"Samus, Drevan went to the control room and got the force field controls to malfunction. It will buy us a little time, let's go."

Samus nodded and they ran towards the prisoner holding area by the arena. Samus could see that Kylie had broken the glass to get in and they used that opening to exit now as well. Going towards the door, a few pirates stood on the other side who'd come at Trenbors command. Samus and Kylie began firing round after round at them, destroying them all and working their way to the elevator shaft just down the corridor.

As they entered it, Samus said, "What about Drevan , where is he?"

"He got to the control room. It's not too far from the holding area they were left in, and killed the pirates there. He then left and secured the doors so that no one can get in and out for a while. Then I told him to go on without me because I had a promise to keep to you."

Samus nodded, "I remember, and yes, I didn't even realize it but during the fight the rest of my memory had come back."

Kylie smiled and sighed in relief, "Good, now we need to get in range of Erics ship so we can transport out of here."

As Eric and Jillian ran through the corridors, Jillian stopped and said, "Eric wait. Where are we going?"

"We need to get in range of my transporters so we can get onto my ship. Why?"

"We need to get Samus's suit. It's in the containment cell we were being held in."

Eric performed a scan to see if he could pick up on any pirates near by and replied, "Alright, the containment cells are three floors above us and all the pirates have gone to the arena to watch the fight so I think we'll be alright. Let's go."

As they got into the elevator and rode up, they came to the prison area and Jillian ran towards the door she thought could be their cell. "Just check all the cells on the left side of the room."

They kept opening doors until they came to the right one where Samus's power suit had been left.

Jillian grabbed the helmet and the torso of the suit in one hand. Eric got the rest. While they started out of the room, they heard Drevan voice call, "Jillian?"

"Drevan , is Samus alright?"

"Yeah, Kylies helping her. Did you get her suit?"

Jillian nodded as she ran towards him.

"Wait, we're within range of my transporters now," Eric said. "I'll transport you two and wait here for Samus and Kylie." He began handing the armor he held to Drevan .

"Wait just a second," Drevans argued, "I can do that, you get Jillian over there."

Eric shook his head, "You don't know how to work the transporter, and besides, it's on my suit, I can't just pull part of my suit off and give it to you."

Drevan grumbled, and they heard the door next to the elevator shaft open. "Well, time to go," Eric said and pressed a few buttons on his arm. Drevan and Jillian began to fade away slowly, transported onto his ship. After they were gone, pirates began to shoot around the corners. Eric shot some of them from his spot in the corridor and hid behind one of the many ridges in the wall, reaching around and taking shots at them from time to time while they shot back. Then he grabbed a small device from his belt and threw it down the corridor to them which one of the pirates noticed and stepped back, but it went off only a second later, blowing all of them away.

A few moments later the elevator doors opened and Kylie and Samus came out of them, heading down the corridors. "Eric?" Samus called.

"Yeah, hurry up so we can transport out of here."

The doors opened again and more pirates came into the room, but Kylie and Samus kept running. Laser blasts flew past them, and as they ran one hit Kylie in the back causing her to stumble forward and fall. She rolled over and began firing as quickly as she could while trying to get back up. Samus came to a stop near Eric and looked back, seeing Kylie laying on the ground just as she was hit in the chest by a laser.

Eric was configuring the transporter to get them out of there once again.

"Kylie!"

"Get the hell out of here!," Kylie called out as loud as she could while three more shots hit her on the shoulder and legs, the pirates only a breath away from her now.

As soon as Samus was about to go back for her though, she felt an odd feeling and stopped, the area around her seeming to fade away and turn into the inside of Erics ship.

"Shit, go back damn it, Kylie's still over there!," Samus exclaimed and turned reaching to grab Eric who was behind her.

As she did Eric yelled, "I got her out too! Look," and Samus turned her head to see Kylie laying on the floor near them. She went over to Kylie then and said, "Are you alright?"

Kylie was breathing deeply and nodded, "It hurts like hell but I'll be fine."

Samus nodded her head and began inspecting her wounds. The only two that were bad were the ones on her chest and back, and Samus said, "Yeah, I've seen worse, you'll be fine."

Eric was busy getting his ship turned around so they could head back to Narceon. He'd had his ship following the Space Pirate Vessel under a cloak so they couldn't detect him.

Samus pushed herself up then and looked at Drevan , reaching out for his shoulders and pulling him closer, kissing him hard. Drevan was startled at first, that being the last thing he expected her to do, and as she pulled away from him she said, "I got my memory back."

Drevan nodded mindlessly as she said that and let go to get Erics medical supplies. When she came back to tend to Kylie, he finally caught on to what she said, "Wait, I thought you said you would only change your mind if you didn't get your memory back?"

Samus looked at him for a second, "I didn't change my mind, I just kissed you because I was happy."

Drevan looked at her for a moment and then stood back slowly nodding his head, "I see."

"I still think it would be a damn problem."

Drevan just shook his head, "Alright Samus, you don't have to rub it in."

Samus just smiled some.

"Lovers quarrel?," Eric asked.

"Something like that," Jillian replied.

"Alright, never figured Samus to have a relationship with anyone."

Samus stood up then after getting Kylie taking care of and walked over to Eric, grabbing his throat and pushing him back. She then pulled off his helmet, revealing the face of an older man with all white hair and a small goatee on his chin. "Just who the hell do you think you are destroying my ship like that?"

Eric sighed. "Like I told Kylie, I wanted to make it look like you were dead. I picked up on the bounty the federation sent out and I wanted to get there before anyone else did. I figured it would save you problems later. Also, I had been thinking about you recently and thought it was time we got reacquainted."

Samus let go of him. "You're getting my ship operational again. Otherwise I'll kill you."

Eric grinned at Samus who was actually grinning at him. "Yes ma'am."

Jillian watched them as she asked, "Ok, tell me exactly who you are now Eric."

Samus was the one who spoke. "I met Eric when I was a child. He was kind of like an uncle to me. He was an outcast, and a wanted man, but only because he'd been framed for a crime he didn't commit. He just happened to find the planet Revon, the planet my chozo father raised me on, and the chozo realized it would be good for me to have a person I could relate with species wise. After the chozo were killed, he helped me make some modifications to my home on Revon, and after that he left. I haven't seen him since until today."

Eric smiled at the story.

"Your home," Jillian asked.

"Yes, one I haven't been to until I had to take Lakia back there to lay him to rest. While I was there, I decided to let you stay there if you wanted to. Jillian, I hate to say this, but there are several things you still don't know about me, things I've always hidden because I suppose your opinions of me mean a lot and I don't want you to think badly about me."

Jillian nodded, "I would never judge you badly Samus. I couldn't, not after all we've been through," and she reached out to hug Samus who returned it in full. "And I would love to stay in your home now."

Samus did smile then, and looked at Kylie who'd stood up. As she let go of Jillian, she also looked at Drevans and then said, "I think we've seemed to form a small group you know?"

Kylie laughed somewhat, "Yeah, what a group. Let's see, Jillian is the hacker, I'm the brains," she said arrogantly, "Drevan's the tag along", she winked at Drevan when she said that, "and you're the badass."

Samus shook her head, "Yeah, and Eric's the old man."

"Damn it," Eric grumbled but chuckled as well. "Well this old man whooped your ass out there Samus."

"You what?" Samus stopped smiling as she looked down at him. "Pardon me for not using cloaked missiles!" She glared at him for a moment before saying, "By the way, where did you get those? And I did some pretty severe damage to your ship, didn't you have a massive energy drain?"

"You know me, the engineer. I came up with the idea and put it to use. They work pretty damn well too. And the energy has a backup generator. My weapons still aren't working."

Samus nodded."I see. Yeah, those missiles work too damn well. You could make a shitload of money off of those things."

Eric snorted with a smile and said, "We're entering Narceon's atmosphere. By the way, what did you mean about going back there to put Lakia to rest?"

Samus just grumbled, "It's a long story, I'll tell you later."

Chapter 9

They set up camps on Narceon so that they could find Samus' ship and start the repairs on it. It was going to take a while to get the ship operational again, but their goal on Narceon was simply to get it fixed to the point that they could tractor it back to Revon and get it totally repaired. Eric was also going to give her the upgrades he'd engineered himself using the chozo's technology.

Kylie told them she'd go get some supplies needed, which would take her a while and so Samus simply gave her the location of Revon which was very hard to find without them because the planet was on the other side of a small rift in space that caused tracking and scanners to go haywire until you emerged on the other side.

Without the reactor core, Samus wouldn't be able to fly the ship any, but all she needed was some energy and to get her hover pads operable again and they could tractor her all the way to Revon, which without going into warp would take 6 hours. Needless to say Drevan and Eric were going to take turns tractoring the ship while the other would scout for any vessels who would try to take advantage of them and also get some rest. Jillian was going to come aboard with Samus so she could help her get the ships computers back online.

Once they reached Revon, and Kylie got there as well with what she'd gone to pick up, a reactor core being one of those items, they would really get to work on repairing the ship.

Drevan started towing Samus' ship first and Eric did a scan of the region for any ships nearby. He'd also told Samus he was going to send a report to the galactic federation that he'd been forced to destroy her vessel on the planet and send them the previous transmissions and scans from when they'd been fighting for proof. He would tell them that when he'd gotten onto the planet the ship had blown up and was disintegrated and that there was no traces left of it. This would no doubt bring the federations officers to Narceon, but Eric and Samus would be long gone by then.

After Jillian and Samus got the computers in her ship back online, which took them a good 3 hours, Jillian had expressed her need for rest. Samus told her to go sleep in her small quarters.

"You aren't tired?"

"Yeah, but I work best sometimes on no sleep. I'm just going to sit here and work on a few more things for a while."

Jillian nodded and went in the small chamber behind Samus' control room to get some sleep. Samus knew she wouldn't be able to sleep right now, she felt too vulnerable at the time and so she'd just toss and turn until they actually got there or until she heard a warning, whatever it may be, or something of the sort.

The ride did go smoothly however, and the biggest problem they had was getting through the drift. Samus was glad to finally be back on Revon, and they found that Kylie had actually gotten there before them, but then again she didn't have to help tractor Samus. Kylie told them that the reactor core she'd found was brand new, and though she had trouble making a deal with the man who sold it to her, it had been a clean one.

After leaving their ships and standing about outside the large landing pad nearby Samus's home, they all began deciding on what they should do first.

"Samus, why don't you go get some sleep?" Eric looked at her.

The once again armored hunter shook her head no, "I need to help fix my ship. I'm not tired."

Jillian, who'd been standing there looking at the scenery in disbelief, shook her head, "That's not what you told me. Now go get some rest."

"I can't damn it, I'll rest when I get ready to. Until then I'm going to help."

"I know how she feels, I get the same way. Too agitated with things to be able to relax enough to sleep," Kylie said, "Besides, I think we're all a little worn out, so let's just get this thing started. If we get tired we'll rest, it's not like the ships are going anywhere, so I think we can all just relax here."

Samus nodded in agreement. Then she had a thought and looked at Jillian, "Come with me. I need to take care of one other thing."

Jillian nodded and followed Samus inside the rather large home while the other three starting getting the preparations for the ships repairs ready.

Samus lead Jillian through the dusty yet nicely decorated home while Jillian took everything in and said, "It shows that you haven't been here in a while, but it's very nice also. Why don't you come back here more often?"

"Bad memories. I like to just stay on my ship," Samus answered quietly and pressed a few buttons on a control panel next to a door upon the wall which caused it to open slowly revealing the staircase leading down. Jillian looked down into the dark room below and began to follow Samus who entered in another code onto a panel which opened a pair of shatter proof glass doors. "I'll get you your own codes to access this room by yourself within the hour," Samus said and walked towards one of the many computer monitors in the room. She spoke, "Lights," and the room was illuminated, revealing to Jillian a heaven. Jillian had never seen so many computers with such advanced technology in her life and she thought she was going to pass out with delight.

"Damn Samus, I wish you would have brought me here earlier, this is...wonderful."

The doors were still open allowing Kylie down into the room who looked around with the same astonishment that Jillian had, followed by Drevan and Eric, whom had seen this before and wasn't that thrilled by it.

"Samus, we decided we can work on the ships later," Drevan said. "I thought it would be a better idea for us to rest and maybe get some food."

The word food made Samus's stomach growl and she said, "Computer, activate replicators."

The oval top to a table nearby began to glow softly blue after Samus said that and Samus said, "Replicate Samus Sustenance 3."

A plate materialized on the table then with what looked like sausage of some type, a side of a green vegetable, and a roll, as well as a glass of something Samus called a "Ladies Cocktail."

"If you want something to eat, simply activate the voice recognition by stating replicator or replicate followed by the type of food you want."

She took her plate and moved it to a desk so they could eat then, and grabbed the cup also. Removing her helmet she took a long swig of the drink and said, "Jillian, I'm going to activate the force field around this area, it prevents any rogue ships from detecting this home and getting curious about it. I wanted to show you how to do that, which is why I brought you down here."

Jillian nodded as Samus lead her to the terminal and booted it up. She showed Jillian how to control the force field then and the frequencies it modulated on. All Jillian could do was hold her mouth open in surprise, "Samus, I've never seen anything like this before, except on your ship, but not at this scale."

"It's Chozo technology. You're probably going to have your mouth open for a while."

Jillian chuckled and nodded, before something in the corner of the room caught her attention. Kylie and Drevan were standing behind the two at the terminals and looked up when Jillian asked, "What's that?"

I looked like a large stasis tank with nothing in it, but the lights inside it glowed softly white.

Samus looked up and sighed softly, "That's an energizer. I could get into it for about 10 minutes and feel like I've slept for 10 hours. I don't know if I should use it though because it hasn't been used in so long."

"That's bull Samus," Eric said and she looked at him. He was taking a bite of a replicated sandwich and after he swallowed it he said, "You don't want to use it because you've always hated it."

Samus rolled her eyes, "Yes, I forgot you knew that. It's not that I hate it, just that I prefer to do my sleeping on a nice soft bed."

"She uses it in emergencies, feel free to try it if you all would like. Samus is too stubborn to give up her habits though."

