Chapter 14:
Samus fired again at MB, who absorbed the blasts, suffering no real damage as her nanite body instantly repaired itself and regenerated from the small injuries inflicted on her form. However, she began to worry about Samus's natural abilities that were not augmented by her suit. She had always figured that Samus was faster inside her suit rather than outside of it, despite the bulky shoulder pads that framed her Varia Suit. Outside of her suit, though, Samus seemed to be a lot faster than before. The only good part of this was the fact that Samus did not have any weapons that could really harm her. The Paralyzer that Samus had carried on her blue Zero Suit on Zebes might have inflicted some damage to her nanites, but the pistol Samus currently carried was an energy pistol designed to actually hurt and kill her enemies. However, Samus would be a threat to MB once more when got her suit back. She had to take Samus out now, for if she failed to do so, she knew that she would be unable to defeat Samus in her armored suit, and Samus did have weapons in her suit that would be able to inflict severe, if not fatal, damage to her. Despite her outward display of confidence, she had relied on her telepathy to influence Samus and to catch her off guard, and her telepathic advantage was now gone. She doubted that Samus would be caught unawares again, inside or out of her suit. And without her suit, it seemed as if Samus was even more resistant to her telepathy than with it.
MB proceeded to back away and fire off a series of ice blasts from her pistol. The blue blasts of freezing energy crossed the distance between her and Samus, but Samus was moving too quickly even for her to get an accurate bead on. All she could do was keep moving and firing in order to keep Samus off balance and hope that one of her shots managed to tag the bounty hunter. It was then that she realized that her greatest chance to quickly kill Samus would be after Samus did regain her suit. Once her suit rematerialized over her body, MB would fire her Chozo Technology Disruptor at the bounty hunter. Then, as Samus's suit was dematerializing, she would freeze her with her Ice Pistol and then shatter her with a single punch. However, her plan was foiled when Samus appeared in front of her once more and grabbed her disruptor pistol and yanked it from her grasp. She then tossed it across the Control Bridge, far away from MB.. She then grabbed MB's wrist and swung her around a few times and then released the android and let her sail through the air and into a bulkhead at the other end of the bridge, unfortunately, at the opposite end of the bridge from her disruptor pistol. She soon saw Samus rushing towards the pistol, rather than shooting it with her own energy pistol. In fact, Samus had already holstered her own weapon. Damn, she swore to herself. She knows what the pistol is capable of, and the fact that my nanites are direct Chozo technology.
MB proceeded to target her disruptor pistol with her own pistol, switching to her pistol to its Plasma setting so that it would destroy her weapon outright. She could call upon reinforcements to face down Samus if things got desperate, but if Samus managed to get a hold of that pistol, then she had a weapon that could actually inflict real damage on her, if not actually destroy her. Just as she fired her green plasma blast, though, the pistol disappeared and the plasma struck the floor and merely burned a small furrow into the metal of the floor. She quickly jumped away from her previous position and barely managed to avoid an electric blue pulse of energy that whizzed past her head. She risked a glance over at Samus and saw that she was holding the Chozo Technology Disruptor pistol in her hands and drawing a bead on her. She then figured that the best thing she could do was to find some cover and hope that Samus did not beat her to it or manage to tag her before she reached cover.
She dove behind a console as another blast of electric blue energy sailed over her head. She risked peering above the console and taking a shot at Samus. Her plasma shot went wide and Samus also took cover behind a column near the Captain's chair. MB took some more shots at Samus, but none of her shots hit their mark, the closest managing to burn some small furrows into the column that Samus was hiding behind. Samus's return fire, however, did hit her intended target. Samus's disruptor blast struck MB's pistol arm and immediately, her arm went dead and collapsed into a pile of nanites. She dropped the pistol and fell behind the console. She was fortunate that her arm did not fall off due to the disruptor's effect before she fell back behind cover. Once she did, her arm collapsed onto the ground into a pile of gray metallic sands. It would take her nanites a few seconds to gather their fallen brethren, repair them and reintegrate them into her systems. Fortunately, she was ambidextrous, and as such, could use her left hand as her gun hand. She immediately picked up her pistol once more and took more shots at Samus as she zigzagged her way towards MB's console. Not wanting to stay out in the open and allow MB a chance to shoot her, she ducked behind a console closer to MB, avoiding some more of MB's plasma blasts, but she still had the advantage of having a weapon that could damage MB.
