Yeah, this chapter took a while, but it is incredibly important (and fun to write). As the title says, this chapter is full of Maelos and Samus's thoughts and feelings.

Chapter 11: Contemplation and Introspection

"Arrrggghhhh!" shouted Maelos.

He raised the hammer high above his head and hurled the tool at the ship's orange side. It twirled through the air and hit its target with a ring. The ship, though, was defiant as the hammer fell to the ground, not leaving the slightest mark on the bright metal.

In frustration he again threw his head back and screamed to the sky, but the clouds merely rolled by.

His temper suddenly overcome by a deep despair, Maelos sank to the ground. He had taken off his tux jacket and shirt and wore only a white undershirt, now wet with sweat. He spread his legs and arms, making a human X, and felt the dirt stick to his bare shoulders and arms. Staring up at the gray sky, he thought with chagrin, it's going to rain.

And this is how Samus found him. She had heard his exclamations and had made her way out to him. She wore her bio-suit without its helmet and knew what she would find--him full of anger at his inability to fix the ship.

It's impossible, she thought. The entire hull was tore to shreds, roots and rocks came up through the floor. Several panels in the ship's sides had gaping holes in them, and, of course, the windshield was destroyed. She didn't even want to think about all of the ripped wiring and severed system lines again; she and Creto had already agonized over them for the last two hours.

And there he was, the absolute picture of defeat. The crash had conquered him.

She bent down and picked up the hammer. This and several other mediocre tools had been all she could offer him to work with, and they both knew it wasn't enough. Hell, she thought, even at Geros's shop, with all the parts and supplies and labor, these repairs would take weeks. And all I have is a this?

She sighed and tossed the hammer into the ship via a gaping hole next to her.

Then she went and stood over him. She looked down at Maelos and could detect his rage and grief as his dark eyes looked up at the sky past hers. The hair on his head was limp with perspiration and now peppered with dirt. There was stubble on his cheeks and chin now. In spite of this, he was still handsome.

"Get up Maelos," she said.

"Why?" he questioned from his spread-eagle on the ground.

"It's going to rain," she stated. As if to emphasize this, a brisk wind blew back her pony-tail. It carried an electric taste.

She offered her arm, and Maelos looked at it for some time before allowing her to pull him up. Once he was on his feet, Samus went and lifted herself up through the broken windshield. Maelos slowly followed suit.

It had been six hours since they had crash-landed on the deserted moon. In that time they had worked tirelessly to evaluate the ship's damage and fix it. So far, they had only swept up the broken glass and realized that their situation was impossible.

Maelos went to his seat on the wall and picked his tux jacket out of the seat. His body was no longer warmed by exertion, and the beads of sweat on his arms had turned into a cold, slick film. The temperature had dropped 10 degrees in the last half hour, and he felt chilled. He put the jacket on and settled into the chair.

Samus sat down in her cockpit chair and stared at where her windshield had been. So many galaxies had been seen through that transparent square. Alas, the time had come that it would be shattered and her ship rendered sightless. And how she hated that thought; that her ship was permanently grounded. But there was no way she could save it, and no way I can save myself.

A rogue wind whistled through the ship and announced the rain.

It started gently. The air pressure dropped, and the forest around them echoed with the sound of small droplets hitting the leaves. The sound, pitter-patter-pitter-patter, was relaxing. Then several lightning flashes illuminated the ship inside and out; a drum roll of thunder followed. Darkness fell, and the rain intensified as giant drops hit the broken ship. Water splashed in through the broken windshield and ripped walls. The rain was coming down in solid sheets now, filling the cockpit with water.

"Get to the back!" Samus shouted above the deafening clatter of rain hitting metal.

Maelos pulled his jacket tight and headed to the back of the ship. He reached the back and was given a fright when he realized Samus was not behind him. Several seconds past, then Samus appeared carrying her helmet and a blanket.

"Here," she offered the blanket to the shivering Maelos.

"Thanks," he said through chattering teeth.

They had retreated to the very end of the ship, where the re-charge chamber was located. With only that system online, none of the hallway's lights worked. Weak fluorescent bulbs lined the bottom of the chamber, but they had only enough light to cast the shadow of the fluid's ripples on the walls.

So, Maelos and Samus sat down against opposite walls in the twilight while a storm raged around the abandoned hunter-ship. They faced each other with Sonilla floating in the chamber between them.