Kylie shrugged, "I'll try it out."

Eric walked over to it and activated it. The glass on the tank opened then, and Eric told her to step inside. As she did so and turned around, it closed and Eric said, "You might feel an intense tingling in your limbs but that's normal. Just enjoy it. I'm setting you up for a 5 minute run."

Kylie nodded in understanding and Eric began the re-energization process, causing what looked like three golden rings to encircle Kylies body, moving up and down slowly. Kylie made a little face that suggested it felt weird and Drevan grinned. Then she closed her eyes with a serene look upon her face.

"Yep, that'll do it to ya," Eric grinned.

Samus was busy at a terminal setting up her equipment and getting it all running at optimal performance. She'd seen that machine work so many times it didn't interest her in the least anymore. Jillian looked back down at Samus who was busy typing with her left hand, and shook her head. "Wouldn't it be easier if you removed your cannon."

Samus shrugged, "Not really. I tend to use my left hand more anyway when I'm typing."

Jillian nodding, knowing Samus was ambidextrous. She then looked at Drevan and watched him walk up behind Samus to look at her screen. "You know Samus, with everything you have here, you could probably live the rest of your life and never hunt another bounty."

Samus replied once she was done typing and turned around, standing up. "Yes, I could, but that's like asking me to stop being human. You know that."

"I wasn't asking you to stop, just making a comment."

She nodded slowly and they stared at each other for a moment.

Eric grumbled and walked over to Jillian, whispering, "I think the love birds want to be alone. Let's give them some time."

"What about Kylie?"

"She'll be asleep when the process stops. Don't worry about her."

Jillian nodded and followed him silently out of the room. Samus and Drevan were still looking at one another until she finally spoke, "Drevan , you know you're really annoying."

Drevan raised an eyebrow. "Pardon me?"

"All you've ever done is give me grief. But you've also helped me a lot. Thank you." She leaned in then and kissed him slowly. But she didn't pull away, and they continued kissing.

Drevan returned the kiss fully before he broke it off himself and said, "You know, this isn't a good thing for friends to do."

Samus smirked somewhat, her eyes half closed from lack of sleep and the kiss before she looked up at him finally. "No, but you have to admit it's damn friendly."

Drevan snorted with a smile before running his fingers against her cheek. "Yeah, it is. Maybe you could show me to your room, that is unless you're afraid I'm going to pull something."

She just shook her head, "No, I think you're too tired to pull anything. It's on the 3rd floor though."

Samus led him up to where her sleeping quarters were. It was the only room in the home without an abundance of dust in it because Samus spent her time in that room mostly and in her control room as well. As they entered, speaking softly of things that weren't too important, and getting comfortable, they both fell into a long blissful sleep. Samus dozed off first, and Drevan just watched her for a moment, before sleep claimed him for itself.

He could only wonder what sort of things would happen while they stayed on Revon.

Chapter 10

"Lakia!," the young girl screamed running towards the entrance of the white marble house. The tall Chozo named Lakia stood upon the steps. He'd been watching his adopted daughter Samus playing with one of his natural sons, and he had burned the image into his memory, wanting to never forget.

"Lakia," she screamed again and ran closer, "Jaken is trying to stick a bug in my shirt!"

As soon as Samus reached him, Jaken, her adopted brother not too far behind, she stood there and stuck her tongue out at him. Jaken had no clue what that gesture meant.

Lakia looked at his son and raised an eyebrow. "Jaken, don't chase Samus with bugs. Better to teach her of them first so she's not afraid of them."

"I'm not afraid of them Lakia! I know all about them, and that's why I don't like them!"

Jaken started laughing at Samus, and she glared at him, "I'll teach you to stick bugs in my shirt," and she jumped on him, knocking him over. Lakia knew it was all in fun, for as they fell and wrestled, Samus began laughing as well. But something tore at his heart.

Lakia knew Samus had buried the pain of losing her parents deep inside her, though she was only 8 years old, and he knew that she had a fierce spirit, one that couldn't be controlled. But what worried him was that he knew one day the pain would resurface, and Samus would want to know why, she would ask why her parents had been torn from her, why other children got to have their parents when hers died, and he feared that she would become bitter because of it, bitter and hateful.

Over the 3 years Samus had been his daughter, he'd come to love her just as much as his own child who was only 2 years older. He only hoped his love for her would prevent her from becoming cold and bitter to everyone and everything.

As they finally stood back up, Lakia told his son to get ready for his lessons. Samus watched her brother run off and she looked up at Lakia then who, after watching her quietly for a moment, asked her to do the same.

It wasn't until Samus was 13 years old that she ever questioned her parents death. Lakia had been sitting in the gardens behind their house meditating when the young girl walked up to him slowly and sat beside him, silently closing her eyes and putting her hands together infront of her chest, breathing slowly. After a few moments of meditation, Lakia finally spoke, "What troubles you my child?"

Samus didn't respond at first, but then she moved, looking to see that Lakia was watching her intently. Samus hadn't even heard him move, and she wondered how he didn't that without making a sound.

"Lakia, I love you. You're my father, you and Jaken are my family, and I'm very happy here with you. But lately, I've been thinking about my real parents."

Lakia's blue eyes remained focused on Samus, he blinked a few times waiting for her to continue. Finally she did. "Why did they have to die? Everyone died on K-2L but me! Why was I the only one left? All I did was hide in a closet, why couldn't they have left them all alone!"

The small outburst didn't surprise Lakia any. He'd been expecting it, and he spoke softly, serenely. "Samus, no one can answer why your parents were killed. No one can answer why you were the only survivor. The only answer there is has to be found by yourself. Your life will reveal it to you when the moment is right. This is why faith is one of the greatest lessons there is to learn."

"But it's not fair!"

Samus wiped her cheeks, tears had began to stream down them. Lakia reached up and placed a hand on her cheek. "Sweetest child, I know of the pain in you. I've felt it too because of my love for you. What you suffer is ultimately what I as well suffer. But you have to remember that with all pain comes knowledge, with knowledge you have power, and with power you have responsibility. Know of this and be responsible for yourself, and always remember that you loved your parents, for asking why can only hinder you. Patience will grant you relief, and so be patient for the answers. I can promise you they will come."

Samus listened to every word he said, and turned her head down in thought. The words burned into her mind like she'd been branded, and she looked up at Lakia with a smile. "I love you Lakia. I'll try to be responsible for anything I do, and also I'll try to be patient. I think you're right, instead of questioning why, I should just remember my love for them, and be patient. But it will be hard for me."

Lakia nodded, "Yes, but any road hard traveled is one well traveled. I know it will be hard, but this is why I am here, to give you strength."

Samus smiled and threw her arms around Lakia, who hugged her in return lovingly.

Samus opened her eyes slowly. She'd slept for ten hours, and it was around noon when she woke up. Drevan wasn't there and as she wiped her eyes and sat up slowly, she realized she'd slept through the night without dreaming.

Standing up, she got herself cleaned up and for a change of pace, left her hair down from its usual ponytail. She looked over at her power suit which stood like a sentinel where she'd left it beside her bed-stand the day before. Today she would give it a rest, and she turned and walked down to the main room of the home, seeing Jillian and Kylie sitting on a now cleaned sofa talking and eating some lunch. They didn't see her standing there, and she just listened in to their conversation without letting them know she was there.

"I don't know. However the Chozo did it though, it just shows how damn advanced they are," Kylie mused. "Samus was lucky to have known them."

Jillian nodded, "Yeah, but I bet she missed her real parents growing up with them. Did you ever wonder what it must have been like growing up with people who looked nothing like you, wondering everyday why you couldn't live with your own kind? Well, maybe she could have, but didn't want to leave Lakia."

Eric had come into the room and sat down as well. Jillian looked at him and asked then, "Was Samus really depressed when she was younger?"

Eric chuckled, "Actually, she was very free spirited. Still is, but she's learned to control herself a great deal. I didn't meet her until she was 10 years old, and at that time she seemed to get into fights everywhere she went. Lakia told me it was because she was getting out her anger over her parents death, and I believe him."

Samus smiled listening to Eric speak of Lakia. He continued then. "When she was around 13, she seemed to change dramatically somehow though. She concentrated a lot on learning about technology, and she was damn good at it, especially for her age. The Chozo tested her IQ, and found it to be around 165, very high for a human. Chozo IQ's are around 700. Samus caught onto everything they taught her, and when she was 15 years old, they infused her with their blood and gave her cybernetic implants that were partially bionic so they would grow with her. In fact, removing the implants now could possibly paralyze Samus because they are so integrated with her system."

Jillian listened fascinated, and Kylie tilted her head, "Why did they do that anyway?"

Eric shrugged because he had no clue.

"Perhaps it was because I demanded it," Samus said as she walked around the corner finally and took a seat across from Eric.

"Good morning Samus, I hope you slept well," Jillian smiled.

Samus nodded, "Actually, I can't remember the last time I slept so well. So, I see you all are trying to figure me out?"

Jillian grinned, "Just curious I guess. I mean you never really describe any of your gadgets or how they work."

Samus nodded, "I guess I didn't feel it was that important. Well, ask me a question."

Drevan walked in at that time also and said good morning to Samus who corrected him and told him good afternoon. Smiling, he nodded and sat on the sofa next to Jillian on the side of it closest to Samus.

Jillian waited and then said, "Well, why did you demand to get implants?"

Samus sat back and crossed one leg over the other, much like a lady. Jillian raised an eyebrow but Samus didn't seem to notice. "Well, at first, Lakia informed me that being a human, I would be much less prone to disease if they infused me with their blood. He also said I would become resistant to poisons which even they are susceptible to. Cyanide for example. It does nothing to me."

Drevan got a blank look on his face. "Damn, and I was gonna kill you tonight by poison."

Jillian hit his arm as he grinned. Samus rolled her eyes, "Immature ass."

Drevan just winked at her.

Jillian looked back at Samus then, "Well, why the implants then?"

Samus took a deep breath. "Well, after he told me about the infusion of their blood, I started looking into other things they could do to me. I read about the implants in a book and asked Lakia about them. He said it didn't seem like it would be necessary, especially since I was only 15. But he told me what they would do anyway, giving me enhanced strength and agility, and I literally demanded to have them. Doing that type of surgery to a 15 year old human hadn't been done before me, but they weren't at all worried about anything going wrong. Many of the Chozo warriors had implants as I do, and even at that age, I considered myself somewhat of a warrior. I had always studied militant lifestyles."

"Damn Samus, now for the next question in our interview," Kylie said with a grin. Samus smiled and switched her legs around as she crossed her arms over her shoulders. Her sleeves drew up then, showing some metal glinting on her right shoulder. "What about that? Is that an implant?"

Kylie asked the question and Samus looked at her shoulder, lifting the short sleeve up to reveal it totally. "Actually, this was added after I had my implants."

"For what?" Drevan asked.

"For my power suit. This connects to the right arm of my suit, and helps me control my arm cannon better. You see, the cannon has a powerful discharge on the power beam setting alone, and while that doesn't force my arm back when I fire it, on the ice beam setting, my arm would go way back without this, possibly break it. This is for added strength in my right arm."

"So that's the only implant on your body that shows?" Jillian asked.

"Yeah it is," Drevan said.

"Oh god," Jillian grumbled but laughed.

"Well Drevan, what else shows on her body," Kylie asked in a smartassed way, but laughed loudly afterwards.

"Well, there's this..." he said and stopped when Samus slapped her hand over his mouth.

Eric was about to fall out of his chair laughing.

"Ok old man, that's enough out of you," Samus mused with a smirk. She then removed her hand and sat back.

"Well, there is something else I'd like to know, "Jillian asked despite the laughter around her.

Samus looked at her and nodded for her to continue. "When did you get the power suit? I mean, why?"

Samus had a solemn look on her face for a moment. Eric coughed, recovering from his laughter and looked at Samus, knowing why she looked the way she did. "I think that Samus..."

"No, it's alright Eric, I can answer."

Eric nodded and let her. She was quiet for only a moment then and said, "The power suit wasn't made until I was 17. They started building it a year before that however, because was serving in the Chozo military."

"They had a military?" Drevan asked surprised.

Samus nodded, "As I said, there were warriors among the chozo. It's true, the Chozo were a peaceful race, but that doesn't mean no one else wanted to fight them. Especially for their technology. Their warriors were very well trained really, and I was going to be among their numbers. So they began building me a suit of their armor that would fit my makeup. I still remember the testing they did on me with different pieces of the suit equipped. I was on a frigate when the suit was finished, and I put the entire thing on for the first time. I felt so odd. I remember reaching to press a button with my right hand, only to find there was a gun attached to it. I had to make a lot of adjustments with how I worked when I wore the suit.

After an hour or so of working around in the suit, I wanted Lakia to see it completed finally. He was on this planet's surface, in the city about 5 miles north of here which are ruins now. So I flew a small pod back to the planet and landed in the city, Lakia had come to meet me. Once I got out, he looked me over, and I removed my helmet, handing it to him.

As he looked at it, he told me, 'Samus, you have truly grown. Use these gifts wisely, for everything you do. Never stop when things go wrong. If you don't like it, then correct it. Problems and fights will always be present, so use this to do all you can to make sure it doesn't turn into the worst.'"

Samus had drifted off after she said that and seemed to be staring into nothing. Her mind had run away with her while she sat there telling them this, and after a moment of silence Jillian asked, "Samus? Are you alright?"

Samus nodded and pushed herself up, "Yeah, I think I should get started on my ship. But first I want to get some food," and she walked off to get herself something to eat.

After she left, Kylie said, "What was that all about?"

Eric shook his head, "It was right after that moment that the city went under attack by space pirates. Lakia and Jaken were killed in that battle. Jaken was Lakia's son, and Samus's brother."

"Just like when she was a child," Jillian asked and sat forward on her elbows saddened by the story. "I wish I hadn't asked now."

Eric seemed dejected for a moment and finally he looked over at her, "No, don't regret asking. I'm glad you did because it gives me a chance to talk to Samus about something I need to tell her about. It's one of the reasons I came back to find her."