MB took cover so as to avoid any of Samus's own fire. She suspected that Samus's suit would reactivate soon. She knew that she had to do something quickly, before Samus's suit was restored and she would be able to survive anything that she could throw at her, for without her Chozo Technology Disruptor pistol, once Samus regained her suit she would likely destroy the pistol and deny MB the only weapon she had that could inflict harm to her in her armored suit. MB knew that she only had one shot at Samus and decided that it was time to take the risk. She emerged from her cover and took aim at Samus at the same time Samus rose from her console and took aim at MB. The two fired at each other simultaneously and the two energy blasts nearly collided as they passed each other. Their energy fields did not disrupt their containment fields or divert their paths, though, so the blasts continued unabated towards their targets. MB's blast went a little wide of Samus and struck the wall behind her, scorching a small back mark into it. Samus's shot, however, managed to score a direct hit on MB's chest. MB immediately felt the nanites in her chest that controlled her ability to walk and function shut down and she fell to the floor. It was a miracle that nanites' bonds did not break and her chest did not fall apart upon impact. She was not dead, yet.
She used her arms to drag herself out from her cover as she still pointed her plasma pistol at Samus. Samus, however, was not concerned. She merely leveled her disruptor pistol at MB and fired once more. Another blue energy pulse struck MB and she felt more her nanites shut down, resulting in her most of her body ceasing to function. She knew that the end was coming. Still, she could get her revenge. As she felt her voice leaving, she croaked, "Don't forget to check the computer, Sammy, girl. You really want to see what the Galactic Federation is really up to."
Samus gave no response as she fired again at MB. The pulse struck MB in the head and electricity arced across MB's body as she completely shut down and collapsed into a pile of nanites. Samus knew that the battle was not over yet, though. She closed her eyes and reactivated her suit. A golden glow of light surrounded her and her suit rematerialized over her body. Once her suit had rematerialized, she switched to her Ice Beam and charged her Ice Beam. She then proceeded to unleash the blast of freezing energy at the pile of nanites. Her Charged Ice Beam shot froze the nanites and encased them in a block of ice. She fired another blast to make sure that all of the nanites were frozen. Once she did so, she transformed into her Morph Ball form and rolled up to the ice block. She then laid a Power Bomb and waited for it to detonate. It soon exploded and engulfed the block of ice in a wave of destructive energy. The wave continued to expand and consume the ice block, annihilating it. Once the wave dispersed, Samus scanned the area and there were no trace of nanites remaining on the bridge. MB was finally destroyed.
After MB's destruction, the computer consoles and data screens sprang to life on the bridge. The doors switched from red to green and proceeded to open. As they opened, Adam, Clone Samus, Kreatz, and Mauk filed onto the Control Bridge. As they stepped onto the bridge, they scanned the area, noticing the melting ice covering parts of the wall, as well as the black scorch marks burned into various columns and consoles. Samus went over to Adam and told him, "It's done. MB is destroyed."
Adam was still skeptical. "Are you sure?" he asked.
"I deactivated the nanites that made up her body with a Chozo Disruptor Pistol, froze her remains, and then vaporized them with a Power Bomb," Samus answered. "I then scanned the whole bridge to make sure I did not miss any nanites. I detected none. MB is dead."
That answer seemed to satisfy Adam. He then went over to the tactical console and told everyone, "Alright, let's do what we came here to do."
He then typed a series of commands into the console and a holographic image of the ship appeared. He then tapped another series of commands into the computer, but a large red sign flashed up onto the screen and the hologram, reading, Access denied. Adam grimaced. He then typed in the same commands again. Again, Access denied appeared on the screen and hologram.
"What's wrong?" Mauk asked.
"The computer isn't accepting my command codes," Adam replied.
"That's not surprising, considering that whoever was in command here must have changed them," Kreatz commented.
"It is when I have command override access to any and all research stations in this region of space," Adam responded a little harshly.
Samus then approached the console and said, "Let me have a look."
She then stood over the console and activated her Scan Visor. She then scanned the computer console. Her Scan Visor's hacking ability was easily able to overcome the security protocols of the bridge's computer and the data held inside the ship's memory banks was immediately put on display on all of the consoles on the bridge, as well as being downloaded to the logbook of Samus's Varia Suit. She studied the information and merely stood still as it came onto her HUD, not saying a word. The others began to get a little concerned and Anthony went over to her, and asked, "What is it?"
