Samus walked into her quarters. It had not been touched since she had left for Tallon IV. All that seemed so long ago, even though it had only been a few months. Walking over to her bed, she sat down on the soft covers. It had been a while since she had slept in this bed, eaten meals on the table by the window looking out into space. Right now, the sun could barely be seen cresting the edge of the planet the space station was orbiting. It was beautiful, and she didn't usually have time to really appreciate the beauty when off on a mission. Lying down on the covers, she stared at the ceiling. It was a light blue, as were her walls. An overhead fluorescent light failed to add to the homely sense the room gave. Retrieving a digital pad from the night stand, Samus searched randomly through the logs it contained. Her various expansions and weapons information was stored here, and she updated it whenever she could. She then opened the category Personal Logs Entries, and typed a password to access the files. Creating a blank sheet, she titled it "Explorations of the Phazon mines." Beginning her private diary entry, she typed, "It was a long voyage to the planet Phaaze, the home planet of Phazon…"

Sylux, on the other hand, was not enjoying his visit to Federation Headquarters. In fact, the correct term to describe his mood was "miserable". He was currently in a holding cell, with three Federation soldiers to guard him. With no cot to sit on, he was left standing. It was a small cell, reinforced with metal alloys. Concrete was too heavy to produce in space, so the Federation was constantly developing metal substitutes. The result was a hard, durable, flexible metal that, when bent, would ooze back into place. It would hold in just about anything short of a star going super-nova. Not exactly a super-nova, Sylux was forced to remain inside the tight cell.

Footsteps clanged on the metal floor as another Federation soldier came to retrieve Sylux. The three soldiers went with them, using a soft metal rope to bind Sylux, a metal similar to the one in the holding cell. Not giving a fight, Sylux walked in the middle of the foursome, chin held high. He was not embarrassed about what he had done, rather, he was proud of it. He would do it all again in a second, if he was able to. Soldiers walking the halls stopped and stared at the group, backing away from the infamous Sylux. Some tried to clap and cheer, but it came out muffled in their suits, so they stopped. Others tagged along to see what would happen, and the crowd grew.

They soon reached a set of double doors. A security booth next to the entrance contained an un-armored guard, who let them in. The crowd stayed in the hall, peering over the threshold. They were in a well-lit room, with an operation table to one side. Monitors adorned the walls, as well as various instruments. Sylux was led to the side of the operation table. The ropes that bound his arms together behind him were unhitched and connected to hitches on the side of the table. He was laid out on the top of the table, like a frog in a middle-scholar's dissection lab. Fully aware that he might not survive this encounter with the Federation, he prepared himself for whatever might come.

Ihkiyuk was in his private quarters. Thinking about what he had found out, he realized that it wasn't such a bad idea. Using Samus's Chozo blood would give the Space Pirates amazing abilities, and with Samus out of the way, they would be nearly unstoppable. The Federation would be crushed underneath their heel, trodden on and forgotten. The Space Pirates would dominate, and a new era would begin. The Legacy of the Space Pirates. He liked that idea…

Done with her entry, Samus put the pad away. For some reason, she was exhausted. She knew that she had slept on the way here, but it seemed she had not gotten any rest at all. Lying down on the bed, she glanced at her nightstand. No picture of the forgotten past stood there, no clock with an alarm to wake her, just the digital pad. Contented with her meager possessions and no reminders of her grisly past, Samus closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Taking a deep breath, the hunter lay still. His enemies prepared to take his suit, with or without his permission. He was nothing, just another dissection subject. Complete silence dominated the lab as several male humans gathered materials. Instruments in hand, the lab lights dimmed and an over-head light shone brightly on their prey. Like hawks, they descended upon Sylux, ready to tear him open.

Suddenly, terrified shouts came from beyond the double doors. Several gunshots went off in the hall, and soon all became silent once again. The surgeons stopped, and put down their tools. One reached for a cabinet on a nearby wall, but froze as an alarm went off. Loudspeakers shrieked, and various lights flickered. A blast door lowered over the double doors, effectively sealing the room and its contents. The dimmed lights turned back on, illuminating the startled doctors.

Shots began to sound outside in the hall. They stopped, to be replaced with the sound of crunching metal. The blast door began to disintegrate, smoking parts falling to the floor. The frozen surgeon suddenly leaped into action. Grabbing at the cabinet door, he whipped it open and seized one of the energy assault rifles hanging on a rack inside. Turning around, weapon charged, he lowered the gun and…exploded. A missile hit him smack in the face, sending bits of doctor all around the room. Blood gushed from the headless body as it fell to the floor. The other surgeons just stood next to the table, dumbfounded. A blue figure walked towards them, arm cannon at her side. Hand outstretched, she touched one of the humans. The doctor leaned over Sylux, dead. One of the two left in the room alive made a break for it. Running past Samus, he was almost to the door when Samus took aim and fired. The result was not pretty. The remaining doctor had grabbed a weapon from the storage cabinet and taken aim at Samus. Two shots sounded out, three, four, and the shining blue figure turned towards him. Walking over casually like mosquitoes were trying to ram her, she grabbed the human by the neck. The expert surgeon, well known and looked up to by peers, fell dead to the floor like a pile of rags. Facing Sylux, Samus bent down and touched the metal bonds that held him in place. They shriveled up and melted from her touch, releasing Sylux. Sliding off the table, he dropped to the floor. Grabbing the fallen rifle, he followed Samus out of the lab room. Sirens blaring and lights blazing, the two bounty hunters ran from their enemy, the Galactic Federation.