Eric stood up then and walked to the computer rooms where Samus had gone below the house. As he entered, he saw her sitting at one of the monitors messing with her AI robot. She'd detached its legs and was trying to fix some of the wiring in it.

"Are you still working on that thing?"

Samus looked up when she heard that and chuckled somewhat, "Yeah, whenever I get frustrated. What are you doing here?"

"Well, you seemed a little upset. Don't forget, I know you Aran, every time you were upset when you were younger you'd leave and go mess with something else."

Samus looked at him and said, "Well, why wouldn't I be? You were the last person I told that story too, and that was right after it happened. I haven't thought about it for a while now."

Eric nodded and sat on a desk across from her. "You know, when I said I came to get reacquainted with you, and to help you because of the Federation looking for you?"

Samus nodded slowly but didn't look at him, "What, were you lying?"

Eric shook his head, "No, I wasn't lying, I just kept a few things from you. I didn't want to tell you when others were around because I knew how you'd react. I only used the fact that the federation was looking for you as an excuse to come see you. There's something I've found out that you need to know."

Samus put the robot down and looked at him then. She wasn't sure what to expect, but only said, "I'm listening." She saw Jillian come down then behind him quietly, but didn't alert him to her presence.

"Well," Eric continued, "About a month ago I was doing sort of a survey of some planets near the Alline star. There's a planet in that system that is habitable, and my curiosity was pricked, so I did some scans and found that there was nothing, except one small colony on its southern hemisphere."

Samus eyed him for a moment and asked, "What the hell were you doing in that part of the universe?"

"I was sent there on a bounty. That's not important though. What is important is that I sent a signal to that colony, which was very small, but seemed to have a lot of advanced technology like the Chozo's."

Samus's face got stern then. "Continue," she said quickly.

Eric took a deep breath. "It was a chozo colony, the last colony. Jaken is alive, and he's living there Samus."

Samus shook her head. "No, that's not possible. The escape pods were destroyed here, there's no way he could've escaped. Even the frigate orbiting the planet was destroyed!"

Eric shook his head. "Jaken was on the frigate. When you were going to the surface, he was leaving for the frigate to deliver a few materials to it. The frigate had escape pods and that's how some of the Chozo survived. They made their way to the Alline colony, the last place they knew of that would allow them peace and quiet. In that colony Samus, there are only 18 Chozo, all of them male. They are the last Chozo alive."

Samus had stood up and turned her back to him. It took her a few minutes to speak, and when she did, her voice was quiet, and choked, "You saw Jaken?"

"Yes, I did."

Samus was gripping the edges of the table, and the squeaking sound of metal being bent could be heard as Samus pressed it upwards some to ward off her oncoming emotions. "What did he say?"

"He asked about you. He knew you were alive, but there was no way he could reach you. The colony is designed just for their survival on that planet, as they know this is the end of their history Samus, therefore they are making no contact with the outside galaxy. But he wants to see you again. They want to see you again."

Samus was quiet and Eric knew she wanted to be alone. Turning around, he began to walk out of the room, and didn't say anything to Jillian on the way out. Jillian remained standing there and heard Samus clear her throat.

Samus reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes. She couldn't help them. Having just found out her brother was still alive, a brother she'd tried to remove from her mind because the pain of losing him was too much to bear, she tried her best to cope with the new feelings she was having. It was a mixture of happiness and anger over lost time, sadness and surprise, and she couldn't contain them.

She finally let go of the table and kicked the leg, walking to the other side of it, then returning to where she was. Finally she spoke, "Jillian, you can come in."

Jillian blinked because Samus knew she was still there. "I don't want to bother you, I should've left."

"No, you don't have to. I'm alright, just..."

Jillian nodded, knowing Samus couldn't find the words to describe her feelings. "You know what I say?"

Samus shook her head and looked at Jillian.

"I say we get your ship fixed so that we can go see your brother."

Chapter 11

Repairs to Samus's ship went along smoothly. The reactor core was the hardest thing to install, and Samus did most of the work on that herself. While she fixed that, the others helped get a few things twinked on Drevan's ship, as well as adding a few capabilities to Kylies. They made both of their ships a little more powerful in the weapons area, and they replicated the supplies they needed in the computer room inside the home. In the end, both Drevans and Kylies ship had warp 5 capabilities, cloaking devices, including cloak trackers like Eric had, and updated equipment in their cockpits.

They also got new weapons, except for Drevan who simply powered up his plasma rifle with Erics help. It took them several days to do this, and Samus asked who wanted to come with her when the repairs were done.

Eric was the only one who said he was going to stay. The others were all interested in meeting the Chozo, especially Jillian.

"Alright, we'll leave in the morning then. Since Alline is so far away, it will take us all day to get there more than likely, even at maximum warp, but we won't have to worry about Galactic Federation activity because they haven't charted that part of the galaxy yet, and it's far out of their reach."

Samus walked inside after she said this, and went to her room, where she walked towards her power suit and unhooked the cannon arm for a moment to give it some maintenance since she was in the mood to fix things.

She thought about the past while they'd been on Revon, and how much she was actually enjoying having their company. But she felt bored as well. She wanted some action, something to do. She supposed she'd dealt with the Metroids and space pirates for so long it was all she knew, and that when things wound down, she was restless. Shaking her head, she stood up with her cannon still in her hand and went to her terminal on the wall, switching it on.

"Computer, play back personal log from Zebes, stardate 95.272.346."

The computer got the information and soon she could hear herself speaking about her first encounter with the metroids after she'd destroyed the Space Pirate base on Zebes. Samus sat down on her bed and listened.

"Personal Log stardate 95.272.346.

This is my second and last entry on the planet Zebes. My mission was a success though I do not know how I am going to get through a decent night after some of the things I've seen. The Space Pirates here seemed to have operated all from the orders of a large organism they named Mother Brain. I don't know how this organism incorporates with them to give them orders and the like, but I do know that the site of this heinous creature will haunt me for the rest of my life.

The metroids themselves are nothing like what the Galactic Federation told me they would be. These creatures are far more deadly than anyone could explain. The only way I could get one off of me was to enter into morph ball mode and set a bomb, causing it to detach itself. I had never felt fear until the first one latched onto me, the pain was excruciating. It was as if my very soul was leaving me, being consumed by this creature with no morals, and no conscious, only the simple instinct to survive.

I can't describe how close I came to dying, I can't describe how these creatures are, their nature. First, you hear a soft chirping, which to the ears is soothing the first time it hits them. But the pain they cause, I will never listen to that sound again without cringing.

I will report to the Galactic Federation at Illion Space Station on the activities that have taken place as well as to receive my pay. After which, I still do not know what I will do. I have been picking up a distress signal however from a planet in this system named Tallon IV, which I will most likely check out before reporting back to the Galactic Federation.

Samus Aran, signing off."

After the log ended, Samus looked up, and saw Drevan standing in the doorway. "It hurts?"

"What? The metroids when they latch on?"

Drevan nodded.

"Yes, it hurts more than anything I've ever experienced."

Drevan watched her stand up to replace the canon arm onto her suit and he walked closer then saying, "I can't imagine taking a bounty like that. How long were you on Zebes the first time?"

Samus looked down for a moment and then turned her head towards him, "5 hours. And directly afterwards I spent about 7 or 8 hours on Tallon IV. Well, actually I'd gotten some sleep before then, so it'd been about a day or so later that I went to Tallon IV. I usually sleep for long periods after missions."

"How did you figure the morph ball thing out to get the metroid off of you?"

Samus shook her head, "I was about to die, I was just trying everything I could."

Drevan nodded and took her hand, "I'm glad it worked then."

"Are you trying to be charming?"

"Yeah, is it working?"

"No."

"Damn it."

Drevan laughed after he said that and Samus just grinned.

"Tell me something Sam."

She rolled her eyes, "God, I hate it when you call me that."

Drevan ignored her, "Was there anyone before me?"

Samus almost choked as she started laughing. Drevan wondered what that reaction was all about. "Of course there was Drevan, you weren't my first."

Drevan raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah? Well with your busy life I was just wondering."

Samus cleared her throat and contained her laughter before she said, "I'm not a damn saint. No, I had a few friends before my encounters with the Metroids."

Drevan nodded and smiled. He hadn't expected her to have never been with anyone else, but he just couldn't imagine it, so he was curious about it.

Samus got quiet. She sat back down and Drevan did the same, saying, "Thinking about your brother?"

She nodded, "First I see Lakia again, and then this. It's like I'm living a dream or something."

Drevan raised a brow at how open she was being. Maybe it was the surrounding she was in. She felt more comfortable exposing herself in her home than she did anywhere else. "I think I could understand. All I would have to do is imagine seeing my mother again and I'd be the same way."

Samus looked up. "Tell me about her."

Drevan couldn't stop his surprised look then. Samus just rolled her eyes and waited. "Well, she was sweet, and she was over protective of me. My Dad died from a rare disease that causes your brain matter to degenerate and my mom didn't want anything to happen to me too. Funny I became a bounty hunter huh?"

Samus had a small smile on her face as she sat back against the wall. "I can't remember my mother. The only thing I remember is the day she died."

She trailed off for a moment and Drevan waited to see if she was finished. Then she continued, "I remember her telling me to leave a toy in my room I'd gotten in trouble with at school. Then the pirates came. I must have blacked out because when I looked out of the closet door from hiding, she and my father were on the bed. They were both killed, but I didn't know that. I just went to her and asked her to get up and help daddy. She didn't move though, and I didn't know why. So I kept shaking her and pleading with her. Then Lakia came in and everything changed. I was five years old."

Her voice trailed off and Drevan put his hand on hers. "Finding out Jaken is alive is like finding out I still have meaning. I'm not nervous about seeing him in the least, I feel anxious to see him, enthusiastic, something I haven't felt in a long time Drevan."

Drevan just watched her and she looked back at him. It was a side of Samus he knew existed, but had never seen before. He could get used to this side of her too, he thought. "We should get some rest, we have a long ride ahead of us tomorrow."

Samus nodded and leaned over to him, and they kissed while hugging each other. The last thought Samus had was about the missions she'd taken before she'd encountered the Metroids. From the age of 17 to 21, Samus had never told a soul what went on. Only Jillian had any impact on her life in that time, only Jillian kept her sane. That time in her life was hell, a time when she disregarded everything she'd learned and took out her wraith everything she could. That was a time she didn't want anyone to know about, a time she only hoped Jaken wouldn't ask about when she saw him again. But she felt obligated to tell him should he ask.

It was going to be a hell of a ride.

Chapter 12

He was simply evil.

John Millian, a senator from planet Alaron VI, was a liar, a cheater, a con-artist, a rapist, and a child molester all rolled into one. He was also a murderer, as he'd kidnapped a man and let him starve to death, locking him in a room below his house where no one would find him.

Samus wasn't surprised she'd been hired to kill this man. Hell, she'd kill him for free, she thought, but she needed the money too. Jillian needed money to live off of, and Samus would die before she let anything happen to her.

The armor clad hunter was sitting in Millian's office casually, as if she were at home. She sat reading some information on his computer until she heard the door opening and he walked in.

"Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my office?"

Samus looked up towards him and didn't say anything at first. Just when she was about to open her mouth, a young boy came running into the room followed by his mother who shut the door and then stopped when she saw Samus as well.

"I said, who are you?" Millian repeated, then he turned to his wife and told her to take his son and leave.

"No, she can stay, I have something she needs to hear too."

The robotic voice sounded eerily to them as the hunter stood up and stalked towards them slowly. "You, John Millian, husband to Lillian of 6 years, father to John Millian the second of 5 years of age, are an indecent human being. No, I take that back, you are a piece of fucking dog shit."

"What do you want?"

Samus walked closer to him. The only reason John hadn't called for security was because he saw the cannon on the hunters right arm and he didn't want to make any false moves.

"I want what we all want, Millian. I want to see the people who are like you to suffer for what they've done. I want your life."

Samus stopped right infront of him, and his wife, who'd began to cry, held her son against her skirts tightly. Samus looked towards them. "Look at what you have. A wife, who for reasons I don't understand because she knows what kind of slime you are, loves you, and a son whom could love you but probably hates your guts and is just too young to know it yet. Tell me something, do you like boys and girls, or are you just staying with your wife because of your kid, more specifically, because you can molest your kid."

Millian's face had turned bright red. "Who sent you?"

Samus shook her head, "I wouldn't be worried about that, just what I'm going to do to you."

Millian didn't move for a minute. Then he tried to reach for the door to get out, but samus grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air with her left arm. His wife screamed until Samus pointed her cannon at her. "Shutup."

Millian gasped for air, trying to plead for his life, even trying to say kill his wife, but just don't kill him. Samus got that part and pressed her cannon into his groin, charging it up. "Anything to say before you're parted with your brain?"

Millian choked out the word no in a small yet terrified scream. "Too late," Samus mumbled and

fired her cannon. She squeezed his throat tighter too so his scream wouldn't attract more attention than need be, then dropped him onto the ground. He laid there in a heap on the floor.

She walked up to him and kicked him hard in his back. He rolled over onto his stomach then, he'd screamed so hard before he'd lost his voice. She then bent down and said, "I'd love to let you suffer like that man you starved to death, but unfortunately I don't have that much time." She began charging up her bream again and held it to the back of his head, blowing it off. His wife was sobbing uncontrollably, and Samus walked towards her, grabbing her throat.

"Listen to me now. I should kill you too for not taking this child away from him when you could, but I won't. So listen to me like you've never heard anything else in your life. I'm giving you a second chance to do the right thing with this child. You screw up again, and it's your ass. You got that!"

She nodded vigorously and as Samus let her throat go, she opened the door, and looked back at the site before her. "I'm sure the clean up boys will be here soon." Then she left and they never saw her again.

Drevan woke up due to Samus's tossing and turning. It was morning time anyway, and he looked over at her and reached out to wake up her. She was obviously having a bad dream.

As he reached and touched her shoulder, she wrapped her arm around his bending it back and grabbed his throat with her other hand, coming over him as if she was going to snap his neck. She had an empty look in her eyes, lifeless, and Drevan stayed still beneath her while she took several depth breaths realizing she'd been dreaming.

"Samus, what's wrong?"

