Here's the next one. The story's really picking up now. Here comes the character development!

Chapter 3: Cave Story

Present, location unknown

Flashes of extreme pain...all she knew was pain. The pain of a scalpel slicing into her chest, or medical tweezers reaching deep inside her torso, pulling out tiny shards. She saw a fuzzy image of two feathery hands, holding a large, circular device, with wires running into her body...

Samus bolted awake with a start, and was immediately aware of excruciating pain penetrating every inch of her body. The greatest concentration appeared just above her breast, stabbing into her heart area. Samus had never experienced heart disease in her life, for which she was grateful. However, she currently felt like a long metal needle was piercing the organ from the inside.

Deciding to get a better bearing, Samus looked around. The entire room was dark, only illuminated by a few lights attached to the ceiling. The walls appeared to be cragged stone, like a cave. Definitely not human-made. Across the room, a humanoid bird, likely one of the Chozo people, stood in front of a mirror, crudely attached to the wall. He or she was clipping facial feathers, and seemed to pay her no heed.

Samus herself was set on a small, featureless metal table. She looked down at herself, noticing she had been redressed in simple clothes, which looked considerably worn. Her zip-up shirt was open, exposing a large amount of gauze covering her chest. Two thin wires led out from under it to a car battery set on a nearby stool. A long nasal tube was placed in her nostril, attached with a piece of medical tape.

Her pulse quickening in fear, Samus grabbed the tube with both hands, pulling the length of plastic away from her head. Eventually, the tip reached her nostril, where it came out with a sickening pop. Despite the fact that every move made more pain shoot to her heart, Samus grabbed the gauze, ripping it apart with what little strength she had left.

"Careful," said a voice. Samus looked up in shock to see the Chozo studying her with mild interest through the mirror. The voice was definitely masculine, identifying the creature's gender. "You might hurt yourself."

"Screw...you..." Samus growled, feeling her dry throat crack as she spoke. She continued to pry at the gauze, but the reveal of what lay underneath wasn't any better. Samus gasped in panic, staring at her chest.

The black device from her dream (or was it a memory?) was grafted into her body, directly over her heart, and surrounded by stitches. The wires connected to the battery were clipped onto the top. As for the device itself, it was relatively featureless, though it looked old, and Samus was sure she could see bits of rust on it.

"Wha...wha...what the hell is this?! What did you do?!" screamed Samus. She immediately regretted it, as the exertion of her vocal chords sent her into a massive coughing fit. Each cough meant another bolt of pain in her chest.

"I saved your life. Does that answer your question?" asked the Chozo. He turned from the mirror, walking over to Samus. He handed her a glass of water. "Drink up. You need it."

Samus drank, feeling the water moisturize her throat once more. Deciding to take a chance, she propped herself up on her arms, pushing herself into a sitting position. Hurt like hell, but she had no desire to continue lying on her back like a dead animal. Looking again at the device in her chest, she zipped up her shirt to cover it.

"There was a ton of shrapnel in your chest," the Chozo continued, pulling out a dirty glass bottle, "I couldn't get it all out, unfortunately." Samus took the bottle, looking inside. There were several slivers of dagger-sharp metal, rolling around in the middle. The dried blood from her body still clung to them.

"I've seen it happen before. The shrapnel reaches the heart in about a week. Very, very painful way to die. Slow, too," continued the Chozo, smiling as though he found it funny.

At one time, Samus might have laughed along with him, but not at this particular moment. "And what...is this thing?" she coughed out, pointing to her heart.

"Electro magnet," the bird-like creature responded, "It's not strong enough to pull out the shrapnel, only keep it from piercing anything vital. Crude, of course, but we didn't have any better options."

Samus took another look around the cave. It was fairly empty, as most caves are, with only a few feature having been added by sentient beings. A fire pit was set up in the back, currently extinguished. Several more tables nearby held crude medical supplies, which had probably been used in her operation. A heavy duty metal door with a rectangular viewing hole stood on the far wall. Looking up, Samus noticed a wall-mounted security camera, pointed straight at them. Obviously, they were being watched.

