Sorry for the long wait, but its hard to do four stories at once, ok?

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Chapter Four

For three days Samus had been relaxing, mostly at the beach that she had found the first day, but eventually she felt the old desire to experience human culture once again, all leading up to her present situation.

Standing before the mirror, Samus gazed over her reflection with an inexperienced eye. "What the hell am I doing? I don't know anything about makeup or dresses! I probably look like a clown!" And indeed she did, with the overdone makeup, clearly put on by someone with no use for it, and the closest thing she had to a dress was a...well, nothing really. "This whole thing is stupid! I don't even really want to go!" But after only a few moments of this internal ranting, she calmed. "Grey Voice always told me that I needed to experience all aspects of hu-MY culture, so I know I should go to at least one of these...parties."

Splashing water to remove the poorly applied make-up, she finally gave in. Taking a deep, deep breath, she pressed the call button, and asked for...the nearest salon. "I have officially given up all right to be myself tonight." A few minutes later, a robotic escort arrived at her door, its mechanical voice coming from its two foot rolling torso, atop which sat a bobbing circle that held only a single bright blue eye.

With a bleep it spun in place and made for the elevator, Samus following behind warily, unaware of her silent steps and ready stance. The small blaster she kept on her right ankle was a unneeded comfort to her, knowing that even without it, she was dangerous. Thankfully the plaza was empty, and she followed the small bot right for one of the larger buildings, a garnish sign of bright orange trimmed with blue, labeled "Tangles!"

A small chime sounded as she opened the door, the wall of scents filled with soaps and herbs hitting her, the views of curlers, brushes, scissors, sprays and a dozen others things she couldn't name filling the area. Women of all colors scampered about, both patrons and employees, all frantic to get ready for a party that was almost an hour away. "Why are they this hurried? There's plenty of time." Light streamed through a series of windows set along the outer three walls, pictures of models posted at various points, and mirrors set before each chair.

So fast that even Samus had trouble following it, a perky brunette appeared before her with a smile so wide and bright that the suns seemed weak in comparison. "Helloooo! Welcome to Tangles! If you're here for the party tonight hosted by the U-topia Co., you can get our special offer of a full make-over and even your pick of our stock of dresses!" Laughing as she stared at Samus like a Jack Russell terrier on speed, this happily psychotic young girl eagerly awaited her response.

"If this girl sprouts a tail, I am SO gone." Awkwardly smiling in return as she tried desperately to understand just what was going on. "H-hey. I was looking for a little help for the party and-"

"Oh! So you are going to the party! Are you interested in the offer? 'Cause its only five-hundred credits for the full experience."

"Only five hundred? Jeez, they certainly enjoy milking the crowd." Smirking she thought "Even though I have more money then I know what to do with, that's an exorbitant price. ...But what the Grey, it could be fun."

Fifteen Minutes later

"Or it could be this." Head back with her long platinum blond hair spreading in the small basin behind her, Samus stared at the white ceiling as her hands, feet, lips, hair, and various other body parts were painted, clipped, cut, curled, and otherwise subjected to the variety of techniques that had been used to twist and transform her hair and body into a new image. At last they let her be, and ushered her quickly into a room filled with more clothing then Samus had seen in her sixty-three years of life.

For the next twenty minutes Samus tried on dress after dress, piles of them slowly beginning to accumulate before she was happy with her choice. Encased in the plastic cover, the simple black dress went to just below her knees, and letting just a hint of cleavage show. Briskly walking back to her room via the stairs, Samus couldn't help but stare at her reflection. Her full lips carried a rose-red shade, a layer of gleaming gloss over that. Light eye-liner and a pale shade of dark shadow covered her lids, bringing out the brilliant sapphire of her eyes. "Well, not like I ever back down from a challenge, and this is definitely going to test my patience."

As the sun began to set below the sea, its soft light illuminating the sand, tall trees casting long shadows across the smooth pavement. A wafting breeze carried a clean scent of both the sea and fauna. Too her heightened senses however, she also noticed the scents of sun-block, sweat, bad cologne, and strangely, burnt ozone. "Could be from the ships, maybe a private boat? They use ion drives to move in sub-space, but why would they use them in atmo instead of the landing thrusters?"