She let go of him and shut her eyes slowly. "I was dreaming about the space pirates trying to kill me. Shit, I'm sorry. Jillian knows not to wake me up in the middle of a dream like that, I almost broke her neck once too."

Drevan raised an eyebrow, "So you just like to kill everyone when you're asleep huh?"

She smiled, "I guess. From now on though, don't wake me, just let me wake myself. It's usually less violent."

Drevan nodded, "I'll remember that."

She stood up then and they got started. After putting her suit on, and getting into her ship, they all began to make the journey towards the Alline star where Samus would be reunited with her brother.

Jillian rode with Samus, and on the way there, besides piloting her ship, Samus told Jillian about the chozo as she asked. But the conversation got a little deeper.

"So, what kind of missions were you taking after you found me?"

Samus was dreading that question. She stayed quiet for several long minutes before she finally answered. "Jillian, this is what I don't want you to know, what I've been hiding. Are you sure you want to hear?"

Jillian thought about that for a moment and then said, "Only if you want to tell me."

"I'll tell you, but it's not the best of stories."

Samus silently told her of the missions she'd taken, where she'd killed people for money, though only people she deemed evil enough of killing. Sometimes, she even killed her employers as she always did checks on them as well. But not before she got paid. Jillian couldn't help her astonishment at some of the things Samus told her that she'd done, and she closed her eyes saying finally, "I had no clue. I thought it was just work like what you've done for the federation."

"I'm afraid not Jillian. I've killed men and women, as well as torturing them sometimes before they died, if it was in my employers wishes anyway. I was full of rage after Lakia's death, and that was my way of purging that anger."

Jillian nodded slowly, and watched the controls to the ship for a few minutes. They went silent after that.

It was getting late and Jillian had dozed off. Samus however, who was used to flying for long hours, was wide awake, and received a message from Kylie. "Samus, are you still awake over there?"

"Yes, I'm doing fine, you?"

"I could be a little more awake. But otherwise I'm good to go, how's Jillian?"

"She's asleep," Samus replied with a little smile. "I'm picking up the planet in my scopes now. You'll be out of your chair in no time."

"Thank God," Kylie responded and then relayed the message to Drevan who had picked up the planet as well. The planet, which they had all just called Alline since it didn't have a designated name officially, was a bright blue in color, and the scans suggested that it was very similar to earth. Once Samus did a scan when she was closer, she picked up the existence of the colony Eric told her about and she sent a message to the colony. She wasn't sure what to say however, and simply stated, "This is Samus Aran, requesting to land in your colony with my friends."

Samus woke Jillian up as well and told her they were about to land. It was only a few moments later when she received permission to land along with the coordinates of the landing positions which she transmitted to Kylie and Drevan.

Samus closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

The ships began their landing sequences and entered the atmosphere of the planet. Samus thought an eternity had gone by before they were finally resting upon the ground and she stood up, walking to her small platform and ascended it. Jillian followed behind her.

At first she saw no one. But the scenery around her reminded her of Revon almost exactly. She slowly stepped down from her ship and jumped onto the ground, looking both ways. Finally she looked back at the others who'd come out of their ships as well and asked them to wait there.

"Samus?"

Samus turned around and looked towards the entrance to the small port they'd landed in when she heard her name being called. Standing there was Lakia, or at least his twin. Jaken looked exactly like his father, except he was taller, and Samus took off her helmet and replied finally, "Jaken?"

The Chozo made his way closer, his robes, the robes of an elder, sweeping across the ground with every step he took. His hand moved up the rub his beak slowly as he finally nodded. "I never thought I'd see you again my sister."

Samus dropped her helmet and went towards him quickly, hugging him tightly, a hug he returned in full, closing his eyes while some other chozo came out behind him.

"I thought you were dead," Samus said, sounding much like the young girl she used to be.

Jaken nodded slowly, tears running down both his and Samus's cheeks. "Samus, you've indeed grown wonderfully, as I saw in my dreams."

She backed away, grinning at him and said, "You're an elder? I somehow knew you would be."

He nodded as he said, "Word of your deeds have spread here to Alline, it seems you've become a great warrior."

Samus didn't reply to that at first and finally said, "I suppose that's just how you look at it."

Jaken shook his head slowly, finally saying, "We have so much to speak of. But first, tell me of your friends."

Samus had forgotten about Jillian and the others and she wiped her eyes the best she could. Turning around, they walked closer finally and she pointed them out, "This is Jillian, a girl I found on a moon of Delron. Her colony was destroyed like mine, and we've been very close ever since."

Jillian was wide eyed, staring at the living breathing Chozo's before her. "You're much more dignified looking than I'd imagined you to be."

Jaken took her hand in his and placed his opposite over it, holding it to his head. "That's their way of greeting," Samus explained, and Jillian smiled. She then reached up and hugged Jaken, who wasn't surprised by that action at all.

"It's a pleasure Jillian," Jaken stated before they parted and he looked at Drevan.

Drevan bowed his head in respect to the Chozo as Jaken took his hand the way he had Jillians.

"This is Drevan. He's a hunter I met on planet Aines and he's hung around me ever since."

"You love him, so I don't blame him," Jaken said. Samus just turned her head with a smile, having forgotten the way the Chozo could read someone by simply looking at them.

Jaken continued then, "Drevan, I trust I'm not to have to protect my sister like any brother would?"

Drevan shook his head, "No, you don't. She can take care of herself."

Jaken nodded slowly and looked at the last, Kylie. He blinked a few times. "It seems you have family Samus. I am honored to know this."

"Yes Jaken, this is my half sister Kylie."

Kylie didn't say anything as he took her hand. While the other chozo were speaking with Drevan and Jillian, Jaken spoke to Kylie softly. "You have the warriors spirit like your sister. Any one person with such a strong heart I consider my family, as much as Samus. You are always with me like your sister is."

Kylie took his hand and greeted him the same way he greeted her. "You honor me by that sir."

Samus was greeting a few of the other Chozo and speaking with them. Jaken took Kylie over and joined in on their conversation. Samus stood beside Jaken, staying close to him at all times. Drevan picked up her helmet as he watched her. She seemed so free among them once she'd gotten over her initial emotions of seeing them again, and he smiled, wondering why a woman who had such a capacity for love, who was all around a good person, had to go through such bad things.

The dark sky was lit with stars while they made their way inside, all of them speaking to one another getting to know one another, and reuniting again after so long. The inside of the buildings were decorated with beautiful plants and art of which no one had ever seen before. Everyone entered into a large hall that looked as if it could have been a dining room, with tables and chairs everywhere. The evening seemed to have a light heart despite the fact that Samus and Jaken had just been reuninted after 7 years, and everyone spoke with each other freely.

Soon, Samus went somewhere with Jaken to speak privately with him after a while of talking, and they sat alone in a room full of books and papers. Samus sat across from Jaken in a chair as she watched him for a moment.

"You've been through much, your solemn demeanor shows this."

Samus looked up and nodded. "You look just like your father. I can't tell you how odd I feel right now seeing you."

"Nor I you. It seems as if my dreams were answered."

Jaken's voice was so like his fathers as well. Deep and soothing, enchanting in some wise way Samus had always enjoyed hearing. "You have had hard times sister. Tell me of them."

Samus sat back slowly and she began telling him about everything that had happened to her, leaving herself behind for a while to escape everything she'd become and just be with her brother. Now that she was here, she remembered he wouldn't judge her for anything. He would always love her. Like Jillian. He would always be there for her if he could, and Samus told him everything, even the darker things she'd done that she was so worried about speaking to him of. And Jaken listened quietly through it all, only making comments when she asked him a question or stopped for a moment to gather her thoughts.

"I see now of the person you have become. I was right in the fact that you are a great warrior."

Samus just smiled as she said, "Tell me, I know that you are living out the rest of your lives here in silence away from the galaxy, but why is it you had a landing port?"

Jaken simply chuckled softly. "You seem to forget. Our ancestors roamed the galaxy eons ago, finding planets and making civilizations among them. This is one of those planets. We've simply rebuilt some of what was left of that civilization so long ago. There are also ships here, but we haven't used them."

Samus nodded slowly as she sat forward and asked, "You've had no problems at all? No one's bothered you?"

Jaken shook his head, "There's not enough activity in this part of the universe for us to be bothered. Your worries are for naught."

"I'm just afraid the pirates will come back. They seem to show up everywhere. Hell, they're nomadic, they travel to all sorts of places. I'd just feel better if this place was a little more protected."

Jaken tilted his head and nodded, finally saying, "That is true, but this planet is of little value to them. If they knew we were here, what little technology we use would be of no use to them and they'd notice that."

Samus looked at the floor for a moment.

"What troubles you sister?"

She reached for her cannon arm and pressed a few buttons, setting the cloaking device on her ship the active. "While I'm here, I need to be as inconspicuous as I can. If the pirates find me here, they will come and destroy this place."

Jaken nodded, "They're an ignorant race of scavengers. It upsets me that you've had to deal with them so often, and I can see the effect it has had on you. Samus, you are welcome to stay with us as long as you wish, without worry for our safety."

Samus smiled at him some and reached up to scratch her head for a moment before she heard the door chime behind her. "Enter," Jaken spoke softly and Jillian walked into the room as the door opened for her.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but they asked me to come let you know that dinner will be served soon."

Jaken motioned for her to enter and have a seat, which she smiled and did so, sitting beside Samus in the softly lit room.

Jaken didn't move for several moments and Jillian thought the large chozo had fallen asleep. Samus knew better though. Samus knew Jaken was testing her patience to see if she what type of person she was. The Chozo usually did this to see further into a person, because patience told much.

Jillian sat there for a few minutes in silence, not sure what they were simply sitting for, and during that time Samus closed her eyes and thought quietly, waiting for either Jaken or Jillian to speak first.

Finally, Jaken spoke, "I can see she is a thinker. Quit the opposite from you Samus."

Jillian blinked for a moment and turned her head to Samus who had started grinning. "You can tell all that from just sitting here with me?"

Jaken raised a finger, "You see, patience is the key to everything. Without it, we are simply drifting without purpose throughout the cosmos. You Jillian, are a patient woman, a thinker, Samus knows this as well."

Jillian looked at Samus who finally spoke, "Jaken, why did you want to test her patience?"

"I wanted to see if you've rubbed off on her any. After all, your patience is low."

Samus laughed at Jaken's words, remembering his dry sense of humor. "Just like your father."

Jaken stood then, "Everything should be prepared. Let us feast now, for we have much to celebrate."

Samus nodded and stood as well as they left the room and walked back to the large hall they'd left everyone in to find that food was placed on each table.

After everyone had prepared to have dinner, they took their seats in random places and the evening continued. Kylie and Samus sat at the same table with 3 other chozo besides Jaken, while Jillian and Drevan sat at others. Kylie looked at Samus as she said, "I don't mean to sound ignorant, but I never imagined Chozo sitting around a large room eating dinner together like this."

"We eat and have entertainment as anyone would my child," one of the Chozo, named Nivist spoke to Kylie's comment. "The Chozo are known for their intellectual advances throughout the galaxy, painting a wonderful tapestry of us as solely thinkers and inventors. No one ever stops to think that we also like to entertain the notions of art and music. Dining together on special occasions is one of many things we love to do."

Kylie listened to him with a smile. She found their talk refreshing. There was music playing from the computers, and the food was, even though somewhat alien to her, delicious. Even though it was all vegetable, it didn't taste bland or bitter at all. Samus seemed to be concentrating on her meal, but she had other thoughts going through her head.

"Samus, you must know of the joy it is to have you here with us."

Nivist watched her as she smiled at him and nodded. But she seemed a bit off beat in her smile. "I'm having trouble adapting to this. It seems like not five minutes ago I thought you were all extinct, and now, all of this presents itself. It's very difficult for me to grasp."

Nivist nodded, "Yes, we as well thought you dead for several years until we received word from traveling miners of your deeds in other far off galaxies. We, however, wanted to let you lead your life, as well as not reach out our grasp once more to find you. Our time remaining will be written in this colony, and no where else. But let us not think of that, and only the joys of being together again."

Samus nodded, "Somehow that joy is a bittersweet one though."

Jaken raised his head slowly, "Ah yes, every victory has that taste. This is what helps us to grip our realities Samus, I know father spoke these words to you."

Kylie tilted her head, "You all are so smart. It's such a refreshing change of pace from dealing with people everyday who don't know their," she stopped, as she was about to say ass from a hole in the ground, and then changed her words, "heads from their elbows."

Samus caught her hesitation and started grinning, "Yes, it is."

"Kylie, tell me how it is that Samus didn't know about you?"

"Well, Samus has a different mother than I do. Our father left my mother when she was pregnant with me."

Samus looked over at Kylie and then to Nivist who nodded. "So you grew up separately never knowing one another."

Kylie nodded and decided to leave out the fact that she did know about Samus and hated her most of her life before she truly met her. Samus didn't comment either.

The rest of the evening continued in much the same way. When the dinner was over, and everyone was going to sleep for the night, Samus went to her quarters she'd been shown to before the dinner, where she'd removed her suit. Once inside her room, she leaned against the wall for what seemed like an hour to her, simply thinking. She had a bad feeling all night long, deep in the pit of her stomach.

Meeting the Chozo again brought back so many things to her, wonderful things that she'd long forgotten about, things that made her feel human again. Samus sighed softly, loving the way she felt again. She knew she hadn't died then, that she was still alive inside, and that discovery made her feel stronger than she ever had before. But that wasn't what was bothering her.

It was her being here. She felt she was endangering these Chozo. She felt if she stayed long something terrible would happen. She'd always trusted her instincts and she couldn't just ignore them. Especially not here. And they were telling her to leave as soon as she could. Get out of here and never come back or loose the family you had left.

Samus balled her fists, and released them, over and over, feeling her anger building up. How could she leave! She'd just gotten here, just found her chozo brother! Now she had to leave all of it behind!

Why, why couldn't she ever be happy with something! Why did she always have to protect those she loved! Why couldn't she and her loved ones just be left alone!

Samus let a loud yell of anguish and fell onto her knees, pounding her fist into the floor. "Why! Damn it, leave me alone! Just leave me alone!"