"Who...are you?" she asked the Chozo, who was currently taking a drink himself.

"My name is Old Bird," said the Chozo, smiling at her, "Don't bother introducing yourself. You're especially well known out here for-"

He was interrupted by a loud bang on the door. The viewing hole was slipped open, revealing a pair of glowing orange eyes. A sound like a snarl was spoken, followed by a metallic rattling noise as someone tried to unlock the door.

"Quick!" snapped Old Bird, "Follow my actions if you want to live!" He stood up and put his feathery hands behind his head. Samus struggled to her feet and followed suit, trying not to rip the cables from her car battery.

The door swung open, and Samus was greeted by some of the most terrifying creatures she'd ever seen. They were just like the ones that had recorded the video with her bound to a chair. The same green body armor, purple scales, and elongated necks from the shoulders. Their eyes, visible for the first time, were a fiery orange. However, what caught the woman's eye were the weapons they had. Several had large blaster weapons strapped to their right wrists, as well as yellow, scythe-like blades on their belts. Others carried large, grey rifles with two barrels, and a blue section in the middle for the power source. These were all shockingly familiar.

"Those are my guns!" Samus whispered to Old Bird, "My energy scythes! How the hell do they have-"

Old Bird kicked her in the shin. "Shut up!" he hissed back. Judging by his tone, Samus decided now might not be the best time to question him.

The creatures parted, as another, who seemed to be some sort of leader, approached. Unlike the others, his (was it a he?) skin was grey, with a long blade-like horn jutting out the top of his head. He appeared to be unarmed. He spread his arms wide, and Samus noticed his hands were simple three-fingered claws. He then started growling and snarling in their native language, all while smiling at Samus.

"He says 'Welcome Samus Aran, our greatest ally in war,'" Old Bird translated, "He's honored to be in your presence."

Samus did not respond, continuing to stare at the creature. He proceeded to hand Old Bird a photograph, followed by more of his language. "He wants you to build more Metroid Bombers and a launcher," said Old Bird, "Like this." The picture was taken during Samus' demonstration to the military.

Samus held her breath. Throughout her career of visiting war zones, she had sometimes wondered what would happen if she were captured and interrogated. She'd always believed, or hoped, that she would be strong enough to refuse to obey, and resist any torture, but reality proved to be much more stressful. Every part of her was screaming to say yes, as she had no idea what they would do to her. Samus took a deep breath, stared the creature straight in the eye, and responded.

"No."

The smile on the scaly face immediately faded.

SPLASH!

Samus wasn't really familiar with the Chinese water torture, but at the moment, she thought it couldn't possibly be worse than this. One of the creatures had her by the back of her head, and was currently dunking her into a barrel of water repeatedly. The freezing cold liquid flooded her nostrils, mouth, and eyes. As if that wasn't bad enough, it was salt water, and left a burning sensation on her facial wounds. It flushed up her nose, blocking her air supply.

After a few minutes of this, they stopped, and thrust the car battery into her hands, as she was currently blind due to pain. Samus was in so much agony, she found she could barely whimper. Then, the leader of the creatures began to growl again.

"He says he thinks you won't want another round of that," said Old Bird, unable to keep his voice from shaking, "He'd like to show you something else."

Samus was led to the outside of the cave, into the sunny Zebesian desert. Blinking at the sudden change of light, Samus found herself in a small outdoor camp, with several tents set up. The lizard like creatures wandered about, carrying crates and other objects. But that wasn't what caught Samus' eye.

Rather, she noticed the fact that the place was littered with Aran International weapons. Large metal crates marked with the company's insignia were scattered around, along with larger missiles. Guns were stacked in neat rows, along with wheeled rocket launchers designed for one person.