Shaking her head at her thoughts, the lights of the ball-room showing off the massive wooden dome, six arching columns equally spaced around the perimeter, and five large diamond chandeliers hung from silver chain, a dozen white clothe-covered tables that held a multitude of races by their sides. In the far right corner, along the entire wall was the bar, stocked with almost every type of alcohol legally possible, 'tenders passing, mixing and serving the drinks with aplomb.

A dull roar filled the air as over four hundred people sat in groups or walked about, several couples danced to the band's soft and slow tunes. Samus never noticed, but a number of men cast glances at her, smirks appearing as she crossed into the milling crowd. Passing by dozens of races, Samus was wary, her eyes looking over each and every person that neared her, the exits and escape routes already planned.

At last reaching the bar, she ordered a small drink, not caring what it was, as her Chozo enhanced immune system would break it down quickly enough. Drink in hand, she wandered the room, flitting from one subject to another, soaking up everything around her, from recent changes in the political arena, to which Holo-star couple was hottest. Slightly smiling as she navigated to an unoccupied table near the far wall, she watched with interest as the others mingled about.

Several times she spotted a group of men nudging their buddies towards her, apparently trying to get the courage to ask her something. So it was a surprise when a laughing group of three young men gathered around her table, smiling and elbowing one another as they cast stares at everything below the neckline. Calmly she continued sipping her glass, more then willing to let them walk away before something bad happened.

The de-facto leader, a tall muscular blond, sat down by her side, whiskey on his breath, but doing nothing to detract from the white, even teeth that he flashed her way. "Hey," He said, a slight slur evident "If Im a blond, and you're a blond, and both end in D, what does that make?"

"Your total GPA from high school?"

His smile faltering as he tried to understand what that meant, the blond man shrugged it off, not bothering to work it out. "No, it's the size O' your tits! Double D's! I'd like to see um closer, if ya get me."

"Ah Ac-tiz! Am I really getting hit on by this loser? Wonderful." Never even looking at him, Samus simply stood and said coldly "One: Their B's, not D's, dumb-ass, and Two: Not interested." Taking only two steps, she felt a hard grip attach itself to her wrist, and the mans angry face whipped around before hers.

"Listen bitch I don't" he snarled.

Her right foot slid forward and her right arm knifed to the outside of his arm, pressing her arm and his own together, slipping hers free in a second, followed by her left fist burying itself in his stomach and pressing up, the fingers dipping behind a rib and pulling slightly. "Do not touch me." she calmly said, her finders pulling a bit more on the lower rib, a clear message that she could easily pull it out of place.(AN 1) "Try that again, and next time I wont be so nice."

Sweat ran down his neck from the pressure on his rib, his buddies more then willing to act like they had never met the guy, so Samus let him go, watching as he fell back to his seat. Striding away from the table, Samus was aware of the startled looks she received from other patrons, but couldn't care less. "Spent all that money, got all gussied up, and this is what I get for all my trouble. Screw it, Im leaving."

No preamble in her stance, Samus left the ball-room quickly, all desire to experience more of human culture gone after that run-in. Passing by others as the "Fashionably Late." crowd arrived, she didn't bother making eye contact as she bulled her way through, uncaring to the angry looks she received. At last entering the nights air, the three moons lighting up the sky like beacons, the soft light defeated by the neon lights and signs that pervaded the city.

Walking swiftly back to her room, Samus had almost reached the hotel when her com began ringing in her ear, activating it with a tap.

"Samus," ADAM spoke, his monotone coming clearly over the tiny mike. "Sensors have picked up a object approaching the planet, just passing Dia. Scans cannot penetrate the outer field, but we estimate its size to be around that of a Galaxy-class vessel, speed approximately seven-thousand miles per second."

"Understood. Threat level estimate?"