Samus placed her helmet on the floor next to her and looked over at the man with dark eyes. He had wrapped the blanket around himself so that only his head was visible. It was so dark though that even with her keen eyes, the Hunter could barely make out his profile.

He had no bio-suit to keep him warm, had no instinct to fight or strategize. She was stronger, faster, and sharper-witted than he, but Samus couldn't help feeling proud of what he had done to save them. He saved the day when I couldn't, she thought, but who will save us now?

Their was a shift in his outline. Samus could tell he was no longer looking at her. His eyes were fixed on Sonilla.

The mixture of weak light and gently flowing blue liquid made Sonilla's body look eerily alien. Maelos could only see shades of black and gray cast on her body. Her hair and wispy dress floated freely around her. She looked almost like a new-age medusa, but she was still beautiful to him.

And he was filled with pity for her. She was now an orphan. Her mother had died giving her life, and now her father had died for the sake of the galaxy. Neither she nor the late Torim had mentioned any siblings or close relatives. She was alone.

To be all alone in the galaxy, Maelos thought. A human was already small enough, but then to be stranded without any family? How would she cope when she awoke? And he noticed that he used the word when, and not if. Did he really believe she would live? Did he really believe that he and Samus would live?

And what of his father and best friend. Were they dead? Captured? Tortured? His heart was suddenly full of pain as the realization of their loss hit. His father might be dead. Devajor may have been killed as he fought off the soldiers. And they had done all that for him. Guilt and horror filled him.

He and Geros had just learned to love one another again, and Devajor had been his eternally loyal friend. How could the-powers-that-were be so cruel as to separate them? And what was happening to them now? Were they being interrogated? Or were they face-up in some cold morgue where--

I cannot think of that! Maelos told himself. But there is nothing to do but think, his mind answered. The storm had become background noise to him.

And what about Torim? What of his sacrifice? Maelos could still hear the gurgles of the dying Chairman.

Maelos looked at Sonilla again. He tried to suppress his agony by thinking about their dance together. Glimpses of the ball filled his head. The flash of gold and silver, the glass dome ceiling. He could hear the waltz in his head and couldn't deny his attraction. There was no hiding the way he had felt with his hands on her waist.

He looked over to where he knew Samus was sitting, but couldn't see anything except a shadow. She can take care of herself, he thought with relief. He had played the hero once but knew it would be the only time.

So, with grim resolve, he silently pledged himself to Sonilla's protection and swore to either aid Samus in the rescue of Geros and Devajor or in avenging them and Torim.

Samus had closed her eyes. She let the sound of thunder and rain consume her senses.

We were so lucky to land on a moon with an oxygen atmosphere. She had told herself this so many times already. Creto had said the odds were 798,203 to 1.

Poor Creto, she thought. Her computer was now completely helpless. It had managed to remember the last coordinates before the cockpit was plunged into darkness, and from that Samus and Creto had deduced that they were on one of 23 moons orbiting planet SJY654. Creto had also told her that neither the planet nor any of the moons were inhabited, and the nearest life was 59 hours away. After that, Creto had fallen silent.

But she could not focus on the sorrow of her ship's internal computer. She kept playing the Unity Ball over in her head. What had she done wrong? How had Lorie Moli escaped? How had they poisoned Torim without her seeing them? And how had they known she was Samus Aran? How?

She couldn't get the sight of Torim gasping for air out of her mind. Her hands tingled where she had touched his throat. She felt grief for him, a feeling that was foreign to her. She had admired him, and still did. He is a martyr for our cause. We will not forget.

She opened her eyes and saw Sonilla. It was now her duty to protect the girl, if she lived. Samus noticed how she had said if.

It was also her duty to avenge Torim, save Geros and Devajor if they were still alive, and to watch over Maelos. But first she had to get them off this forsaken rock. Then she would have to confront Medici, and possibly Sharjak and Lorie Moli.

The task was daunting. The fear she had felt while fighting the metroids paled in comparison to the thought of living through this mission.

And there would be no money for it. This time, it wasn't about money.

The rain was letting up. The lightning was less, and the thunder sounded distant.

When she finally did catch Medici, she would make sure he suffered. He had deceived the galaxy, murdered innocents and her ally, tried to kill her, and was just purely evil. He deserved to suffer, and she would be sure to deliver that justice upon him.