It was at this precise moment that Samus' heart shattered. The weapons she had created to defend against terrorists like this were now in their hands. She didn't know how they had managed to acquire them, but it didn't really matter. They had the weapons, and had used them against United Federation troops. Troops who were never prepared for them.

Despite this, Samus made no change to her outside expression. The leader of the lizards spread his arms again, as if presenting his camp of death to Samus. He spoke again.

"He's asking if you're impressed," said Old Bird.

Samus shrugged. "Well, if you're a collector, you're not half bad."

Old Bird translated, and the lizard smiled and continued. "He says the equipment here is sufficient for you to build the Metroids," translated Old Bird, "He wants you to make a list of materials, and when you've completed the weapon, you'll be set free. He wants to know if you're in."

Samus thought for a moment, then reached out and shook the three-fingered claw. "Sure...except he won't," she said.

"No, he won't," agreed Old Bird in English.

The creature grinned, as he hadn't understood a word.

Samus sat back in her room with Old Bird, doing nothing but stare into the flames of the pit. She didn't feel like doing much else.

"So, you'll be giving terrorists even more of your work?" said Old Bird, "Great job on the whole patriot thing. You did nothing but fuel wars your entire life, why stop now?"

Samus shrugged. "Do you have any bright ideas?" she asked, "They'll probably kill you, and they'll keep me as long as I'm alive. They'll keep promising me my freedom, making me invent bigger and better weapons, until I drop dead." She tapped the magnet in her chest. "Even this thing won't keep me alive for much longer."

Old Bird opened his beak, but closed it, as though he had reconsidered what he was about to say. He looked at the camera for a moment, then sighed. "Well," he said somberly, "This is the last few weeks, maybe a month, of your life. What are you going to do with them?"

Samus prepared to yell at him, tell him that nothing really mattered anymore, but stopped. Samus was unique in the way that she came up with her inventions. Most people spent days struggling to even come up with a concept. Not Samus Aran. She had her ideas hit her like bolts of lightning, as one did just now.

For the first time since the convoy, Samus Aran smiled.

The number of materials Samus required for the "Metroids" was, unsurprisingly, massive. In addition to all of the weapons, Samus needed welding equipment, solder irons, and a heck of a lot more crap. Thankfully for her, the creatures easily provided every necessary item. Samus briefly wondered how they managed to get this stuff in the middle of the Zebesian desert, but it didn't really matter. She also requested that Old Bird be allowed to assist her. What followed was days of work, several of which Samus spent sketching and talking to herself, while Old Bird tried to figure out what they were doing.

"So who are these guys, anyway?" she asked him, as she snapped off the top of a missile.

"They call themselves the Space Pirates," said the Chozo, "They claim they're descended from creatures who arrived on Earth in meteors." Samus gave him a look. "I didn't say they were sane."

"So, how exactly do you speak their language?" continued Samus. She pulled out the contents of the missile, revealing the explosive pack encased in a metal cage.

"It's an old Chozo dialect," said Old Bird, "They just adapted it for themselves. Probably the only reason I'm still alive is for translator purposes."

Samus took the piece of metal over to the table, opening the metal packaging with a screwdriver. Finding what she needed, she pried out a small strip of a black material attached to the missile's interior. "Okay, we don't need this," she said, casually tossing the rest of it over her head.

"If you have a plan, would you mind telling me the details?" asked Old Bird, as he curiously watched her.

Samus held up the strip of metal. "See this?" she asked, "Bendezium. This is only a couple of grams. Maybe, I don't know, 0.31 at most. We need at least 1.5." She pointed to the remaining missiles. "You want to help? Start popping those open."

Old Bird sighed, then grabbed one of the missiles.

Once they had a sufficient amount of the metal, the next task was to put it all in a stone container, and place it in the fire pit. After it melted into liquid, the metal was poured into a circular mold, and cooled into a metal ring. The ring was placed into a small glass dish, around which Samus soldered metal plating, eventually forming a small, circular device the size of a baseball.