"Global. However, the data suggests that this is a manned vessel, as several course corrections have been noted and a short boost was also recorded by the scans. I recommend immediate evac, as Cassie has already alerted the authorities."

"Cassie? The space-port AI? What are you two doing together?"

"I was bored simply waiting here for your return, and after three days of running nothing but system checks," it almost seemed like ADAM managed to inject pure hate into his tone. "I felt the need to get out, or I was going to activate the self-destruct. So I transmitted a portion of my matrix through the sensor arrays and met Cassie here. After some initial hostility, we became quite cordial to one another."

"...Ok then. What is the response going to be?"

"Cassie has set the planets defensive systems on stand-by, and the authorities have been alerted. The cannons will be engaged and locking on target within the next five minutes."

She ran the figures in her head, the time between the outermost moon, Dia, and 'Topia. "But the object will be here within ten, is that enough time for the military to muster a suitable response if this is indeed a vessel?"

Over the com came what sounded like a scuffle, two bodies pushing one another, then: "Samus Aran, this is AI Cassie speaking. The military Com's are buzzing with chatter between Orbital stations one through thirty, many of them saying it's a pirate attack." Her calm tones were undercut by a tension that Samus had before only heard in either the Fed's super-computer's and ADAM, never a conventional AI. "I know this is rather-"

A muffled thump sounded high overhead, and high in the sky a bright blue sphere flashed into being, a shockwave that ruffled the treetops following close behind. Suddenly static washed over the com, a loud screech that raked across her eardrums, and with a string of curses in several languages that would have sent a number of species gasping in horror she yanked the earpiece out. "Shon Juh Natoh! Adam, what's happened?"

Only static answered her, the lights, music, buildings, all fell silent. Loud screams came from within, shocked cries as men and women alike where taken from the evening of excitement, into a strange world of the unknown. Then the alarms began, sounds reminiscent of ancient air-raid sirens, sounding the alert of enemy attacks. "Alert: All off-duty personal are hereby on active alert. Report immediately to your stations for arming and briefing. All civilians are asked to move to the closest shelter, and remain there until escorted out by military personal."

The next thing that hit her was the sound. The scream of pressurized air echoed from on high, a flaring reddish-orange curtain of fire around the object, whatever it was. Small pieces broke off and vanished, consumed by the hungry flames, but the main part was intact and seemingly headed right at her. "God damn it Adam! Come in! What the hell is happening?"

But even as she tried to gain an understanding, the entire object began to break apart, chunks flying off at an increasing rate, but these didn't vaporize like the first ones. They shot out and took off, dozens in every direction, several heading right for the hotel. "Shit, gotta get to the ship!" With that thought in mind she took off, racing at top speed, almost thirty miles an hour covering the distance to her ship in record time.

But as she crossed over the last hill to the hotels docking pad, she saw one of the chunks shed the fire, leaving behind only the true form. It was huge, at least a sixty meters long, thirty meters wide, and about ten high. Six sides formed an octagon, lines and criss-crossing glyph's covered its surface. "Shit," was all she had time to say, before six spots of light grew under the hull, and six sizzling lances of blue-white energy flew down through the air, exploding against the many buildings that lay defenseless.

With nary a thought she mentally reached for the bracelet that hung on her left wrist, expecting the rush of machines that made up the suit to glide soundlessly across her skin, only to watch as tiny static discharges covered it, stinging her skin before she shut it off. "What the hell? The nanites should be impervious to all EMP attacks, or even more advanced electrical buffers! Could that thing be Chozo!"

Studying the distant vessel, watching as the beams vaporized dozens of people with every blow,fires eating away the rubble of toppled buildings, hundreds of screams in all manner of voices, telepathic and emotional outpourings of pain as other races lost control of their inherent abilities. Staring at the scene that lay before her, Samus couldn't help but stare at the floating octagon, watching as the weapons pummeled the structures.

A moment later though, and small objects began dropping from its bottom. A thin shaft of the same blue-white energy haloed around their mid-sections, quickly dropping to the hard earth, but slowing to a gentle stop only a foot before impact. At her distance, even with her enhanced eyesight, she could not distinguish features, only that they were blue and grey, tall and fast, various weapons blazing lines of hot fire into the evening air.