Spire traveled in his heated ship, searching. Searching for something, anything, pertaining to his race's whereabouts. He had traveled to the Alimbic system in high hopes of obtaining the Ultimate Power that lurked there, but he had failed. He had failed his race, his species. It was not his fault, he knew that, but he felt responsible somehow, for not being there, not being present when they disappeared. He had been lucky to find his ship still intact. It remained operational, but barely. Most of the systems were malfunctioning from some sort of radiation he could not identify. His computer log entries stayed intact, however. They were small files, and had not been destroyed with most of the ship's memory. He had written many entries since that memorable day. He wrote in hopes that, if he failed to find his species, someone would find his ship and pick up his search where he left off. He wrote very detailed entries, many details unnecessary, but he wrote them anyway. He had stopped by any inhabited planet he could find, trying to find information. He felt himself drawn back towards the Alimbic system. He felt that there was something there, something he had overlooked when he had fled weeks ago. Nearing the Alimbic cluster, he scanned for any ships nearby. None, but the radar was malfunctioning. No ships appeared on the screen, but no planets either. He left the panel to return to his quarters, leaving the computer with a constant radar search. He would come back later, after he had something to eat. The last survivor of a civilization had to eat something, you know.

The two bounty hunters sped away from the doomed space station. Sylux shook his head. The last minutes seemed a blur to him, but he could remember the basic sequence of events. After he had been rescued, he ran back to Samus's ship. Priming the ship, he waited for Samus to get back. In the mean time, he fending off soldiers trying to get to the ship to stop them. All in a day's work. Samus had come back soon, and had taken command of the space faring vessel. Blasting away from the Federation station, Sylux looked back. She had messed with the orbit trajectory of the colonized station, and it now spun out of control. Several large vessels attached themselves to the huge mass of metal, to try to stabilize it. It was working, both to save the station, and to provide a distraction as the duo escaped.

Turning in her chair, Samus looked at Sylux. She leaned back, arms on her chest. She was still in her suit, and still had the blue tint in her visor. That slightly concerned Sylux. Sighing, she said, "You know who I am. I know who you are. Why are you following Samus Aran?"

Sylux was startled to hear her speak in third person. She was Samus Aran, but, then again, not really…

"Why should I tell you? I have no reason to trust you," Sylux regretted saying this the second the words came out of his mouth. He should trust her, especially after that strange display of power in the lab, and, after all, she had rescued him.

Samus laughed. The sound sent shivers down Sylux's body.

"Now you're resentful I saved you? Pity, I was hoping I could pry some information out of you before I killed you, but, seeing as I have no choice now…" as she said this, she reached for him.

"Stop!" Sylux shouted. The hand froze. "I, uh, well, was employed by the Space Pirates to kill you. I was supposed to bring your dead body back to them. That never really happened, so, I guess we're together in this."

Samus withdrew her hand. "If you think we're together, think again. You shall serve me. I will keep you until I see fit to dispose of you. Samus, on the other hand, wishes to kill you right now. I am being generous, and you should accept those terms before I reconsider."

Sylux only nodded. More rebellion would end his life.

"Shake on it?" she inquired, stretching her hand out again. Sylux backed away, shaking his head. Samus threw back her head and laughed. The sound moved Sylux to nausea.

Spire was feasting on compacted vitamin mix, which he personally called "sludge." Next to it was a tube of paste, full of proteins and nutrients his species depended on. He thought it was disgusting. It was much better made fresh, and not mixed together. And before the expiration date. That would help a lot. He was thinking about homemade meals when an alarm went off. Rushing back to the cockpit, he glanced at the radar. No planets had appeared, but a lone ship had. Sitting in the middle of the two planets and space stations, he checked visual. It was fuzzy, but he could make out Federation markings on the hull. He did not know much about the Federation, but he did know that they ruled a large portion of their known space. That included his home world. That they owned his planet without his permission infuriated him. He would engage in combat with this vessel, no matter how badly it damaged him.

The vessel had obviously spotted him, for it was coming straight at him. They were trying to establish contact, but Spire's damaged systems prevented him from receiving any transmissions they sent. He charged weapons, ready to fight.