"Check the computer terminals," she answered. "You won't believe what we've found."
The others did so, Clone Samus standing at the communications console, Anthony at the weapons station, Adam, Kreatz, and Mauk at other stations. What they saw astounded them all, for on the information screens were the names of those who authorized and supported Project Hunter and Project Metroid Warriors. Among those names was Elric, Chairman of the Galactic Federation Council. The rest of the names consisted of those already known by Anthony and Clone Samus, but were news to Adam, Kreatz, Mauk, and Prime Samus. Samus then stumbled upon a recording in the station's memory banks. She pushed a button on her console and activated it. Immediately, a holographic viewscreen appeared and both Samus and Anthony began to record what was being played.
On the screen, the image of a tank that was about three meters in height appeared. Inside the tank was a young adult woman that looked almost exactly like Prime Samus, save for having darker blond hair and noticeably larger breasts. She was dressed in what appeared to be a bikini, likely done in order to maintain some form of modesty, and had a small band around her forehead. Wires were extending from the band to the top of the tank. Standing near the tank were several scientists. Next to the scientists stood Chairman Elric. Elric was flanked by two Army Troopers, or security officers dressed Army Trooper power suits. Also present were Speaker of the Council, Chamolos, as well as the new Minister of Truth, Eiden, and the Director of the Federation Intelligence Agency, and a large number of secret security organizations, Drayka. "So, this is the clone of Samus Aran that you have grown," Elric mused out loud. So far, her eyes looked blank, vacant, and she was not as tall as he remembered the original Samus being. As such, he was unimpressed.
"Yes, she is," the lead scientist, a human male in his late forties wearing a lab coat and glasses, said. "Don't let her looks fool you. She's not finished yet."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Elric asked.
"We still need to download her memories into her," Chamolos responded. "Without her memories, she is nothing more than a mindless drone that looks like the most dangerous bounty hunter in history outside of her suit."
"How do you intend to transfer the memories into her?"
"That's where I come in, Chairman," a voice responded from behind the Chairman. Immediately, a Galactic Federation Army Trooper came up to Elric. "Sergeant James Pierce, formerly of Galactic Federation Intelligence group, now member of Platoon 07, sir," he said, saluting the Chairman and raising the visor of his helmet, revealing his face.
"How can you transfer the memories of Samus into her clone?" Elric asked.
"It's simple, really," James Pierce responded, going over to a console and inputting several commands into the console. "We already have Samus Aran's history on record from when she served in the Galactic Federation Army and Police Force under the command of General Adam Malkovich. Those memories have already been put into her brain. All that remained was to give us her memories from the rest of her memories from her time as a bounty hunter. That we don't have, save for some reports that she gave us after she completed her missions. And we can't just use any files and reports from her for that because then some people might get a little suspicious. Hell, she may well get a little suspicious. Besides, we don't need an imperfect facsimile of Samus. We want one that's as close to the real one as possible, right sir?"
"Perhaps," Elric said, stroking his chin. "But that doesn't explain how you were able to get those memories or how you'll transfer them into the clone."
"I'm a telepath," James Pierce responded. "I'm not that strong, and a normal who is aware is more than capable of blocking me or resisting a scan. However, since Samus was in a coma, when I scanned her, she was unable to resist. As such, I managed to get a good idea of her more recent missions by scanning her dreams, since that was as far as I could scan without risking her discovering me and resisting the scan, even while asleep."
"Her dreams?" Elric gasped in shock. He then looked at Sergeant Pierce in the eyes and said, "You want to use her dreams to simulate real life memories?"
"I couldn't delve any deeper without risking damage to myself. Even though Samus is in a coma, her mind is still quite strong. Even with her barriers down, she can still ward off a weak attack. You'd be surprised how resistant a strong minded person is to scans, especially while dreaming when they can control their dreams. Besides, they're close enough to her real memories to be usable." He then closed his eyes for a moment and looked at the clone floating in the tank. Two of Elric's kind were standing near the tank, their eyes glowing as Clone Samus opened her eyes. Immediately, her eyes closed and she was unconscious once more. "Excellent," Pierce said, "The transfer's complete."
"Are you certain that we need this?" Elric asked, turning to Chamolos. "We already have Project Metroid Warriors underway on the Bottle Ship."