Almost a quarter-mile away from her, they tore into the screaming crowds, cries cut short as the enemies blew apart the fleeing crowds, resplendent in their sharp cut tuxedos and sparkling gowns.

Their corpses were just as beautiful.

Without a second thought she again tried to activate the armor, only to grimace in pain as an electric charge struck her again. "Ok, so my armor is out, but I still have to do something." A loud static screech sounded in her ears, followed by two voices, fighting like wet cats locked in a bag with a angry dog.

"I told you, the sub-matrix processor is not ready to handle that kind of power! You need to reconfigure the outlets to absorb and sustain-"

"I know! But the outlets are only needed in the final stage of the-"

"No, you need to aline the capacitors first, then bring the outlets to the proper charge, and finally-"

"Am I interrupting?" she said, carefully trying to place the static distorted, yet familiar voices.

"Samus! Its good to hear your voice."

"Adam!"

"Aye, it is I."

"How are you still functioning? That attack looked like it wiped out all electronic's."

"Indeed it did, but thankfully the main core room was shielded." A long pause held the line as once again the two signals fought for dominance.

"Aran. Your AI and myself are currently secured in the bottom-most level of the SP, near the main core. As it stands, the military Com is the only one still working, and that is sporadic at best. This is a hard-line I-

"We."

"That we managed to tap into, but the line is down in several areas. If you move into a location where the line is down, we will be unable to aid you."

"Understood. Now, what can you tell me?" crouching down in the brush, angry at the dress's hampering of her movement. The crowds lay silent now, smoke chocking the air as it wafted into the night sky, blotting out the stars. The massive octagon had moved above the ports, slowly turning, several lights scanning the ground.

Groups of twelve scoured the buildings, grabbing bodies and tossing them carelessly into a large pile in the central square. Once more the com crackled, and Cassie's melodious tones came. "Aran, we have managed to commandeer a satellite, though again, the link is unstable. From it, we have estimated that anywhere between a hundred to two-hundred of the enemies ground troops are in your vicinity. Also, reports of automatons are leaking through the M-Com, as the military continues to fight the invaders. Be warned, heavy weaponry is apparently required to destroy them."

"Typical." she replied, the lack of her cannon weighing heavily on her right arm. "Geez, there's some irony for you." Standing again, she carefully made her way into the back alleys, the lack of light never a problem to her night-vision. Garbage littered the path, the dura-steel frames holding up well as the world went to hell. Tapping the com again, she quietly asked for more information on the plan.

"Samus, Cassie and I have come up with a plan. As you may have seen, that octagon ship looks to be both a transport and support station. If you manage to disable/destroy it, then the invasion force in your area will be weakened. Also, it is generating the jamming field, however weak. If you remove that, we will be able to activate the defensive stations in orbit, possibly defeating the forces arrayed against us."

As she ran the plan through her head, discarding ideas and regulating others as possible back-ups, she leapt to the fire-escapes, carefully moving up to the roof. When she had almost reached the top, a loud buzzing noise made her duck back down, not a moment to soon. Four of the sting-ray fighters flashed by, lights scanning the ground. Dull thumps reached her ears, carried on the still air. Below her, their shadows chaotically whipping about from the many fires. As they marched by, she noticed weapons resembling rifles held in their hands.

A scope lay across the top of the compact rifle, a short barrel, a padded, compact stock, and no magazine to bee seen. A thin blue line ran from the middle to just before the barrel narrowed down, three green dots lay vertically above the trigger. The entire gun was the same grey as their armor, however devoid of the glyphs that adorned the armor. "Of course they have guns. But noooo, not little old me."

Creeping along the rooftops, she stared down at the square before her. To the west and east the main roads were blocked by rubble, only a few homes still standing. The north was the hotel, a number of holes and chunks missing. The south was where she had come from the party, through a small cluster of trees and large expanses of open ground.