Her mind trailed off into what methods she might use to harm him the most when she felt something touch her mind. It was a Presence, a metaphysical feeling. It bumped next to her conscious thought and asked permission to enter.

Samus froze. What is this? her mind screamed. As if from far away, a feeling of reassurance came to her. The Presence was somehow familiar, it felt like a dream she couldn't quite remember. She immediately threw up a wall of defensive thought against the invader. Whatever it was, she couldn't allow it to read her mind. While she did this, her mind was also racing to think of what this might be.

But suddenly the Presence was gone.

What was that? she thought. She tried to reason, maybe I just hallucinated. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Samus!" yelled Maelos. He jumped to his feet, trying to hold the blanket and grab his head at the same time.

"Something's inside my head!" he shouted.

"Maelos---!" Samus was cut off by a steadily growing drone from above.

Samus jumped to her feet, and Maelos stopped thrashing around. He was panting and his eyes were wide with terror at the invasion of his mind.

"Follow me," Samus ordered. She put her helmet on and marched to the cockpit.

She stopped at her suit compartment and took out an extra helmet. She handed it to Maelos and then went to her weapon display and entered the password. The buzzing pulse was growing louder as she selected a high-powered beam gun and gave it to Maelos. He held the helmet and gun in his hands stupidly.

"Put them on!" she growled at him.

Something serious was about to happen. First, a Presence had tried to enter both their minds and now this sound, most likely from a spaceship. They may have to go out shooting.

The noise was directly above them. They were now in the cockpit and could see filtered glances of the outside through the thick trees surrounding the crash site. It was drizzling and gray, but they could see the spaceship coming.

It was a massive battleship like none Samus had ever seen.. Just from looking at it, she knew it could have easily rivaled the Deya. Shaped like a narrow bullet, it was jet black with pulsing blue designs around its edges. Dozens of intimidating cannons were mounted on its side, and it gave off a blue aura of strength.

It descended upon the forest directly in front of them. The trees bent to the force of its landing, snapping at the base and falling. Gusts of wind whirled the leaves and kicked up dirt in all directions. The noise reached a fever-pitch and then stopped as the ship landed.

Everything was silent. A hatch opened on the ship's side, and a ramp was lowered.

Samus crouched behind her cockpit chair with her cannon ready. Maelos held his gun awkwardly next to her.

Samus caught his eye and together they crawled to the windshield's rim.

"Stay here until I call you," she whispered to him. He nodded.

She soundlessly lifted herself over the edge and dropped the 15 feet to the forest floor. When she hit the ground, she rolled and hid behind a fallen tree.

It was still relatively dark outside as the rain fell lightly. Mist came up from the ground in little whiffs. Samus switched to her Thermal Visor.

The whole ship glowed orange, and its heat obstructed her entire visor. Samus recoiled from the angry colors and switched to the X-ray Visor. She slowly crept forward but couldn't see inside the ship itself.

Then a dozen for so tall figures ran down the ramp. The visor showed her lanky skeletons and alien skulls in a mess of gray.

Instantly, Samus moved to her Combat Visor and unleashed a round of fire onto the aliens. What happened next was something she would never forget.

There was a piercing blast of light as her shots exploded against a force field. The blast threw her several feet up in the air and onto her back. She tried to stand, but the light felt like a tangible weight, which held her to the ground. When the weight finally lifted, she was still blinded by the blast. Her mind was screaming all possible alerts and warning of death.

She raised her arm cannon to fire again, but...

It was a Luminoth.

Clad in a long white robe, the Luminoth held out its open palm. Some twenty feet behind it stood a small squad of Warriors.

"Peace, Samus Aran, Chozo Warrior and Savior of Aether," it said in the Common tongue. " I am Y-Cah, the nephew and understudy of U-Mos, Sentinel of Aether. I come as his herald."

Samus kept her cannon pointed at Y-Cah's head, but had no thought of firing anymore. She was in absolute shock. This was the last thing she had ever expected.

"Pray, please forgive my prying of you and your friend's minds. I had to be sure of your identities. We Luminoth have mobilized to stop the corruption of the galaxy. It just so happened that my uncle was monitoring this area when you crashed and directed us to come to your aid. Please, call your friend while my mechanics see to your ship. We have much to discuss."

Ha. And you thought I was going to leave them stranded on a moon to die...?