I tried to recall the image of the creature that had just killed its "parent". It had moved so fast but from the way it slid across the floor, I could only guess that it was serpentine in appearance. Though the room was dimly lit I could make out a faint blood trail on the floor. I took a moment to go over my options. If I stayed then I would run the risk of the G.F. soldiers finding me but the alien creature might come back. If I went after the alien creature I could at least try and kill it. In my experience, symbiotic creatures tend to double in size and ferocity quite quickly. Plus it had only just "hatched" out of the Zebesian so there was a chance that it would still be small. Suddenly thinking about the dead Zebesian made me curious about its carcass and the room in which I found him. This room was slightly different in detail. It contained the same organic structure found all over the ship but covering the walls were murals in a material I did not know. The murals seemed to be a mixture of stone and metal but I knew they were organic too. The largest mural depicted a series of images that slowly began to make sense. There were images of the first large alien I had encountered here. Next to that was an image of the eggs that I had just encountered. Some of the images depicted the alien that had attacked me inside. The image after that showed the spider alien wrapped around one of the larger alien's mouth. Clearly they were not of the same species then, I thought. The image underneath this one was what disturbed me the most. A third alien (but presumably it was the second just laying on the ground) but an alien had burst out of its chest. It was just like the Zebesian. I could not imagine the pain it must have felt. Even though the Space Pirates were a plague that had to be annihilated, I couldn't help but feel some pity for the wretched creature.
The life cycle of this unknown alien species was interesting. It waited for prey to come close to an egg where the spider (which I now called a Facehugger due to the nature of how it attacks) would break free and wrap itself around the victim's mouth. From there the Facehugger would implant and embryo inside its prey. The embryo would gestate for an unknown length of time until it becme that serpent. Finally it would break through its victims ribcage and burst out of its chest. Killing its prey instantly thus I have named this form a "Chestburster". The horror of what I had just understood made itself known and the magnitude of the situation was great. This species was a biological weapon on par with the Metroids. A couple of hundred of these and one could presumably wipe out an entire city in a matter of days. That would explain the presence of the Zebesian. I let out a big sigh. I knew that if there was one Zebesian here there would be more. The chances of a single Zebesian happening across a species with the destructive potential as this Facehugger were slim. There were definitely more Space Pirates around. If not in a ship then there was definitely a research lab on this planet. A question that I did not wish to answer had entered my mind. How were there so many eggs? It would not be outside the realm of possibilities that they were all created in a lab but that would require a lot of time and resources. I found myself suddenly thinking about the Metroids and then I found the answer that I did not wish to speak aloud. There had to be a queen.
I left the mural and returned to the Space Pirate. Getting up close to the dead creature I was able to positively identify the Space Pirate as the variation found on Zebes. Or at least a variation of that variation. Despite the gaping hole in its chest there was not much difference between this one and the ones I fought many years ago. The pincer like claws and the beaked mouth were common with this breed. Unlike the mandibled ones controlled by Dark Samus. Looking at the dead Zebesian a final question that I did not wish to know the answer to had entered my mind. Left alone, the Zebesians were nothing more than feral animals. Locusts that destroyed anything in their path. Sure they were a threat but they were containable so long as they did not have a single entity governing and directing them. This Zebesian however. There was no chance it was here by accident. Especially due to the lack of destruction. It knew what it was doing. It knew exactly what it was looking for. Or at least based on my experiences with the Zebesians anyway. I also knew that there was only one entity capable of controlling the Zebesians; Mother Brain. So the question that I did not want answered was this, if these weren't feral Zebesians then who was controlling them?
The sound of a man shouting and guns being fired snapped me out of my reflection. There was no other explanation, the G.F. soldiers had arrived earlier than anticipated and that shouting could only mean one thing. They had entered the egg chamber. I immediately wanted to hurry back towards the chamber but me without my Power Suit and they with orders to arrest or kill me, I had no choice but to move on. I felt sorry and wished them a quick death. If only I could have warned them earlier about the pain they will feel if the eggs really were opening. These "Chestbursters" seemed like a pain worse than death. I exited the room I was in and went in the direction away from the growing sounds of men screaming. It was a massacre. Plus with the amount of eggs I saw they would surely run out of ammo before destroying them all. I could barely discern the blood trail left by the first Chestburster but I followed as best as I could. My eyes were so focused on the near invisible blood that I did not notice my surroundings at all. The trail came to an abrupt end with the introduction of an air-vent of some kind. Far too small for me to fit through now. I would have to wait for my Power Suit and Morph Ball ability to come online again. The screams of the men and the sounds of their guns had finally stopped ringing throughout the halls. In one way I felt a little thankful for their deaths. All knowledge of these strange aliens must be kept from the Galactic Federation at all costs. But in order to ensure that, I would have to go to their ship and make sure they recorded no videos. I had to find another way off the ship and get to their own.
A loud, guttural sound broke the dead silence. It sounded like a mix of the Zebesian howling and of a serpent hissing. It also sounded like it was all around me. As if it were coming from the walls. I knew it would be best for me if I got into a larger area that wasn't so tight. If something were to attack me in this corridor I would have no way to evade its attacks. I ran wherever the corridors would take me but as I moved I could hear something stalking me in the darkness. The sound of something breaking through the roof above me made me dive into the opening on my left. I spun around but nothing was there. Correction. Something was there, I just couldn't see it. I surveyed the room. It was similar in size to the one with the murals but instead of murals there was a large stone head carved from rock hanging against the wall. Underneath the stone head there was a large computer. There were series upon series of buttons but I had no idea what any of them did. The faint sound of something scraping the stone above made me look up in time. A large, black mass was lunging straight at all. I managed to roll backwards and catch the mass with my legs, throwing it behind me. My adrenaline shot through the roof when I saw what had attacked me. A large, black and crimson red repitilian life form. It had pincers and a beak similar to the Zebesians but the rest of the body was something else. Its most noticeable feature was the tail that would have been equal in length to its body and the tip of its tail looked sharp enough to pierce through flesh. The creature got into a position to pounce and I raised my pistol. The only thing standing between me and imminent death as a tiny pistol.