Leaping from one roof to another, forced to hopscotch because of the fallen homes and caved in roofs, she quickly and quietly made her way to the spaceport. Landing softly to the ferracrete, she slid to the side of the residence, crouching down as another squad of twelve went by, like the rest carrying what resembled backpacks. Two in the middle stuck close to one another, one holding a tripod and another wielding a large cannon, the massive bore huge in comparison to the other weapons.

Behind them however, came four more, all shouldering thin tubes, three thick blue lines twinging around the entire tube. Two handles and strange pad sat on the bottom, easily accessible to the holder. She watched as the cannon duo set up a mere twenty feet from her position, placing their back to two fallen homes, protecting their back while their FOF covered the entire square, easily eclipsing the hotel plaza and the junction where the main roads met.

Two of the tubers stayed with them, while another four of the rifles spread out to the squares center. The remaining four set up barriers at both the cannon and the street entrances, made from the rubble that was strewn about. Then once more her com came alive. "Aran, Cassie speaking. I-"

"Ehem."

A exasperated sigh came over the com again. "We have found that your ship, like the others, are under heavy guard. It alone remains unopened, ADAM here keeping out the software intrusion attempts, and he asked me to relay that your ship's defenses have killed three of the invaders."

"Copy. Maintain com silence until instructed, enemy in close proximity. Over."

Adam returned, vastly decreased in volume. "Roger that Samus, will await further orders."

With that little bit of info, Samus ducked under the broken wall across her, only to wince as her foot knocked loose a small pile of stone.

Instantly the tripod carrier whipped around, displaying the three vertical eyes that dominated what could be seen of its blue face. The eyes narrowed as it nudged its partner while drawing the rifle that was hanging across what would have been the chest of a human.

Its buddy slung from its back a different version of the rifle, missing the scope, line and three dots, but sporting large twin barrels, two blue lines crossing half-way along its length, both over and under. Both crouched over, sweeping the area as they advanced towards her position.

Her breathing slowed, her eyes tracking them every step of the way, noticing escape routes and attack patterns, the time it took for a full sweep by both, the weapons possible functions, and the armors weak points, if any. All this and more flashed through her mind, forty years of combat training her mind to dissect and analyze every facet of her enemy, even the unknowns.

But even more then that, it allowed her to know when to fight, and when to hide. Seconds before the lights would have hit her, she leapt up, catching hold on the lip of a broken floor, swinging her body up and over onto the ledge. Falling flat on her belly, she peered over the edge, watching as the two covered the entire lower level. As one they began searching the roof, the light beaming through every hole.

She watched as they passed by her, clearly professional from the easy way that they held the guns. "Do I kill them now, or let them pass me by?" For several seconds the debate raged in her mind, the knowledge that killing them may save others, but combated by the fact that she had no idea of what their anatomy was like. A killing blow for a number of species could have little effect on them, or be just as lethal. "Fifty-fifty either way." Pulling herself over the edge with her arms, she slowly uncurled, supporting her entire body with a gymnasts grace.

She waited until they had turned from her, then silently dropped from the roof, landing on all fours to soften the fall. Keeping low and slow, she approached the first one, aptly named Rifle in her mind. He/she/it was turning over a vase, entranced it seemed by the little swirls that covered its surface. Reaching between her thighs, she pulled forth a three inch, double edged blade, tightly clenched, ready to plunge into the hopefully soft tissue shown from a thin seam in the armor.

The other ones in the next room over. If I can kill this guy quickly, I can take his weapon and nail the other just as fast. Her left hand came up, ready to grab it around the neck and bring it down quickly. In that second however, it turned and saw her, only a foot from it and a knife drawn.

Thinking just as fast, she lunged forward, her right leg taking a single step and her left arm grabbing hold of the breastplate. Twisting her hips and thrusting her arm forward, she plunged the knife deep into its chest, a soundless scream emitting from it as black blood poured from the wound. It swung at her with a fist, the thing racing at her, only to hit air as she ducked and spun on her heel, yanking the blade out.