"Yes sir," Chamolos responded. "You see, Samus is not just a powerful and skilled bounty hunter; she is also a symbol, in more ways than one. Despite all the stuff she has experienced in her life, she is still strong and has not let herself get beaten down by her own circumstances. Also, enemies of the Galactic Federation fear the prospect of fighting Samus, since many of her missions are given to her by the Galactic Federation. With the real Samus Aran still in a coma onboard the G.F.S. Olympus, and not showing many signs of improvement, the Clone Samus will be a necessary asset for the Galactic Federation. The Federation needs a Samus Aran."
"But what use do we have for a Samus who might disobey us?" Elric asked. "Samus was once in the Galactic Federation military, but she left after she disobeyed a direct order and went to cover the Chozo's escape from Zebes when Mother Brain betrayed them and allowed the Space Pirates to land and take over. She later went on to become an independent bounty hunter. Who's to say that this Samus won't disobey a direct order given by the Federation in the future?"
"We've already taken that into account," Drayka responded. "You see; we have two telepaths of your species here. They have been making some…modifications to her personality."
"What sort of modifications?"
"We have accentuated certain personality traits and recent 'memories'," Eiden explained. "For example, we have accentuated the original Samus's connection to the Metroid Hatchling that she spared on SR388 and brought back to Ceres Space Colony, and died saving Samus on Zebes, in her mind. We have also accentuated her attachment to Adam Malkovich to the point where she will be loyal to him no matter what."
"How do you intend to test that?" Elric asked.
"We have ways," James Pierce replied. "There are always problems cropping up all throughout the Federation, especially in recent times. And anyone here knows that the projects on the Bottle Ship are going to go wrong at some point. It's only a matter of time before the scientists there get in over their heads. All we have to do is wait for the Bottle Ship experiments to go wrong. Then, we'll use it as the test site for Clone Samus."
Clone Samus gasped at the revelation, as did Adam. Prime Samus merely gritted her teeth. She had never seen this side of the Galactic Federation before, or rather, Elric and his people. There was no proof that the rest of the Federation was in on their plan, yet. She, and the others then refocused on the image.
"But how do you intend to ensure that she is loyal?" Elric asked. "What if I give an order she views as immoral, or outright illegal, and refuses to obey it?"
"We have ways to test that, too," Chamolos answered. He then motioned for James Pierce to explain further.
"Since I am a latent telepath, I can bring up certain memories from Adam Malkovich's subconscious, especially if he is under attack from other telepathic influences. There is a clone of Mother Brain onboard the Bottle Ship. Mother Brain is telepathic, so if, or rather, when, things go to hell, I can eliminate any witnesses while we test our Clone Samus and her dependence on Adam Malkovich. And we'll test her dependence on him by having him remember her betrayal of him when she left the Federation. I'll help accentuate any feelings of bitterness and anger that he felt towards her at that moment. We'll then see how she responds to his orders. He will be the anchor that keeps her loyal to the Galactic Federation."
"And what if the original Samus Aran awakens and makes a full recovery?" Elric asked.
"Then we'll have to eliminate one of them," Chamolos responded. "The best bet would be to eliminate the original Samus, since she will still be the more dangerous of the two. Our Samus will be controlled, and thus, a little less dangerous or independent. This will also likely make her not quite as smart than the original as well, especially when around Adam."
"How so?"
"Well, she'll likely either wait for his authorization to use her weapons or defensive abilities should Adam state that she not be allowed to use them, for whatever reason," Chamolos explained. "She will do so even should the risk to herself be greater than it normally would or should."
"And with me influencing Adam to hold a grudge against Samus for leaving the Federation, and him, we'll soon see just how submissive our Samus really is," James Pierce added.
"Good," Elric said. He then went over to a table on the other side of the room. On the table, a team of elfen engineers of Elric's species were working on an armored suit that looked identical to Samus's Power Suit. When he arrived, he went over to the lead engineer on the project and asked, "Now, how us her Power Suit coming along?"
"It's coming along fine, Chairman," the lead engineer answered. "We should be finished in a few hours."
"And this suit is just as powerful as the original Samus Aran's?"
"Uh, not exactly," the elf stammered in reply.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, while the suit is based upon Chozo technology, it's not really just a compilation of Federation knockoffs of Chozo technology," the elf explained.