She attached it via a cable to a car power pack. "Should only take one push to get it going," she said, and activated the power pack. A brief sparking sound was followed by an electrical hum, and the newly constructed device came to life. The top had a partially clear surface, with one circular spot in the center, and lines going out in all directions. Through all these, a bright blue glow became visible, emanating from the center of the device.

Old Bird stared over her shoulder, as Samus held the small device in her hands. "I...don't think that's a Metroid Bomber," he stated, "Unless it's part of the launcher."

Samus grinned. "Nice try," she joked, "This is an Aurora Unit Reactor. My old man's greatest creation...or, so he said. Large scale version powers my factory. We take apart this piece of junk," she tapped the magnet in her chest, "And put this baby in there. My heart should be safe from the shrapnel."

"Won't they ask about that?"

"Hey, they want me to live long enough to build them weapons don't they?"

"True. What does it generate?" asked Old Bird, curiously.

"Well, usually my math is one hundred percent accurate, so about three gigajoules per second. Maybe slightly more, though," Samus responded.

Old Bird was shocked. "That could power your heart for decades!" he exclaimed, "And you can build this in a cave?! With a box of scraps?!*"

Samus suddenly looked up. "Did you just feel a chill in the air?"

Old Bird shifted his attention. "Yeah, I think I did."

"Let's not bring that up again."

"Let's not."

"Anyway," said Samus, "This is only step one."

"Do you actually have a plan?" asked Old Bird, skeptically.

The woman pulled out another set of sketches, flattening them together and allowing the light to shine through the papers, exposing all of the components one each page at the same time. Old Bird took one look and exclaimed, "Are you crazy?!"

"Yes," said Samus simply, "But that helps."

The device pictured was, at first glance, several odd metallic components. Once the sketches were pressed together, it was clear what one was looking at. It was a suit of armor, composed entirely out of sturdy metal, welded together. It completely covered the body of the wearer, with the only opening on the helmet, where a horizontal opening acted as an eye hole. Instead of hands, the suit had blaster-like barrels at the end of both arms, both of which were connected to a fuel tank on the back. The connecting tubes also led to the feet, although the tubes were cleverly hidden inside the armor. The rest of the suit didn't look too shabby, either.

"Wow," said Old Bird.

While this was all going on, the Space Pirates had indeed been watching Samus and the Chozo on the security feed. The grey skinned commander, Gorea, kept a careful eye to ensure they were working at all times. So far, they hadn't disappointed. Every so often, Gorea reported to his boss, Supreme Master Weavel, on their progress.

As Old Bird had predicted, the Pirates had questioned them about the sudden appearance of Samus' Aurora Unit Reactor. Upon Samus' insistence that it was merely intended to keep her alive long enough to finish, as well as a quick inspection of the device, they allowed her to keep it. After all, surely a tiny little generator couldn't hurt any of them.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, ignorance truly was bliss.

Several days after the creation of the reactor, Samus and Old Bird were waiting for the metal plates they had just molded to cool down. In order to pass the time, the two competed in a crude version of Balist, a Chozo game. Resembling a two player pinball, the objective was to use two flippers to knock a small ball into the opponents goal. Samus was currently in the midst of getting her butt kicked by Old Bird.

"I swear you're cheating," snapped Samus as Old Bird took his fifth score to her two.

Old Bird grinned. "Well, admittedly I do have a decades worth of practice over you, miss," he laughed.

Deciding to change the subject, Samus asked, "So, do you have any family?"

"Yes," said Old Bird, "In my village of K-2L. And once we get out of her, I'm going to see them. What about you?"

Samus was silent for a few moments, before mumbling a negative response.

"Hm," said Old Bird, "So the woman who has everything, also has nothing."

Samus would have argued, and brought up the friends she had, but at the moment, she found herself too exhausted to do so.

*Yep, I went there.

And next time: Rise of the Mark I!