She closed her eyes tightly and took several deep breaths, just sitting there for a moment on her hands and knees. She would leave, she knew. Her family depended on it. She would leave in the morning.

Chapter 13

"Ah Samus, it looks fitting on you."

Lakia looked over the power suit she wore. Samus took off the helmet as the air hissed out of it, and handed it to him. He eyed the object and then looked at her. Thinking for a moment, he took a deep breath and handed it back to her slowly, saying, "Samus, you have truly grown. Use these gifts wisely, for everything you do. Never stop when things go wrong. If you don't like it, then correct it. Problems and fights will always be present, so use this to do all you can to make sure it doesn't turn into the worst."

Samus took the helmet and looked at the green visor, nodding slowly, "I'll try my best Father."

Lakia reached for her and hugged her solemnly. Samus smiled, glad to have her father there with her, glad he was there to take care of her, and be her guide. She loved him with all her heart, and she would always love him.

Lakia stood back for a moment then. "Wait, something's not right."

"What?"

In the distance, a loud noise could be heard, getting louder and louder like something falling to the ground at top speed. It ended with a nearby building exploding and both Samus and Lakia looked in that direction, hearing the alarms sound. "Samus, we're under some kind of attack, let's get to the escape pods quickly."

He took her hand then as she replaced her helmet and went with him, making their way out into the plaza below. More blasts had been fired and in the distance, beyond the smoke, they could see ships entering the atmosphere, Space Pirate ships.

Lakia continued leading Samus to the landing ports where the escape pods were located, and as they got to the entrance, the wall near them blew up, causing a large chunk of debris to fly towards them. "Lakia!" Samus yelled and pushed him forward, as the debris went right over them.

Space Pirates had entered the city and were coming full force. Chozo warriors engaged in battle with them while others made their way to the escape pods.

As Samus helped Lakia back up, another loud noise could be heard, and Samus pushed him up against the wall, seeking cover. The explosion filled their ears as the escape pods were destroyed with the blast and in the middle of the explosion, the wall they were up against began to turn over from the force.

Samus once again pushed Lakia out of the way, but the wall fell on top of her, trapping her beneath it.

"Samus!" Lakia yelled, coming towards the fallen wall, trying to see if she was alright and to help her out of it. As he stepped forward, a bright red beam hit him in the shoulder, knocking him back, followed by another one in his stomach.

Lakia fell forward, a pirate coming forth slowly, looking down at the wounded Chozo who was still reaching weakly for the collapsed wall on top of Samus, muttering, "Samus..."

The pirate standing over him then fired five shots into the dying chozo's back, and let out a loud roar as he ran off, leaving the Chozo there, who's hand fell to the ground.

Hours went by, and she started to open her eyes. Groaning, Samus realized she was trapped beneath a wall, and she took a deep breath, thanks to her suit, as it seemed to be too strong for the wall to crush. As she slowly got her bearings, she placed her arms at her sides and began to press as hard as she could, the strength her implants provided her allowing her to push the wall off of herself. As the wall began to move and break, cracking in several places, she sat up onto her knees and took a look at the destruction around her for the first time.

Her eyes were wide, all the destroyed buildings, the dead Chozo laying about, and then her eyes moved forward, down to a Chozo laying with his arm outstretched towards her.

Samus didn't move at first, but finally got her courage and rolled him over, very gently. Seeing Lakia's face she pushed herself back quickly. "Lakia..." she trailed off. "Lakia!"

She finally grabbed him and held him against her. Her left hand moved across his cheek slowly as she looked over his face and felt her entire body going numb. "Lakia...please," she said so softly she couldn't even hear herself. Her helmet fell down to his forehead finally, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

Suddenly she jolted back screaming into the air, "Why!" She screamed as long as she could, holding the sound out until she thought her ears would explode from it. Then, as her breath exhaled, she fell back, laying there with her arms outspread, her chozo fathers head on her lap, while she stared into the sky, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Rain drops started falling onto her helmet, and Samus felt nothing. She felt no pain, no hate, no love, no sorrow, no happiness. She felt as dead as her chozo father, and she didn't move from that spot, waiting for death itself to claim her. She wanted to die, she had nothing to live for anymore.

Time passed, but she continued to wait. She heard footsteps. She didn't move.

"God Samus, Lakia," Eric explained as he bent down over the two. "Samus!"

He pulled her up against him, as it was obvious to him that Lakia had been killed. "Samus, are you alright?"

Samus turned her head slowly, seeing Eric, but she didn't say anything. He could see her eyes through the helmet moving across his face, and he knew she was suffering at that moment, maybe not physically, but mentally and emotionally, and he placed his arms beneath her legs, grunting as he lifted her up and carried her back to his ship nearby so he could get her home.

Samus didn't move for hours. She was wide awake, but she never moved. Finally, after Eric had fallen asleep near her, she reached up and removed the helmet, dropping it on the floor. Her once lively blue eyes had turned to an icy, empty stare, and Eric stirred, looking towards her.

"Samus? Are you alright?"

She looked at him slowly and nodded, "I'm fine Eric."

Eric knew not to believe her. "Can I do anything for you?"

Samus just shrugged, "Maybe you can, and maybe you can't."

She got off her bed then and left the room.

It was the middle of the night. Samus woke from sleep and pushed herself up, looking around the dark room. For a moment she didn't know where she was, and she finally remembered. She was wide awake, and knew she wouldn't go back to sleep so she stood out of bed and started getting her suit back on. She wasn't looking forward to telling Jaken that she would be leaving in the morning, but she had to. She couldn't let anything happen to them, and she knew it would if she stayed.

Opening the door to her quarters, she began walking down the corridor and towards the gardens outside which she'd seen earlier. She wanted some time to think and as she stepped out into them, she looked into the dark, clear sky. She stood among the gardens, feeling so out of place there. She had a great appreciation for their beauty, but she felt as if she didn't belong among it.

"Samus?"

"Yes Drevan?"

Drevan walked up behind her. He'd been sitting out there for a while, and when he saw her come out and stop, he approached her.

"You can't sleep either I take it?"

She shook her head, "No. I've slept enough. I'm leaving here in the morning. You, Kylie and Jillian can come if you want to, but I can't stay."

"But Samus, you just found your chozo brother, how can you leave so soon?"

Samus remained quiet for long moments. "Samus?" He asked again.

She finally turned around, her visor glowing a soft blue light in the darkness, preventing him from seeing her eyes, as she said, "Because if I stay, I'll endanger these Chozo. I have to leave for their safety."

The robotic voice had sounded so deadly certain. Drevan didn't know how to react at first. For whatever reason, Samus felt strongly about this decision, and he could see nothing he could say would deter her, and so he finally asked, "Are you going to tell them before you go, or just leave like that?"

She exhaled slowly, the sound hissing through the venting before being sucked back in as she spoke, "Yes, I'm going to wait until sunrise. Then I'm leaving, and I'll never return."

"Just tell me why, damn it. You're with family here! Samus, you're loved here! I just want a good reason why."

Samus took a step closer to him, "Because the Samus these Chozo knew died on Revon. She died when a blaze of fire stole the life of everything she ever cared about, for the second time. Because if I stay here, something dire will happen, I know it."

Drevan nodded, and he looked down for a moment in thought, only to realize her left hand seemed to be shaking a little. "Samus, Something else is wrong isn't it?"

Samus turned her head away, "Yes. I'm tired of protecting the ones I love. I don't want to protect them, I want to be with them. I want to know everything is alright before I settle into a situation, and I don't know that here."

Jillian had come to the entrance and Samus saw her, but turned her head away. Jillian didn't speak, and just listened to Drevan speaking. "We all need a break Samus. This is yours, can't you accept that?"

Samus didn't reply at first. Her thoughts seemed to be centered on a stone in the middle of the garden with Chozo script engraved upon it. She read through the words, understanding the writing fully. It said, "In the light she would be our hero in our last hour. The newborn would indeed become a newborn again, and she will be remembered, even when our spirits have left for the greater plain of existence."

Drevan looked at the stone she was staring at and asked, "Can you read it?"

Samus nodded slowly, "Yes. It's a prophecy." She then read it aloud to him, explaining, "Newborn is the Chozo's name for me, as well as hatchling."

"Is it a recent prophecy?"

"I don't know," Samus said and turned back to him. "So, are you going to stay for a while?"

Drevan shook his head, "It depends on Kylie and Jillian's decisions."

"For what?" Jillian asked. Drevan explained what Samus had said about leaving.

The sun was beginning to rise, and as the first rays of dawn struck them, Jillian replied, "I respect your choice Samus, although I can't say I agree with it. I think I would like to stay here a little longer though, I'd like to see what else I can learn from them."

Samus nodded. She then began to walk past them and back into the building, and after she disappeared, Jillian looked at Drevan who seemed to be grim. "She was so happy last night, now this. I don't understand it."

Jillian wrapped her arms around her, hugging her robe and night gown up against her body as she said, "Samus is complicated, you know. She doesn't want to leave, but she feels she has to, and I think she has an instinct kicking in that something will go wrong if she stays. And she always trusts her instincts."

Drevan nodded and hoisted himself back up onto the edge of a stone wall near the door where he'd been sitting before. "I still think she'd being very paranoid."

"Well, I suppose if you'd seen the things she had, you would be too. I think her instincts are always on Que myself, so I don't know whether I should believe her or not."

Drevan pulled the legs of his pants down over the tops of his black boots and looked at the lighting sky for a moment before he said. "If Kylie stays, I'm going back with her. You can stay with Kylie to come back to Revon when you're ready."

Jillian nodded slowly and asked, "Are you going to be alright? I'm going to go back inside, it's cold."

Drevan nodded and replied, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Get inside where it's warm."

Jillian walked through the doors and back to her quarters where she got dressed. While she was standing by her bed, the door chimed softly and she spoke, "Enter."

Jaken walked into the room and nodded his head to her. "Jillian, good morning. I'm glad you're awake. I didn't want to disturb you but I want to speak with you if I may."

Jillian looked a little surprised at the fact that a Chozo wanted to speak with her of all people, but she smiled and nodded, "Please, have a seat, what can I do for you?"

Jaken walked towards a chair and sat down into it slowly while Jillian sat on the edge of her bed. Her smoothed out his robes, thinking before he began. "Jillian, you've known Samus for longer than Kylie and Drevan, correct?"

She nodded. "Yes, for about 5 or 6 years now. Why?"

"I should not speak of these things behind my sisters back, but I shall tell her of my questions later. You see, she has become quit solemn in her ways, and I understand what she has seen and been through has hardened her heart. I want to ask you however, has she ever acted eccentrically without prior notice to things being wrong?"

Jillian thought about that for a moment. "Do you mean acted out of anger?"

Jaken nodded.

"No, she's never been angry for no reason or become violent with any of us. Well, she has bad nightmares that if you wake her from them, she reacts violently, but that's just because she was dreaming. We let her sleep through them usually."

Jaken nodded. "I'm sorry, my concern was simply for her well being. You can understand."

She nodded, "Yes I do. She has however made a decision she wants to speak with you about though, so I think she's looking for you right now."

Jaken stood up slowly and nodded, "Then I shall let my presence be known. Thank you for..."

Jillian waited for him to continue, and then she asked, "What?"

He held up a finger. "I hear something." Chozo had very acute hearing and eye sight, and he listened for a moment to the sound he heard, like a soft purring off in the distance. "There are ships hovering above this colony. Come, we should..."

Jaken stopped at the sound of something falling through the air followed by an explosion which came from the northwest of the colony where no one was located at the time.

"Oh my God," Jillian exclaimed. Jaken took her hand and led her out into the hallways where the alarms began to sound. Besides the alarms however, no other sounds such as explosions could be heard.

Jaken led Jillian towards a control chamber for the colonies defenses and he spoke to another Chozo who had monitored the blast. "Jaken, there's a space pirate vessel hovering at 30,000 feet above us. It came into the atmosphere without warning, and fired on the northwest portion of the colony where no one is location at this time, then ceased all fire. I haven't sent any messages or received any at this time."

The chozo was an old warrior from Revon that had been on the frigate with Jaken when they escaped the raid there. His name was Dojorin.

Jillian stood there listening and said, "Why would they just stop attacking," and then she stopped in mid sentence. "They're after Samus, not you."

Jaken looked at Jillian for a moment, "Yes, it would seem so. Dojorin, don't send any messages to them. Let them speak to us. Set up the colonies force fields as well and we'll wait for them to make another move. They must have scanned the northwest corner and found no life signs there and fired a shot to warn us of their intentions."

Dojorin nodded his head and went to work on the controls as Jaken looked to Jillian, saying, "Find your friends. Get them to the 3rd floor under this colony where some of the other Chozo are heading now. It's the safest place."

"If I know them, they'll want to stay and help, and they'll tell me to go instead, but I'll let them know," she said and left the room.

It dawned on Jillian after she left the room that she didn't know where they were. So she spoke, "Computer, locate any human lifesigns in the colony."

The computer spoke, "2 life signs located in the dining facilities."

Jillian turned and ran towards the dining room where they had all eaten the night before and slid to a stop across the floor once she reached the door, pressing the buttons to open it. "Kylie, Drevan!"

Kylie and Drevan were both standing by the window looking out and Kylie looked back. "Jillian, come over here."

She walked towards them, "What are you looking at?"

As she turned her head to look as well, she went wide eyed. "Holy shit, it's a raid vessel. But wait, there should be more than one."

Kylie looked at Jillian, "You've seen one before?"

"Yes, there were on the moon of Delron, remember? This is bringing back bad memories. I bet they somehow found Samus was here and they're calling for other ships to assist. This isn't good."

The Vessel was adrift, high in the air, but Jillian would never forget the look of those vessels, no matter how far away they were. She could see the red and black glinting in the morning sunlight and she took a deep breath preparing herself for the worse. Perhaps Samus was right.

Chapter 14

"Jaken sent me to take you two to the 3rd floor beneath the colony. He said most of the other Chozo were heading there too, I think it's some type of shelter incase of emergencies."

The door opened behind them and Nivist stood there, saying, "Come children, you have to come with me now."