"Will this suit have all of the abilities and technology present on Samus Aran's own Power Suit?"
"Yes, Chairman," the elf answered. He then listed all of the powers and abilities that the suit would have. "It will have the Varia and Gravity upgrades, along with the Power, Charge, Wave, Ice, and Plasma Beams. They'll also be stacked when fully active. It also has the Morph Ball form, with Bombs and Power Bombs. In addition, it will also have missiles and Super Missiles, along with the Speed Booster, Space Jump, and Screw Attack. Everything that Samus's original suit has."
Elric grinned at the description of the suit's abilities. "Then why won't it be as strong as the original suit?" Elric asked in a harsh tone.
"Its defenses are significantly weaker than those of Samus's original suit. Even with the Gravity feature activated, its defensive shields won't match the power of Samus's own Power Suit, without the Varia or Gravity upgrades."
Chairman Elric then gave a scowl. "Can anything be done to increase its shield power?"
The elf shook his head. "No sir. Not unless you take even more power away from the weapons systems, which are also weaker than those found on Samus's own suit."
"What use do we have for a weakened Samus that's likely not as smart as the original?" Elric roared. "I would feel more comfortable giving this suit to the Army or Marines!"
"Sir, this suit costs a lot to make," the elf replied sheepishly. "It's still based on alien technology. We never said that we'd be able to make it as powerful as Samus's original suit, either."
Elric then checked the screens of the data terminals close to the table and saw the power output of the weapons. "I'm less than impressed with these weapons, here," Elric stated. "This suit's charged Plasma Beam is only as powerful as a Federation Plasma Cannon, and the Freeze Gun's ice blasts are stronger than this suit's Ice Beam shots."
"There's nothing we can do about that, sir," the elf retorted. "We had to make a few sacrifices in order to make the suit viable. Don't worry, sir, the final product should be a bit stronger than the current specs indicate."
"It had better be," Elric nearly threatened.
"It will.
"I really need to have a powerful warrior backing me up right now. I can't have a Samus that's too weak. This Samus has to be close enough to the original in ability and mentality so as to not arouse any suspicions about the identity of my Samus Aran, but also weak enough so as to serve me when I call upon her. The Council, particularly Councilman Williams of Earth, is already beginning to investigate the assassination of former Chairman Keaton. Many are saying that either I, or my Vice-Chairman Cyrus, are the ones responsible for it. If they ever learn of my involvement in the assassination, there will be trouble for all of us."
"Not necessarily," Chamolos responded, coming over to Elric, along with Drayka. "There are many who don't want Cyrus to take command of the Federation, particularly Councilman Williams of Earth. Given the fact that was Cyrus in command of the Earth based criminal organization known as Team Galactic, I don't know why you wanted him to be your Vice-Chairman, but he does provide you with some cover. Not only that, but Keaton was notoriously anti-military, and the military had shown its necessity during the Phazon Crisis, just before the former Chairman's unfortunate assassination."
"No he doesn't," Elric retorted. "If anything, once I'm impeached, I and Cyrus will mysteriously die and no one will investigate our deaths very deeply. Besides, if that comes out, it won't be long before they find out that I had dealings with the Space Pirates during the Phazon Crisis and that it was my people that gave them the information about the G.F.S. Valhalla on my authorization."
"There will be no reason to impeach you if your connection to these projects, or the Space Pirates, is never discovered," Drayka told him. "Heck, you could even send Commander General Adam Malkovich and Platoon 07 to the Bottle Ship to get the ball rolling once the time is right."
Elric seemed to consider what was being said. "Perhaps, but first, I need to be secure in the knowledge that no matter what happens, none of this comes back to me."
"Don't worry, sir," Chamolos assured him. "None of this will come back to you."
"Good," Elric stated. "For if the Council ever knew what we were planning on turning the Federation into, we would be doomed."
"I know, sir," Chamolos responded. "Don't worry, sir. There's no way your true motives will ever be revealed until it's already too late."
With that, Elric gave a grin. The telepaths at the side of Clone Samus's tank then used their telepathy to put Clone Samus to sleep and wipe her memory of anything that she may have heard during the conversation. It did not seem as if they knew that they were being recorded, though.
The program finished and the hologram disappeared. Samus and the others stared with their mouths open, in utter shock at what they had seen. "My gosh," Samus stammered. "This is what they were doing while I was in a coma?"
