Chapter 6: Xenoresearch

"…Roger that," Jon said into his radio, his newly installed suit translator converting the chirping metroid language into English.

Jonathan turned to Sarah and Samus. "Alright, Commander Rolms wants us to take the Ing to the ship. Do ya think he should send a shuttle?"

Samus considered for a moment. "No, we can carry it up. Or rather, you can."

"Me!?" Jon cried. "Why can't one of you do it?"

"Neither of our ships are big enough." Sarah said simply.

Jon's shoulders slumped. "Fine."

Samus rolled her eyes. "Aw stop being such a big baby. You can handle it," her face crinkled up in a smile. "Or aw you afwaid the big, bad, beastie's gonna get you," she said in a voice one would use when talking to a baby.

Jonathan growled and turned to the Ing. Samus and Sarah turned to leave (though he noticed that Sarah seemed to give him a lingering look before she left).

Xera did not like the way the big armored creature was looking at her.

It considered her for a moment before gruffly wrapping its arm around her waist and hoisting her up.

Xera yelped in surprise and tried to push her way out from under its arm (to no avail of course). After a moment she gave up and just hung there.

The armored creature looked at the lizard-like one slumped against the wall. It had tried to attack the armored one not too long after nearly being choked to death. This, of course, earned it a mighty smack that knocked it against the wall (and knocked it unconscious).

After a moment, the armored one picked the lizard up as well before walking out the door.

As she was carried through the halls, Xera observed the scenery around her. It wasn't like there was much else she could do.

This place looked a lot like the Temple of the Sky that had appeared during the Unrelenting War.

Soon, the armored being stepped onto a large circle on the floor. Xera's eye widened, she knew what this was! It was a rocket elevator! Her brother had always loved riding up and down and up and down on these.

Xera, however, was terrified of riding on them.

She closed her eye and gripped all five of her legs (as well as all of her tentacle-arms) on the armored creature.

If she had kept her eye open, she would have seen Jonathan look down at her in surprise.

Xera felt the elevator ease itself downward. She relaxed slightly, then yelped and renewed her hold as the elevator rocket downward with a sudden burst of speed.

After what seemed like an eternity, the rocket powered elevator reached the ground with a jarring impact.

Xera waited several seconds before venturing a peek. She let out her pent up breath and relaxed her death grip on the armored creature, who then began walking forward to the largest of three flying machines in front of the pseudo Sky Temple.

Xera felt her grip tightening again. She hated flying even more than rocket elevators! She remembered her father trying to coax her to try out a hang glider during their vacation 2 years ago. Xera had absolutely refused.

The creature carrying her noticed her nervousness and began making a strange noise. It took Xera a moment to realize that the alien sound was chuckling. She felt her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment.

The creature reached a platform beneath the machine and stood on it. After a moment, the platform lifted up into the ship.

Xera looked around in awe. The interior was incredibly sleek, yet rugged looking. Devices of all types lined the walls, ceiling, and floors. Xera could only guess at their function.

The creature set her and the lizard down on a circle on the floor. Immediately, a sheen of translucent light surrounded her and the lizard-creature. Xera's heart sank, she knew she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Jon looked back at the Ing. It apparently knew that there was no way to get past the ray shields, it had settled back on its haunches next to the Space Pirate.

"Jon, you ready for takeoff?" said Samus' voice, startling Jon.

"Huh, what? Yeah I'm ready."

"Well then takeoff! I'm not waiting for you all day." Jon looked out his viewscreen. Both Sarah's and Samus' ships were hovering in front of his own.

"Right, sorry, just got a little distracted. Taking off now."

A few minutes later, the three ships exited Aether's atmosphere. There before them was the GFS Mobius.

The Mobius was very similar in design to battleships like the GFS Olympus, though it lacked most of the weapons of a war-focused ship. The Mobius was dedicated to research, not war.

Sarah and Samus moved their ships to the research ship's docking bay converted from a fighter bay. Jonathan moved in after them. His ship was clamped in place by servicing arms from the walls as Samus and Sarah landed.

Commander Rolms, members of the Xenoresearch team, and the Hunters all looked at Jon as he exited his ship carrying the Ing and Space Pirate. The Pirate grunted softly and began to stir.

The commander and research team immediately tensed. Samus, Sarah, and Jonathan didn't bat an eye.

"Hey Sarah, can ya give him another whack on the head? My hands are kinda full."

The former Dark Hunter shrugged and walked up to the Pirate, raising her fist as she did so.

"Wait, hold on just one second," interjected Commander Rolms. "We need him conscious for the interrogation."

Both dark armored hunters looked at the commander.

"Interrogation, eh?" said Jon dangerously. "Say, you don't suppose you could call me if he doesn't cooperate?"

Commander Rolms gulped hard. For once he was glad that his helmet kept his face from being seen, because hearing that tone of voice from a 7 foot giant wearing half a ton of armor scared the hell out of him.

"Er, yeah, sure," he responded uneasily.

Xera looked uneasily at the one carrying her. She did not like the tone of voice it had just had, though she didn't know what it had said.

The creature proceeded to walk her over to the other beings. They also wore armor, though it was nothing close to what the Hunter wore.

One of them walked up to her with some sort of rod in its hands. Before Xera could react, it pressed the rod against her neck and pressed a button on it.

Almost immediately, Xera began to feel tired. The rod must have some sort of sleep agent in it! She tried valiantly to stay awake, but it was no use. She fell asleep.

A/N: Sorry this one took so long. The next chapter will probably be from the Space Pirate's POV.