Drevan nodded his head to Kylie and Jillian as he went along, and they followed Nivist. Nivist walked rather quickly, and they got into an elevator shaft with him that descended downwards to the 3rd floor beneath the colony. There were 9 Chozo there already, the rest were above the levels taking care of the problem that had arisen, and as the four stepped out of the shaft, Nivist shut the door and began to enter in the codes to keep it locked. The 3rd floor was a level of the colony that had several rooms and corridors meant for emergencies. There were supplies for food and medicine alike, the perfect shelter for the ones there in the colony.

"What are you doing," Drevan asked Nivist.

"Locking these doors from the outside. This is the only way in and out of this floor by foot. Don't worry, you aren't stuck, and may leave if you wish, but I do not recommend it at this time."

He nodded and looked at Kylie, "I saw Samus this morning, but not since, have you?"

Kylie shook her head and looked at Jillian, "Did Jaken tell you anything else?"

"Just that they were simply firing a warning shot. They aren't interested in the Chozo probably, they just want to find Samus. I'm about certain they'll probably try to use us all as bait to lure her out somehow."

Drevan rubbed his eyes for a moment, "I'm starting to believe you about Samus's instincts now Jillian, so what do we do?"

Kylie looked towards Nivist and asked, "Is there anyway we can know what's going on up there?"

Nivist nodded and pointed towards several computer monitors along the wall as he said, "These will update you on everything going on above us. We are in the control room for this level, anything and everything you need can most likely be found here."

Kylie nodded as she looked back at Drevan, "Well, now we know we can still be informed. Are there any weapons down here Nivist?"

Nivist nodded once again, "In the next corridor, you'll find several rooms that contain supplies, food, medicine, and of course, weapons."

Kylie grinned and Nivist turned to the computers to keep a link with the ones above ground. Kylie then said, "We can wait for now Drevan, see how things work out so we'll know what's going on. If everything remains dire, one of us can stay down here and protect these Chozo, and the others can go up to help, I'm certain they can use it. Jillian, you should monitor the computers, help them keep everything up. I'm going to do everything I can to help though, that's for damn sure."

"You sound like Samus, Kylie, we would be honored for your help," Nivist said then. He turned around and looked at them, "We will be honored for all of your help."

"Sir, we've lost tracking on the energy signal. It's become far too faint for us to follow. Also, the colony has erected a force field of strength never before encountered making them almost impervious to our weapons alone."

"Recalibrate sensors to the surface and extend the range to maximum width as well as the intensity to maximum setting."

The captain of the raid vessel above the surface where the Chozo Colony was located gave orders to the cadets and said, "Prepare a party to venture to the colony. I want to speak with these Chozo personally. I want it well numbered incase she is among them."

One of the cadets looked at him as if he were crazy. "Sir, you do know that if the hunter is among them, she won't hesitate to attack us. What you are suggesting is suicide."

"Cadet, you'll speak when spoken to. If she is among them then we can order the ship to fire on them, if she's in hiding, we can use the Chozo to lure her out. We'll have to go to the surface to collect her anyway, and if she resists us, then we'll kill her. Now prepare the party!"

The cadet just nodded and did as he asked. They both knew now that if they wanted to take the colony down they would have to do so on foot, but that wasn't their main concern at that time.

They'd picked up an odd energy signature yesterday coming from the 5th planet of the Alline star and when they scanned it, it had suggested the hunter was near by. The energy signature had been deemed synonymous with the hunters ship, though it was a very faint one, but since the hunters escape a few weeks before, they'd been on a look out for anything even significantly resembling the hunters gunship or tools she used. This had to be explored to see if it were the hunter. When they'd confirmed the existence of a chozo colony, they wanted to find out more for they believed the Chozo to have been extinct. So they entered the atmosphere and sent off a warning shot at the colony in a place where no life signs were detected so the Chozo would know that the Pirates were there.

The captain wanted his promotion as well. He knew the odds against him for capturing the hunter alive were next to nothing, but he had to try. He would rather die trying then be deemed weak, which would also cause his termination by the high command. So he wanted to try to capture her alive, which would not only give him a promotion, but also much respect among his people.

The raid vessel had been scouting the system for possible goods they could hoard from any of the planets. None of the planets seemed to possess any materials they didn't already have an abundance of however. The nearest vessel to them was over 20 light years away in the Obsion system and so they didn't take the time to send a request for help, only a message to be sent to high command to confirm that the hunter may be in the Alline system, which the captain knew would draw other ships to the system anyway.

Even if the hunter was not among the Chozo, the colony would be destroyed, and the Chozo would be taken for studies. So either way, the Pirates had made a discovery that would benefit them well.

The hunter was the only thing that could stand in their way.

Chapter 15

Jaken and Dojorin had been doing several scans of the Space Pirate Vessel in the last few minutes and Jaken had been trying to locate Samus but he couldn't. He knew her suit was jamming their frequencies because she didn't want to be found. Dojorin spoke then, "They've been performing several sensor sweeps of our colony and the surrounding areas."

Jaken nodded, "I'm not detecting any readings from Samus either. The colonies force fields are at optimal performance and will ward off any fire they reign upon us for quite some time."

"Detecting movement towards the surface near our eastern corner."

Jaken picked up on the movement as well. After a few moments, Dojorin began, "They are lowering their platforms. Twenty Five pirates armed with arm mounted beam cannons have been detected, moving towards the colony, leaving 21 onboard the vessel."

Jaken stood up then. "Arm yourself Dojorin. It seems they want something from us, and we're taking no chances. Get the others prepared as well." He meant the other Chozo who'd stayed above ground that were warriors from Revon. "Also, we do not know who Samus is, nor have we seen her. Tell the others that."

Dojorin nodded and went off to do as Jaken asked.

The sun was shining brightly down onto the land as the pirates made their way into the colony. They watched every door cautiously as they approached the marble lined walls which had been constructed with great care. But they had no appreciation for the beauty the small colony possessed.

The captain had given the order not to fire and as they approached the middle of what looked to be the center junction of the colony, they came to a stop, looking around quietly.

A door opened behind them and they turned around, seeing a Chozo walk out before them, unarmed. Jaken eyed the creatures as he spoke, "What business have you come to seek?"

The captain of the space pirates stepped forward. "I am Tisba, we are looking for a bounty hunter named Samus Aran and have good reason to believe she is among you. She is wanted by the Space Pirate High Command and is very dangerous. If she is here, then we demand you hand her over to us or suffer the consequences."

The garbled English he spoke made Jaken feel sick. He could also detect a distinct smell that made him ill also. "We do not know of such a dangerous person. We have lived in solitude upon this planet for several years now, only catering to miners passing through the system. You have come here in vane."

Tisba snarled lowly, "We do nothing in vane. You know of us, and we know of you. We had thought you extinct until now. So, how do we know you're not lying."

Jaken raised an eyebrow slowly. The Chozo warriors had all taken hiding positions upon balconies and in nearby gardens so that if a fight were to ensue, they could protect the unarmed Jaken who was standing before them now. "We've told you no lies Tisba. Yes, our race is almost extinct, but we yet live. Now leave us to our peace as we have nothing to offer you."

Tisba took a step forward, raising his head towards the avian like face of the Chozo he stood before. "We'll decide what you have and don't have to offer, Chozo. Perhaps we'll stay, as guests in this," he hesitated, each word he spoke filled with loathing, "Quaint little colony you have until we can be sure the hunter is not among you."

Jaken raised his eye brow, staring down at the creature as the Chozo were inherently much taller than the space pirates. "We shall see."

At that Jaken turned around and walked back inside, the door closing behind him. Tisba looked back at his cadets and nodded his head. They began to split up and look around the area. Tisba then looked back to the door and snarled. He would have to wait for reinforcements before he could take the Chozo into custody, as he wasn't that well equipped himself.

The shadows hid her well. She sat atop a small balcony overlooking the junction of the colony, staring down at the pirates that were breaking up to look around. Throughout the entire conversation, Samus had locked onto Tisba, targeting him and ready to fire at any false move he may have made, especially when Jaken had turned his back and walked inside.

Now they were searching the place. Samus hadn't moved an inch since she'd jumped up onto the balcony earlier.

When she'd left Drevan and Jillian in the gardens, she'd gone to Jaken's room only to find him gone. On her way to the dining area she'd heard the explosion, and made her way quickly outside where she saw the destruction to the northwest of the colony. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth together. She should have left the colony right when she'd made the decision to. But it was too late for that now, and Samus decided to stay hidden where not even the chozo or her friends could find her.

Once she found out exactly why they were here, from listening to the conversation between Jaken and Tisba, she planned her actions better. So they were after her? Well, she'd take care of that personally, and she'd make sure all the Chozo here weren't touched as well. After all, she wasn't in the mood for games.

There was no doubt in her mind as well that these Pirates had sent a message out that they not only thought she was here, but that they had found living breathing Chozo as well. Samus knew more ships would be coming which meant she had to get these Chozo out of here. But she would worry about that when the time came.

There was no way to make a deal with Space Pirates. She couldn't offer herself to them and have them leave the Chozo alone for good. After they had her in custody, they would break their word and take the Chozo anyway. Samus was simply thankful that they didn't know of her connections with the Chozo, which made the lie that she wasn't among them easier to believe.

One of the Pirates directly below Samus stopped and looked up towards the balcony she was on. She was hidden behind the railing and the bushes wrapped around it, as well as in the shadows, though, and he couldn't see her, moving his eyes to the right slowly and then turned around. Samus waited for him to walk forward and she silently climbed on top of the railing, then jumped down behind him, grabbing him with her left arm which she placed over his mouth and jammed her cannon into his back, firing off several blasts of her plasma beam which she had switched to earlier. The pirate soon died, and Samus turned her head hearing another one coming around the corner.

The pirate walked slowly down the small walkway around the corner, right past the hunter who'd backed into a ridge in the wall holding the dead pirate against her. Her plasma beam had cauterized his wound, so there was no blood trail on the ground and the pirate walked right past them.

As he continued on, Samus came out of the wall and looked for the pirates COM which he used to signal all the others with. She found the device on his left arm beneath his scythe and pulled it off, putting it on her own left wrist. She knew that the COM was also like a homing device, and if they saw the device wasn't moving, they'd know something was wrong. So as long as she wore it, it would buy her some time.

Samus opened a nearby door and shoved the dead pirate into it, shutting and locking it before she left.

She had the feeling that the pirates were going to stay if they could until more arrived, and then they would try to take over the colony in force. The Raid ship she knew probably only carried a maximum

of 50 or so pirates, and with half of them on the surface, that would be nothing for Samus to overcome. That was the COM's second use. She was going to use the COM to get onto their ship and kill the pirates there. Then she could worry about the ones in the colony.

"We've got a cadet returning, lower the platform," one of the two operators spoke, and the platform of the Raid Vessel began to lower to the ground.

As the machinery lowered, and then began to come up again, the pirates looked towards it and let a loud roar when they saw Samus who took one out with a Plasma blast she'd been charging, and then shot the other until he fell to the ground dead.

She made her way towards the control panel then and scanned the computer terminal getting all the access codes to that vessel. When she was done, she entered in the code that would shut all the communications devices down. She had a thought then to simply shut down the life support and let everything die. Deciding that would be the quickest path to take, she first cut the power to the escape pods and then entered the code for life support, and found a small smirk when she heard the space pirates computer state in their own language, "Warning, life support has been deactivated. Remaining oxygen of 5 minutes."

Samus couldn't understand a word it said, but she could scan and decode the words on the computer monitors to the exact same statement and she smiled again, walking towards the door and

entering the corridor beyond.

"What's going on! First the communications and now the life support! How could this happen!"

As soon as the engineer yelled that, the door opened and Samus walked through it, firing a charged shot at him which killed him instantly. She figured she'd pick some off before they died, and she wouldn't have to worry about the pirates in the colony because there were no communications between them. While the other two pirates ran towards her she dodged their scythes, but didn't shoot, simply letting them try to hit her. Then one of them fired at her, a small blast which hit her in the side and she cringed. Grabbing him by the throat, she turned and threw him into the other one hard.

"Here's how you shoot someone," she muttered to the pirate she'd just thrown who was getting back onto his feet and she fired a missile at him, knocking him into the wall, severing his spinal cord.

She heard the warning again and looked on the monitor, decoding the words which said there was now 2 minutes of air remaining. The 2 minutes went by quickly too. Samus had gone back to the room the platform was located in and locked all the pirates out so they couldn't escape that way either.

"Warning, oxygen depleted, warning," the computer sounded and Samus unlocked the door then,

finding about 6 dying pirates on the opposite side, walking past them while she said, "Sleep tight boys."

As she walked into the control room for the vessel, she pushed a dead pirate off of the main console and began to put the communications back online. She then began working on a message that would be realistic so that she could send it out, stating that all signs of the hunter had turned up negative, and that the ship was returning to it's normal routine scouting, which she had found this ship had been doing by hacking into their logs.

She would still have to relocate the Chozo, possibly back to the planet Revon because the pirates

would realize one of their ships was missing, but it would take a lot of time for them to notice that, so they

could get out of the Alline system long before any of the pirates arrived.

It took Samus a little while to get the message put together, and once she was satisfied, she sent it out, then left the now unoccupied ship, so that she could take care of the ones in the colony.

Chapter 16

It had been an hour and Tisba was getting to the end of his patience. They'd found no signs of the hunter, and the Chozo seemed to be telling the truth that no one like that was among them.

Jaken had adjourned to the control room with Dojorin when they were alone and Jaken began to speak, "I have a feeling these Pirates will become hostile soon. When this happens, I have a feeling we'll learn the location of Samus. I think she knows everything that's been going on, and will intervene whenever the pirates decide to act on their violent instincts."

"According to the scans, Jaken, one pirate is already dead. His body is in a locked room to the south of the colony, here," he said and pointed to the location which verified a dead body containing the pirates biosignature. "Also, the ship isn't reading any life signs."

Jaken looked at Dojorin and then closed his eyes, "She's very far ahead of us it would seem. Let us leave before the pirates get too curious about this place."

They took their leave of the control room, but not before informing the numbers below the surface of the progress they were having.