"Elric sent us on a suicide mission and intended for us to die," Adam growled. His sentiment was echoed by Anthony Higgs.
"He's a traitor," Anthony seethed.
"Did either of you get all of that?" Adam called out to Anthony and Samus? "Did you make sure that it was legitimate and not a fake set up by MB?"
"Yes, sir," they both responded in unison. "It's legitimate," Samus called out in answer. "My Scan Visor confirms as much."
They then looked over to Clone Samus, who was staring at the holographic projector in shock. "So that's all I am," she muttered to herself. "I'm only a weapon for a corrupt regime and leader out to destroy the Galactic Federation from within."
"No," Prime Samus answered firmly, coming over to support her clone. "You are more, much more than what they wanted to make you. You've proven as much in your short, but distinguished, career. Without you, none of this would have ever been revealed. We now have irrefutable evidence of Elric's crimes, as well as of his plans for the Galactic Federation. With this evidence, we can stop Elric's plans before they take effect, and it's all because of you. You're a hero."
"I froze against Ridley, twice," Clone Samus countered flatly. "One of those times nearly cost Anthony Higgs his life. It would have cost Anthony his life if it had not been for his quick thinking and incredible luck," she corrected.
"I froze in my first encounter with Ridley after my parents had died," Samus told her clone.
"Come on. You were what, fourteen? Sixteen?" Samus's clone asked, focusing her gaze on Samus and staring her in the eyes. "When you fought your first real battle against him, you wiped the floor with him. And you've been doing so ever since. I have those memories! I have the memories of blowing Ridley apart, knocking him down so that some Chozo Statues can finish the job, falling on top of him and force-feeding him Power Beam shots while falling down a shaft, etcetera. I should not be freezing against him!"
"Maybe they accentuated your fear of Ridley in you," Kreatz offered, trying to cheer Clone Samus up, albeit unsuccessfully. She gave Kreatz a frown, but Prime Samus then said, "Don't discount what he said. Every time I fight Ridley, I'm scared. I would be stupid to not be a little scared when I fight an enemy as powerful as Ridley. The thing is what I do with that fear. And that is what you need to think about should you face him, or his clone, again. You may have the memories, but you don't have the actual experiences," Samus explained. "Once you gain those experiences directly, you'll react to Ridley no different than I do."
Clone Samus gave a slight smile, though her helmet shielded it from being seen. "Thank you, Samus," the clone responded sincerely.
While Samus and Clone Samus had been having their talk, Adam had been at the console, trying to activate the station's autodestruct sequence. So far, though, he was having no success. He tried typing in another command and immediately, the console shorted out, as did all of the other bridge computer consoles. Lightning arced around all of the consoles and they immediately went dark.
"No," Adam cried. "MB must have done something to the main computer."
"What's wrong?" Mauk asked, coming over to Adam.
"The main computer fried the consoles," he answered. "I can't activate the autodestruct from here. I'll have to go down to Main Engineering to override the computer's control and activate it manually."
"Where's Main Engineering?" Samus asked.
"Several levels down," Adam responded. "Follow me!"
Adam then proceeded to make for the exit to the bridge when the doors shut, leaving him stranded. Samus then stepped forward and leveled her arm cannon at the doors. She then fired a regular missile at the door, which struck the door and blew a hole into it large enough to allow them to exit the bridge. As Samus fired the missile, Adam had noticed the Chozo Technology Disruptor pistol and picked it up, placing it in one of his suit's holsters. Once Samus had blown a hole in the doors and given them an exit, the group left the bridge and entered the corridor. Adam led the way, followed by Samus and Clone Samus, then Anthony, and finally, Kreatz and Mauk.
In the corridor, a large number of enemies ranging from Reos to Zebesians to Kyratians to Rhedogians came to meet them. Not wasting any time, Samus and Clone Samus immediately jumped into the air and somersaulted. As they did so, a field of yellow energy surrounded each of them, indicating that their Screw Attacks were active. They Screw Attacked their way through the waves of enemies, shredding each enemy they came into contact with immediately upon making contact with them. All throughout the corridor, the two continued to buzzsaw their way through wave after wave of enemies, with Anthony, Adam, Kreatz, and Mauk picking off any that managed to survive the Samuses buzzsaw through the corridor.