Continuing with the spin she sliced open another wound just above the greave, and her left arm snaked out, grabbed the wounded limb and pulled the heel, while her right elbow slammed into the knee joint, knocking it flat. Her ears picked up the sound of heavy boots trampling from the other room. That sound spurred her faster, and with a quick twist to a reverse-grip she pounded the knife into its throat, more of the black blood squirting out.

Its hands reached for the wound, leaving the rifle on the floor. The door blew apart as the other one charged in, only to see a light haired female tuck and roll over the gun, coming to one knee and firing a short blue-white line of energy directly into its chest. However, a ripple of energy absorbed the attack with little effort, and it raised its own weapon, the twin barrels huge in her eyes.

The barrels bucked as the wide-spread shot flew at her, tearing apart a wall as she leapt over it. Flipping in mid air she rebounded off the ceiling, her peripheral's noticing the rest of them rapidly approaching, the sound of the weapons fire easily noticed. But that was not the here and now. Grabbing the helms edge as she passed, her momentum took it down hard to the floor, the next shot splattering the roof into swiss cheese, tile and plaster raining down.

Pressing the barrel against the creatures head, she pulled the trigger, once more the energy blasting out, only this time burning a hole clean through the things skull. Tossing the gun to the side she jumped to the next floor, just barley escaping notice as the remaining ten crowded into the room, one with a white circle and a diagonal red slash directing the others, and the last one in with a circle engraved in the helm immediately running to the downed foes.

"Ok, circle and stripe is leader, and halo is medic. Good to know." silently making her way to the square, something caught her eyes, and a small smile grew off her full lips. When she was ready, she let out a loud, piercing whistle. As one they turned took up cover from the building, peering out through the holes in the walls. They stood there in stunned silence for a moment.

Too long.

Lips compressed to a hard, grim line, she pulled the trigger of the massive cannon, watching as particle's gathered at the end, and within a second had fired off a huge round, the solid ball of blue-white energy blowing apart the entire building, as well as the next one behind it. Whistling at the destruction, and gagging at the horrible smell that their bodies left, Samus took off for the port's, sticking once more to the back alleys. "Note to self: Get one of those for the ship."

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The Warlord paced back and forth, his impatience a legendary thing in the military. As a member of the clan leadership, known simply as the Troa, he commanded all of the six classes, from the mighty warrior Ve'Dra, to the working class of Shinia. But that was not what occupied his mind at the moment. It was the waiting, the waiting for the reports of what they had found on the world they had taken.

Only a moment later, and the telepathic contact was established. His Nota, or General, was coming through. "Warlord," He began, excitement and bloodlust raging in his words. "The conversion process has begun, and the facilities that were undamaged have proven adequate for our needs. The Phazon spreads rapidly, and the few members of the original owners we found have given us valuable intel on the species abilities."

His pacing stopped at last, much to the relief of the bridge crew, known as he was for cracking slackers on the skull. And even a light smack from the Warlord would possible kill a normal Phazonian.(AN2) "Understood, what about-"

The bridge doors slid open, and a harried Xentra pushed his way through the crowd. "Warlord!" He shouted, even as he closed in on the massive figure. "My lord, my I have tyour attention?"

Turning to face the smaller being, he stared down at him, the tilt of his head a clear sign of his interest. "Yes, what is it Maxo?"

Maxo's emotions bubbled through the link, and he almost squealed in delight. "My lord, we found him!"

Shock raced through the Warlord as who possibly it was struck him. "HIM?" He boomed out, anger and a sick sense of delight flooding the link. "Is it really Him?"

Nodding frantically, Maxo replied "Yes my lord! Its Ridley!"

The Warlords laughter filled the ship, a dark and sinister thing, a corrupted version of what was meant to be a happy sound. His eyes narrowed as he strode for the transport, eager to talk with his old enemy. "Ridley...It has been FAR to long."

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AN 1: Yes, that is a real move, and yes, it REALLY hurts.

AN 2: Its my name for them, ok? If you have a better one, let me know, k?