"She's taken out the entire ship," Jillian said.

"Yes Samus, kill them all," Drevan said and leaned forward looking at the terminals himself. "I think we'll be out of here sooner than we expected."

Kylie called out Drevans name and threw him a weapon, saying, "You're right, but I don't see how we could hurt going up to," she paused, "Take a look around."

Drevan grinned and nodded. "We'll be back before you know it Jill."

Jillian nodded her head, "You always are."

The Chozo warriors stood sentinel by the doors and Jaken and Dojorin walked out into the junction and waited for Tisba who walked towards them slowly with some pirates behind him. "It seems you've been truthful in your words Chozo, and the hunter is not here. Call back the others so we may return to our vessel," he told the pirates behind him before looking back to Jaken. "We'll be taking our leave now."

Jaken nodded, but didn't say anything.

As Tisba began to walk away, one of the pirates called his attention. They spoke in their own language and Tisba shot a look toward Jaken before returning to him. "It seems one of our cadets is missing. What do you know of this?"

"I know nothing of it," Jaken said with a raised eyebrow. His demeanor had not changed.

"Lair!," Tisba barked and pointed his weapon towards him. Dojorin stepped quickly infront of the

weapon and glared down at Tisba who snarled. "Where is he!"

"He's your man, perhaps he should learn his way about better so he doesn't get lost next time," Jaken said and turned to walk inside, leaving Dojorin glaring down at Tisba.

Tisba slowly stepped back and said, "It only means we'll stay longer, so that we can find him. Cadets, dispatch again."

Dojorin watched as the pirates walked away once more and then he backed up towards the door.

"We'll break up into 5 groups of 3, the remaining nine will stand sentry in this junction until we return," Tisba told the pirates, "I don't want anyone 'getting lost' this time."

They began breaking up, and Tisba took his group towards the southern end of the colony while the others all went in opposite directions.

Three pirates made their way down the corridor to the gardens where Samus and Drevan had talked earlier that morning. It was getting late afternoon, and they commented to one another quietly in their own language while making their way out to the gardens, standing there for several minutes checking things out, and then turned to move in the opposite direction.

Turning the opposite direction from them, they walked and began opening the doors to all the rooms in that corridor, checking them out while signaling to one another that they didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Then they came across the control room. One of them opened the door and 2 went inside while the other one stood sentry.

They hadn't seen this room before and so they lingered inside it, the door still open while their comrade watched, seeing if perhaps this was where their missing cadet was.

One of them looked at the computer terminals and though he couldn't read the words, he saw the computer scanning what looked to be a dead pirate, bringing up it's biosignature and labeling it's cause of death, though he couldn't read that either.

He signaled the other in the room and began telling him what he saw.

At that moment, the pirate in the hall felt something kicking him in the back, which caused him to go forward into the room until he hit a computer and stopped to turn around.

Kylie had swung down from the small venting shaft she'd been crawling through after opening it quietly right above where the pirate in the corridor had been standing. Then she'd grabbed the ledge and swung down behind him, knocking him into the room. Landing on the floor with a thud, she ran into the room and shut the door behind her, locking it.

One of the pirates grabbed her from behind and lifted her up by the throat before he threw her against the wall. Hitting it, the wind left her and she landed on the ground, rolling to the side behind a small column in the corner as he began to fire his weapon at her. Kylie grabbed her gun which was set on the highest power, and one of the pirates ran towards the column while the others covered him.

As soon as he came around the corner, Kylie pulled him in closer, grabbing his arm, and swung him around infront of her with all her strength she could muster, firing off her weapon until he fell to the ground, burst after burst of powerful energy filling his body and consuming him until he fell almost on top of her, but she pushed him the other way.

The powerful blast had even pushed her into the column and she looked at the weapon, "Hot damn, I love this thing!"

One of the pirates let a loud cry, and Kylie looked, coming out from behind the column firing at them. She ran while she fired at one, heading towards the other one and lunged, pushing him towards the floor. The pirate she'd been shooting at had dodged the blows.

Once Kylie lay on top of the pirate, he'd grabbed her throat again, and she grabbed his hand trying to pry it away, her other hand pulling the weapon up to his head, which he removed his hands from her throat to grab and try to push away. She continued trying to force it to aim at his head, until she heard the other pirate behind her preparing to shoot her.

As he let off a shot of his arm mounted blaster, Kylie stopped fighting the pirate she was one and moved to the side quickly, the red shot moving past her and into the head of the pirate she'd been struggling with, killing him.

The remaining pirate snarled loudly and aimed at her once again, taking several shots of her. Kylie pushed herself forward and ran towards an identical column that was placed on the opposite side of the room, computer after computer blowing up behind her until she jumped for cover, only to be hit in her hip before she landed and pulled herself against the wall cringing, the terminals behind her sparking in electricity.

The wound was cauterized, and burned like hell, but she tried her best to ignore it as she worked her way to her feet and pushed her head around the corner to see where he was standing exactly.

He was moving for cover and Kylie stuck her weapon around the corner and fired blindly at him.

Having the feeling he was heading for the column she'd hid behind first, she quickly pulled her weapon back and stuck it around the opposite side, shooting it wildly, letting a loud yell at the same time as she couldn't hold the powerful recoil, and was knocked backwards, the blasts hitting the column and breaking it in half, causing it to fall over, bringing some of the ceiling down with it. As the pirate saw this, he ran for cover, some of the ceiling falling in his direction, which he dodged, but got right in the path of the falling column which fell onto his head, smashing his skull like a bug, and then knocking the body over.

After all the debris of the column and the ceiling had fallen, Kylie peeked out into the now silent room, save for the electrical snaps of the computers every so often. She heard someone outside the door then, and slowly made her way to it, aiming her weapon before she opened it.

Outside stood Jaken and Dojorin who looked at her with raised eyebrows.

Kylie, who lowered her weapon, took several deep breaths before she spoke, "I brought the roof down."

The word spread among the Chozo that one of the parties had been dispersed, and Jaken took Kylie silently to help her with her hip. Dojorin along with 2 other Chozo warriors were left to watch the control room incase any other pirates came snooping about.

Kylie informed Jaken that Drevan was out as well scouting the pirates as she had been, so he was most likely to take action against them next. She told him about how they had taken on the strategy of divide and conquer, and Jaken and agreed that strategy to be a very good one to take in this scenario. It was only a question of when he would strike and if he would be as successful as Kylie had been without getting killed.

Drevan had been watching a group that was moving through the northwest corner of the colony, the part that had been destroyed. There were a few rooms left, some filled with the smell of smoke, and Drevan had moved silently behind them, the destroyed and crumbling walls as cover. He was waiting for his chance to strike, and finally he found one.

He'd worked his way ahead of them, and opened the door to a room which hadn't been totally destroyed. The room was filled with plants, like greenhouse on a much more sophisticated level.

His strategy had been to let them see him move into the room, and the pirates did, though they couldn't make him out as he'd moved too fast, and only saw the door shutting behind him. They made their way to the door and hesitated for only a moment before they opened it.

Inside, the heat hit them and they took deep breaths as they made their way throughout the darkened indoor jungle slowly. They split up, looking about slowly in the dark while they took separate paths. One of them headed to the right, where he moved past a bush.

As he passed it, he heard something moving around behind it, causing it's leafs to shuffle, and he came back, poking his scythe into it repeatedly.

As he continued to poke it, he felt something grab hold of it, and then saw the end of a plasma rifle come out from behind it, shooting him in the gut. The pirate let a loud cry of pain and fell to the floor dead. His scythe was pulled into the bush.

The others heard him and came running towards the scene, looking down at the body and then went into the bushes, looking about for anything they could find, but even the scythe was missing.

A branch above them in a tree snapped, and they looked up, but nothing was there. Then the sound of air being cut by a knife came from behind them, flying at a fast pace and before one of the pirates could get turned around, the scythe stabbed him in the back of his thigh, causing him to fall forward with a loud yell.

The third pirate starting shooting in the direction the scythe had come from, and he roared loudly when his arm mounted blaster blew up suddenly, discharging a powerful amount of energy which burned his arm. The pirate drew back and glared up towards the tree, knowing what they were looking for was up there.

Drevan had crawled up into the tree as quickly as possible before the other pirates had gotten there. When he was below the colony, he'd picked up a weapon of the Chozo's that was called an EMP, which stood for electro-magnetic pulse. The weapon was very small, fitting in the palm of your hand, and made silent discharges, from strengths of being able to snap small limbs without destroying them, to being able to destroy weapons three times bigger than itself. That was why the branch in the tree across from him had snapped, and why the blaster on the pirate had blown up.

When the pirate had shot into the tree he was in, one of the branches he was on had been hit, and Drevan was trying to work his way off of it without it falling, but it snapped quickly and suddenly, sending him hurtling to the ground.

He landed with a thud on his back and groaned, seeing the pirate coming at him with his scythe. Drevan raised his plasma rifle up to deflect the blow, the sound of metal meeting metal clanging into the air. Drevan started trying to push himself up into a standing position, and the pirate backed off, letting him get up.

The pirate turned in a circle and swiped his scythe at Drevan, cutting his torso, and slitting his shirt open, as Drevan only cringed, ignoring the pain he felt and jabbed then end of his rifle at the pirate, hitting him in the head. The pirate stumbled, and Drevan brought the rifle back across his head once more with force, knocking the pirate over.

Then he fired off a shot into the fallen pirates head, hearing a gun going off behind him, as the wounded pirate shot him in the back. He groaned loudly in pain and turned around, firing off his rifle at the wounded pirate repeatedly, killing it, but even then Drevan continued to shoot it.

He then ran towards it and kicked it's body, coming back and letting his rifle rest beside him while he muttered, "Damn it."

He looked down at the slice through his shirt and at the wounded skin beneath, flexing the muscles in his abdomen slowly to see how bad it was. From there he picked up his rifle, and charged it up, a new setting Eric had helped him implement into it, firing off a shot that disintegrated the pirates body. He turned and did the same to the other pirates, and then sat his rifle upon his shoulder, walking off towards the door.

Chapter 17

"Three of our COM's have been destroyed, Captain," one of the cadets spoke.

Tisba looked down at his COM which displayed now only 18 blips upon the small radar, one of which wasn't moving at all, but appeared to be right near them. They had been speaking their native tongue, and Tisba told them in the same language, "One of the COM's are in this room besides us. We regroup here. Call the rest back and you, come with me." He said, addressing one of his cadets.

Tisba looked up towards a corner of the room they were in where there were several pipes aligning the wall. The room contained some of the power generators for the colony, generators he didn't want destroyed because it was getting late in the evening, and without power, they would be in the dark on enemy territory.

They made their way towards a ladder and crawled up it, silently, working their way towards the blip on their screen that wasn't moving. According to the small radar, it was right around the corner and Tisba looked at his comrade before he moved around the corner quickly aiming his weapon.

There on the floor lay the COM he'd tracked, without a pirate.

"The hunter is here," Tisba said in his own language and he looked around slowly, up into the pipes, and onto the floor below where he'd left the third in his party. The pirate was calling the others back to regroup with them, and Tisba said, "We go to the junction of the colony now."

As they got back down to the bottom level of the room, Tisba sent a signal to his ship to send reinforcements, but he got no response. He tried again, but there was still no response.

Snarling loudly, he took the COM from one of his cadets and tried that one instead. "She's done something to the ship. This ends now."

He then took off for the center of the colony with his friends on his heels. The others that were left had made it, and Tisba spoke to them all, "The hunter is here! We haven't been able to receive a response from the ship and more of our people are missing, dead."

Some of the pirates snarled in anger, and Tisba was about to continue before Jaken stepped out behind him, every single one of the Chozo warriors flanking his sides that were left above ground. They stood proudly, obviously disgusted at the race before them, and Jaken began, "It's over Tisba. We have allowed you to stay, and search our peaceful colony for this hunter you are seeking, but you have worn out your welcome. Quit contrary to belief, the Chozo do know how to fight, we do know about the art of war, and if you do not leave now, we will properly educate you on those ways."

Tisba roared in anger and came forward to Jaken, "We will not leave until she has been found! We will kill you all if you interfere with our revenge. There are only 18 of us left, and we will not be denied!"

"If revenge is the dish you so treasure, then you shall not find it here. Your target has not been found, and we know nothing of it either. Now leave, or suffer the consequences." Oblivious to the pirates were Kylie and Drevan who'd camped out on the same balconies the chozo warriors had been on earlier that day, posed to fire if they had to.

Tisba snarled and then chortled out his laughter, "You think you stand a match for us? If she is not here, then why have even more of my men turned up missing! You're killing them? Then we shall retaliate."

At that, Tisba gave the command to attack, but before the cadets could react, a figure jumped down from the rooftops above, somersaulting through the air, before landing several yards behind the pirates and sat upon her knees for only a moment before she stood up, the blue glow of her visor concealing eyes below that seemed to contain all the fury of hells fires.

"The hunter," Tisba snarled and turned towards her.

Samus focused on Tisba and she said, "This is between you and me. You want me? Here I am. Come and get me."

Tisba let a loud battle cry and the pirates ran towards her. The first one that came across Samus went down quickly. She rammed her cannon into his head, knocking him 3 feet backwards, causing several other pirates to fall over. The Chozo had also taken up the rear, coming behind them with their battle staffs.

Some of the pirates had jumped up to the wall above, taking random shots at the chozo and Samus below. One of them jumped where Kylie had been camped, and she stood up quickly, hitting him in the head with the end of her weapon, which caused him to fall, and as he fell, she shot him. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Drevan pushed himself up from his hiding place and shot another one that had landed across from him and was hanging onto the wall. The pirate dodged the shot and jumped to the ground, aiming up at the balcony and taking off several shots while Drevan ducked.

The chozo, Dojorin, engaged in battle with one of the Pirates, his battle staff, which was made of an indestructible metal with some type of Chozo runes etched into the long shaft of it, and was taller than himself, moved down quickly, meeting the scythe of the pirate he fought. Then he pushed the Pirate back and swung the weapon low, knocking the pirate off his feet.