None of the bioweapons were able to withstand the onslaught of Clone Samus and the original Samus Aran. In addition, none of the weapons could penetrate the shield that the Screw Attack energy field produced over the two bounty hunters. They continued to somersault through their enemies, plowing through them and killing them to clear the way for Adam and the others. The whine of sporadic energy fire echoed behind the two of them, but the infrequency of the fire indicated that not many of the enemies they faced in the corridors managed to survive. And most of those that did survive fled the scene after the two warriors had passed.
It was not long before they reached the next corridor and found a door at the end of it. There were no bioweapons present, but they both wanted to make sure, so they fired a series of missiles at various vents in the ceiling, and on high on the walls. Some of the vents were unoccupied, but others had contained Super Zebesians. Upon the destruction of the vents, the Super Zebesians, Zebesian Space Pirate clones dressed in red armor, were flung to the floor, where they landed in heaps. Samus and Clone Samus soon powered their Plasma Beams and fired on them. Samus's beam was more powerful and struck the Zebesian on the right, inflicting a great deal of damage to the creature. While Clone Samus's beam was less powerful in terms of raw firepower, its Diffusion capability allowed it to explode on impact like a missile. The beam struck the Zebesian on the left and the beam exploded. The resulting explosion severely damaged the Zebesian, and outright killed the already injured Zebesian on the right. Samus and Clone Samus then fired a few uncharged Plasma Beam shots into the remaining Zebesian and felled it. Once the fight was over, they looked back and ushered the others through the corridor. They soon reached the door and proceeded on through.
On the other side of the door, they group found themselves in a large, circular chamber with a massive elevator in the center of the room. Samus led the way to the elevator, followed closely by Clone Samus, then Anthony, Kreatz, and Mauk, with Adam hanging back. Adam took a deep breath and said, "Forgive me, Samus." He then took out the Chozo Disruptor Pistol and took aim at Samus. As Anthony looked back and saw Adam firing on Samus, he cried, "Samus, watch out!" But he was too late.
Samus was approaching the elevator as static suddenly filled her HUD screen. After a second, her vision returned but she could feel her suit deactivating and soon, she was standing on the ground without her armored suit. She looked back and saw Adam lower the disruptor and glared at him.
"What the hell was that, General?" Anthony screamed at the top of his lungs. "She's an ally!"
Adam merely looked sternly at him and then focused his eyes on Samus. Clone Samus then jumped in front of Prime Samus and pointed her arm cannon at Adam, staring at him in the eye. "What are you doing Adam?" she cried. "She's your friend!"
"And that's why I disabled her suit," Adam replied crisply, approaching the two of them, though both Samuses could see that he took no pleasure in the action that he had taken. He holstered his weapons, looking Samus in the eyes, and said, "This trip is a one-way trip Samus. Even if I can somehow manage to destroy whatever Aurora Unit is controlling the station, there are still security protocols in place to prevent an autodestruct sequence from activating. The same thing happened on Sector Zero of the Bottle Ship. I won't make the same mistake this time." He then pulled out a bomb and said, "I'm going to finish the job myself, this time. As the old saying goes: 'If you want the job done right, you have to do it yourself.'"
He then went to walk by the two Samuses when Prime Samus stepped out and grabbed him by the shoulders and restrained him, looking him in the eyes. "Wait, Adam," she began forcefully. "You don't have to do this! Let me go. This is why I became a bounty hunter: to protect the galaxy, and the universe. This is what the Chozo trained me to do. This is the path I have chosen."
"And pragmatically speaking, that's the one reason why I can't let you do this," Adam responded with a soft and understanding tone. "You are the true protector of the galaxy. Me? I'm only a human general in the Galactic Federation Army. I can easily be replaced by an officer who's just as good at his job as I am."
"No," Samus countered. "That's not good enough. You're one of the best generals in the Galactic Federation. You're not just one man, one general. You're Commander General Adam Malkovich."
"And you're not just one woman, or one bounty hunter," Adam countered, though his tone was kind and understanding. "You are Samus Aran, one of my closest friends; and I care for you greatly. I can't let you throw away your life taking out a mere station to solve a problem that only came about because of the wishes of a few corrupt men. Besides, the others will never make it back to your ship to get off of this station without you."
"My clone can get them out of here," Samus countered. She then turned to her clone and said, "Make sure you get the others out of here, including Adam. And once you do, live a good and happy life."