The Federation craft, sensing an oncoming attack, charged their weapons as well, but not fast enough. Spire zipped in close, hitting them with a full spread of missiles and beams. Some weapons were not operational; he would have to fight without them. The damaged Federation ship was a scout ship, meant for a quick skirmish, then to get out of the fight. It had low shields, so it took heavy damage. Crippled, it turned and shot rear beams towards Spire. Spire's ship took the full brunt of the attack. Several shield generators, due to radiation degradation, failed, and Spire was defenseless. He too turned and fled. Seeing he was fleeing, the Federation ship followed close behind, to see what Spire would do. Knowing he had a promise to find his people to fulfill, Spire did not respond to the last shots. He headed towards the last coordinates of Oubliette, where he had failed to obtain the Ultimate Power. A new reading flashed on the radar. It was a massive rip, tendrils of energy flowing from the center. Sylux checked visual readings. Nothing of the sort appeared. Thinking that the radar was malfunctioning again, Spire kept going. The Federation ship, for reasons of its own, fired one solitary missile, possible a warning shot, at Spire. He prepared himself for death, but it never came. Instead, the missile imploded behind the ship. There was silence as both ships continued, though no thrusters were applied. Spire's ship stopped, then was gently pulled backwards. His thrusters were going haywire; they weren't responding. The ship gradually sped up, until it hit something. Not the Federation ship; it had turned tail and fled. He applied thrusters; no response. Whatever Spire was being sucked into, he knew it wasn't good.

"Federation ship Hetle Falcon 2927 contacting Federation vessel 2482, do you copy?"

"This is Util Kikl, 2482, what do you want, Falcon?"

"We have entered the Alimbic System. We engaged in combat, and…"

"Details for the report, Falcon. What do you want?"

"The enemy ship disappeared, Kikl. It just disappeared."

"Radar?"

"None. No radioactive activity, nothing to mess with the sensors. Visual was lost, as well."

"Well then Falcon, contact Federation Headquarters. Let them know what happened. We'll be over in a few minutes."

"Roger that, Kikl. Position is static, we'll let you know if anything happens."

Samus rushed through various waves of unsuspecting vessels. The commotion with the space station was enough for them to escape unseen. Their signature was lost with all the others as ships fled or zipped closer for the action. Weaving in and out of trade ships and small voyage craft, Samus set a random course in order to further confuse Federation security ships. She sat at the interface for a while even after they had cleared the worst of the mass of ships. Sylux explored the interior of Samus's ship. It was sparsely decorated, with lights lining the domed ceiling edge. Two bunks lay on opposite sides of the ship; there was no other room other than the main one. Other than the cabinets and the door that lay in the direct back of the craft, there were no hatches. A fold-out table was near each cot, within easy reach of the bed. Sylux opened the door in the back. Quickly shutting it, he sat down. He wished he had not looked. Space toilets were so much more different than normal ones. He would rather wait until they landed somewhere.

Turning in her chair, Samus stood up and walked towards Sylux.

"We are now undetectable; I've removed all the tracking signatures, and currently this vessel is no longer Federation. It will be seen as a custom leisure ship. The Federation will have a hard time finding us. I have tapped into the communications network: we can hear all transmissions from Federation craft."

"Interesting," Sylux responded only half listening. Still examining the ship, he wandered from one panel to another. Tapping one with a peculiar nozzle port, he stood there for several minutes searching random information.

Shaking her head, Samus returned to her chair. Leaning back, she realized she hadn't switched out of her suit. Glancing at Sylux, she figured he wouldn't mind. After all, species don't usually have romantic relationships with other species. They just didn't work out.

Spire woke up floating inside his ship. Woozy for a few seconds, he quickly recovered. Realizing he was floating, and not standing, proved difficult for him to grasp. He had not been weightless in space before. He had been trained, but not for this sort of thing. Figuring that the magnetic applicators in the ships flooring had gone offline, he stayed floating inside his ship. Reaching for a wall, his finger brushed the solid surface and sent him slowly rotating towards the other side. This was going to take a while. BEEP An alarm went off at his console. Unable to see the screen, Spire called out in a deep voice, "Computer, audio."

Responding, the computer replied in an automated voice, "Sh-fft-p appro-zt-ing, unkno-on or-zzt-in. Rec-zzt-ende-fft-ction?"

Barely able to understand the fuzzy recording, Spire called out again, "How long have we been at our present coordinates?"

"Drifft-ng for zzt-arly trree oors. Prrei-zznt loc-fft-ion uuown. Lle-fft kn-zzt cooorororor--"

The computer froze up and shut down. Lights shut off and returned in a low red color. He was running on emergency power now. The main screen flickered and showed a fuzzy image of a strange vessel approaching. Then it, too, shut off. Bathed in red light, Spire floated in unknown space. He thought about his family, wondering if he would ever see them again, enjoy a home-cooked meal with them. He might never do that, but he could at least try to make it possible. The ship shook as the alien craft attached itself to Spire's. They were here, whoever 'they' were.