Other chozo were engaged in much the same types of melee combats with the pirates. Samus wasn't shooting either, and she knocked one of them over with her left arm, and dodged the blow of a scythe that went over her head.

Speaking in his own language, Dojorin called out, "Behind you," and tossed Samus his battle staff, who caught it with her left hand and swung it low, sweeping it around in a circle as it knocked a pirate off his feet who was coming up behind her with his scythe. She came around to a standing position, facing Dojorin once again, at the same time throwing the staff back, which he caught and grinned, moving on to other fights.

Samus backed up and dodged a scythe that came down at her in multiple swipes, once on her left side, and then on her right, when a pirate grabbed her from behind to hold her still.

She grabbed the pirates arm, and held on, kicking out her feet as she knocked the scythe away from the one attacking her before he would swipe again. Her legs continued to go up, and landed on his shoulder, which she wrapped around his neck tightly, and snapped them sideways, breaking the creatures neck. The pirate who'd grabbed hold of her couldn't let go because she was gripping his arms so tightly, and she rammed her elbow down into his stomach and pulled him over her head. He landed infront of her as she stood up straight and pounded her boot down into his skull.

The fight was favoring Samus and her Chozo allies, and she heard several weapons being fired, ducking for cover, and in that moment knew that the pirates realized they were losing, so they were going to go out throwing everything they had at them. She could also hear the distinct sound of Chozo weapons going off, and couldn't stop a small smirk.

She found cover behind a ridge in a nearby wall and watched another Chozo run up towards her, who she reached for and pulled him behind the wall with her before a blast could wound him.

"You're alright?" she asked in Chozo dialect.

He nodded and backed away from her so she could get in the position to fire from behind the wall as well. "You are armed?"

"Yes, we've hidden them beneath our armor so the Pirates will only think they have the upper hand. Even Jaken is armed, but he did not join in with us since he's not a warrior."

Samus nodded and switched to her xray visor, focusing her sites on the balconies above. She could see Kylie and Drevan clearly upon them, taking random shots at the pirates below and she knew where the blasts that had knocked the chozo's off the walls earlier had come from.

"My energy is up high enough to sustain several blasts without taking any damage to my body," she spoke then, "I'm going to roll out of here and plant some power bombs behind this ledge. There's quite a few pirates hiding behind a wall across from us, and no chozo in blast range but you."

"When you say, I'll run for cover to the nearest safe place," the chozo spoke, locating one.

"Alright," she replied and hesitated for a moment, "Go!"

At that, the chozo ran out from behind the wall, drawing some fire while Samus rolled into her morph ball mode and came out from behind the ridge in the wall, rolling towards the group she'd spotted with her xray visor. Once she was close enough, she planted the power bomb and continued rolling, hearing the loud sound of the bomb going off and engulfing the entire area and the pirates near it before she came out of the morph ball mode behind a column which held the balcony Kylie was perched upon. The 6 pirates were engulfed in the blaze of white energy and the echoing sounds of screaming could be heard as their bodies were disintegrated into nothing.

Samus could only see 2 other pirates with her xray visor, and she came out from hiding to draw them to her. Charging up her plasma beam as she ran out towards the center of the junction, one of the pirates came forth and shot several rounds at her. Locking onto him, she released the powerful burst of energy, setting him on fire instantly when it hit. Samus felt his blasts of energy hitting her sides and arms, but she ignored it, as this battle had been won.

She heard a pirate behind her then, and turned around to see Dojorin swinging his staff down into the pirates head, and then swinging it back in a slight twirl before setting the bottom of it onto the ground. He turned his head to look at Samus and she walked towards him, taking a deep breath before placing her hand on his shoulder.

Kylie and Drevan stood up, beginning to work their way off the balconies and all the rest of the Chozo came out as well. Samus breathed deeply and looked around at all of them, closing her eyes before she asked, "Where's Jaken?"

Kylie looked back, "He went through the door when the fight started."

Kylie pointed at the door and Samus looked towards it. "Now, where is Tisba?"

As Kylie pointed towards the door, they heard a loud blast and a howl of pain, and Samus ran towards the door, finding Jaken standing there with Tisba laying on the floor infront of him dead.

Jaken dropped the weapon he carried then and Samus watched him closely, Kylie and Drevan coming up behind her. Then Jaken fell to the ground and Samus ran to him, pulling him onto her lap. "Jaken!"

She looked him over and found that his abdomen had been split open. "Shit, help him!" She cried loudly and the warriors came up, hoisting him up gently and carried him off to the medical bay. Samus went with them while the others got in touch with the occupants of the 3rd level below the colony telling them that they could now leave their haven.

As Drevan and Kylie watched Samus leave with Jaken and the ones carrying him off to the medical bay, Kylie said softly, "I'm glad that's over, do you think they can patch up Jaken?"

Drevan shrugged, "I only hope so Kylie. I hope we didn't fight that battle we just did only to lose him in the proccess. But the prophecy came true."

"What prophecy?"

Drevan told Kylie about the stone in the garden and what it said. "Samus didn't know if it was an old one or a new one, and I think I just found out."

Kylie nodded slowly, "You know they'll probably come back now."

"The pirates?"

"Yes," she nodded, "I don't think it's over quit yet."

At that moment Jillian ran towards them and hugged both of them tightly. "Are you ok?"

They nodded and told her about Jaken. Jillian closed her eyes slowly. "I hope he's alright. If he dies, I don't know how Samus will react."

Chapter 18

The wound to Jakens abdomen was deep, but it wasn't something the Chozo couldn't fix. They put him a regeneration cell, and Samus removed her helmet while the device did its work. She stood by waiting, relieved that Jaken was going to survive and as she closed her eyes and rested her helmet on a near by counter, Dojorin placed his arm upon her shoulder.

"Now that we have won this battle, other Pirates will come to try to retaliate against us. Alline is no longer safe Samus."

Samus looked up at him and nodded, "I know. But I've managed to buy us all some time." She told him about the message she'd sent out and how the Space Pirates wouldn't immediately come to this system now. "But they will. I think you should return to Revon."

Dojorin nodded, "I will let you speak with Jaken about it. He is the last surviving elder among us, and his word is what we follow."

Samus nodded and waited then. She sat with Jaken when he was returned to his quarters as well. He had been asleep for several hours, and Samus just watched him quietly. She had thought long and hard about everything that had happened, and she had decided that the only safe place for them now was Revon. There was no other alternative.

Jaken began to open his eyes and Samus looked at him. Taking a slow breath he said, "You've been worried."

She didn't move for a moment and finally nodded, "Yes, worried about you remaining here. You're not safe in Alline anymore."

Jaken nodded, "I know this. You have helped save us from certain destruction Samus, but yes, even in this victory, we still face great peril here."

Samus nodded, "Yes, and I think you'd be wise to return home Jaken."

Jaken was quiet for several minutes. "We've remained here for 7 long years, and have not ventured into the endless abyss of space since we arrived. It will be hard for us to relocate ourselves yet again, even though the promise of seeing our home is a great one. I know that you would not watch us stay here and die, as we most certainly would, but I also wonder if we would be wise to go back to a home that was once destroyed by Pirates as well."

Samus knew his thoughts were well founded. Revon had already been raided by pirates. What's to stop them from coming back? "I think it would be wise Jaken. The reason is because once pirates raid a place, their likelihood of returning there is not great. They haven't been back to Revon since that raid, and I don't believe they'll come back now."

Jaken nodded listening to her words as he lay there. "You wanted to leave because you felt as if you were endangering us. You were right. I have and always will trust you, Samus Aran, and I will trust you now as well."

Samus knew he meant that they would go back to Revon and she couldn't stop her smile as she closed her eyes. The darkness was turning into the morning hours once again and she said, "I'll tell them immediately. But I want you to rest for now. I'll take care of everything."

It took them little time to start leaving for Revon. It took even less time for Samus to take care of the space pirate vessel that had been left unmanned. She set it's course for space, but not before downloading some of the more important information into her ships database to study for future reference, and then set the self destruct. While the ship was flying through space, it would explode and cause no damage to the surface of the 5th planet of the Alline star.

Afterwards, the Chozo boarded the ship they hadn't used in seven years, and after getting all of its systems online, the group of 18 Chozo, and 4 humans left for Revon.

Eric was surprised to see the Chozo back on Revon at first, but after he heard the story of what had happened, he nodded and agreed with the Chozo returning to Revon as the best course of action.

Samus showed them back to the city that had been destroyed, and the Chozo had all agreed that it wasn't nearly as ruined as they had first believed it was. They started on some repairs immediately.

Samus left them to it, and retired for the long day to her home. She actually wanted to help, but Jaken wouldn't let her, and he was probably the only person she would listen to on those matters.

As Samus entered her sleeping quarters in her home, she turned the computer on and started a personal log entry.

Personal Log Stardate 83.975.92

For the past three weeks or so, I realize I have not made one log entry. This is because I have recently discovered that my Chozo brother Jaken was still alive, and living with the last Chozo in the galaxy in the Alline system. There are only eighteen left, all male. It seems that after the Space Pirate Raid here, some of the Chozo on the frigate orbiting this planet escaped, including my brother, who is the last Chozo elder.

I found this information from an old friend, Eric Lenyrd, who came to find me when he heard that the Galactic Federation had placed a rather large bounty on my head after I destroyed the Illion Space Station. He wanted to help me fake my death, which after some shaky events, he helped me do, and from there, I returned to Revon with him, bringing along Kylie, Drevan, and most of all Jillian, whom I want to stay here because I know for a fact that like me, she will not work for the Galactic Federation anymore.

After our arrival, Eric told me that Jaken was alive, and where he was located. So I left for the Alline System with Kylie, Drevan, and Jillian, who all wanted to meet the Chozo. We only meant to stay there for a short while and leave. However fate has not allowed that.

Jillian, I believe, has found a great love for the Chozo, as have Kylie and Drevan, but I see it the most in her as she speaks with them about things. She seems enthralled, and humbled, each time she's with them.

The reunion with my brother is one of the greatest moments I have experienced in my life. He is so like his father now, from his looks to his wisdom of the universe, Jaken says that I have helped save the Chozo from uncertain destruction, as the Space Pirates had come to the Alline system looking for me. But also, the Chozo have helped to save me, from a destruction that had been taking place inside me for years. Seeing them again brings me alive as I haven't been since Lakia's death.

As the space pirates arrived on Alline, we neutralized their threat, but in the process, more would come to retaliate once they realized what had happened, and so we were forced to relocate the Chozo back here, where I am most certain the Space Pirates will never look. It seems that even after all this, Revon will become the final resting place of the Chozo.

I plan to take Jaken to his fathers grave soon so that he may approve as well, and mourn him in the proper Chozo manner.

Jillian has agreed to stay on Revon in my home, as I plan on spending more time here myself, most certainly with the Chozo back. I feel like it's all a dream, a dream that has gotten its grips into reality and pulled itself through, and as I adjust, for the first time in my life I find I have friends around me who will add their strength to mine.

As for Kylie, and Eric, I do not know if they will stay or go, but they know that they will always be welcome here.

I don't speak of Drevan much in my personal logs. Drevan Arlington is someone I've found difficult to relate to in my personal logs. But in light of all these changes taking place in my life, I find I should start relating to him more as well.

When I first ended my relationship with him, I don't know if he thought I couldn't handle being with someone else as we had become together. I don't know if he thought I was scared of losing him. I wasn't. I didn't want him to lose me. It's not because I think that I'm stronger or better than he is, it's just because I am far more sought out to be destroyed than he is, and I didn't want him to settle his life with someone he may not have a future with.

I was that person.

So many people think that because I have a good grip on myself and my actions, that I am emotionless and cold-hearted. Perhaps some of that is true, but I do feel emotions, and I do have a heart. I am not this automaton that people believe possibly killed her own parents for money. I am human, and as shut off as I am, I bleed, I feel pain, and I feel anger, but more importantly, I do feel love. Unlike some people, I simply know when and when not to show it.

I will end this log now with the admission that I am not perfect, I do make mistakes. One of my mistakes was ending my relationship with Drevan. Perhaps he'll forgive me.

Samus Aran, Logging off.

She sat back slowly then and looked at her left hand for a moment before she heard Drevan clear his throat behind her. Turning around she raised an eyebrow, "Were you eavesdropping?"

He nodded and grinned.

"You know, this isn't helping me to like you any better."

"I don't have to make you like me, you already love me."

Samus grumbled and rolled her eyes, but she smirked anyway as she stood up and walked towards him. "So, what do you think?"

"About what?"

"About all this. The Chozo being here, what Kylie and Eric might or might not do." Samus explained.

Drevan shrugged and tilted his head looking at her with a small smile, "I don't know, but it's been one hell of a ride."

Samus nodded, "That it has."

He leaned in and placed a small kiss to her lips before he said, "I think it was the best thing to do. I think you need them here, and that they need to be here. I also think that Kylie will probably linger for a while, but as for Eric, I have no damn clue. As for me, I know I'll definitely linger."

Samus smirked with a somewhat sultry look in her eyes, "I wonder why that is."

As they kissed again, they heard Jillian behind them saying, "Good grief, I'm always interrupting something."

They stopped kissing and started laughing at her until they heard Kylie saying, "You and me both kid."

Samus looked over at Kylie then and cleared her throat, "What do you two want?"

"Nothing that's important enough to interrupt your quiet time. Come on Jill, let's go see what else we can get into."

"No problems there," Jillian said and turned to go with Kylie, leaving the two "lovebirds" to linger.

Drevan looked back at Samus as she just rolled her eyes and shook her head with a small smirk. "So, are you tired," he asked.

Samus raised a brow and replied, "I could be a little more awake, but I'm not that tired."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she said and they went into her room, the door shutting behind them.

Over the course of the next few weeks, the Chozo had rebuilt most of their home and Jaken had been able to finally mourn his father properly. This meant meditating over his fathers resting place everyday for at least two weeks. Samus usually joined him.

Things had seem to come full circle for the time being. All seemed peaceful, and Samus decided to take this time of peace for what it was.

Things wouldn't always stay this way however, but Samus felt more ready than ever to face any problems that would arise in the future. For now though, she would let what had come to be take its place.

The End