Clone Samus merely stood there, not saying a word, uncertain as to whose side to take in this debate. Adam then told Samus, "You both can live good, happy lives. Just go now. Get out of here. Let me take care of this."
"Adam, I've lost too many friends in my life. You are one of the few that are still alive. Don't throw your life away just for me," she begged.
"I'm not," Adam told her. "I'm sacrificing myself so that others more worthy than me may live," he answered. "You have had so much sadness in your life with the loss of your parents, Gray Voice, the Metroid Hatchling, etcetera. They all had one thing in common. They sacrificed themselves for what they believed in, and they died so that you could live. They valued your life. Don't sacrifice yourself now, Samus, and cause their sacrifice to be in vain. This is my final order. Save the others and live."
"I can't do that, Adam," Samus answered sternly.
"Why not?" Adam asked.
"Because you'll never make it to Main Engineering and the computer core alone," Samus answered. She gave him as kind a smile as she could, but she could not help but grin to herself. She had him, and she knew that she was right. "Do you know how many bioweapons must be between the Main Elevator and Main Engineering? My clone and I made it here as quickly as we did because we had the Screw Attack and used it to plow through the enemies on our way here. You don't have the weaponry or the defenses that we have. It's a suicide mission that has no hope of success."
"We don't have any time to argue this, Samus," Adam blurted angrily. "I read on the consoles that MB had the bioweapons on this ship building a warp drive for the station. From the readouts I read, they're almost done. We can't stand around arguing the point anymore. We have to act!"
"Then let me act!" Samus retorted. "I'm the best qualified to do this anyway. I have the weapons and the abilities to get this job done quickly and efficiently."
"Not without your suit, you don't," Adam responded harshly. "Don't think that this pistol that MB used against you and you stole from her is the only one of its kind. If there are any more of these pistols, just one hit will cripple you for a whole minute."
Samus merely stood before Adam and a golden light surrounded her body. In merely a second, her Varia Suit had reappeared over her body. Her full power was once again restored. She quickly scanned her logbook to make sure that she still had the data regarding Elric's corruption and criminal activities. Good, the data was still there. She then stood before Adam in her full attire, saying nothing, letting the fact that her suit was back speak for itself. She soon saw Adam level his disruptor at her and she quickly jumped to one side as he fired another blast, which went wide of her and struck Clone Samus's suit. Much to Samus's surprise, Clone Samus's suit, which had a both a Varia and a Gravity feature, did not disappear. It remained fully intact and did not appear to suffer any damage, even to its shields.
Clone Samus then stepped forward and said, "Let me put an end to this argument." She paused for a moment, and then said, "I'll do it."
"What?" both Prime Samus and Adam Malkovich blurted. "But you've only had a month to live," Samus said, tears nearly forming in her eyes. Despite just meeting her clone, she viewed her clone almost as a long lost twin sister, rather than a mere clone. "Don't end it so prematurely."
"I wish there was another way," Clone Samus lamented. "But both you and Adam are right. You are of greater importance than me right now. More than anything, you have the information on Elric's activities involving the Bottle Ship and Research Facility Seven-Seven-Seven. You must survive and escape if he is to brought to justice. And just as importantly, I am the best qualified for this mission. My suit is Galactic Federation technology based on Chozo tech. It is immune to the disruptor pistol." Prime Samus looked over at her clone and gave a kind, yet sad smile. She was right. Her survival was necessary in order to ensure that Chairman Elric was brought to justice and she rejoined Kreatz, Mauk, and Anthony. Adam was not so ready to give in, yet.
"But you don't have the codes necessary to initiate the self-destruct sequence or lower the containment defenses around the core," Adam countered. "I do."
"I have a Power Bomb," Clone Samus countered.
"There's no guarantee that a Power Bomb will be powerful enough to destroy the reactor," Adam told her. "Either way, I'm going."
"Then I'll join you," she declared. Clone Samus then looked back at Samus one more time. "I wish I could have gotten to know you better. And you guys too," she said, glancing over at Kreatz, Mauk, and Anthony. "I'm really glad I got the chance to meet you for the short time that I did, though," she said, lowering her head, bowing for them. She then turned back to Samus and said, "Go, get out of here, now! Once we arrive down in Main Engineering, there won't be much time. We'll either finish it quickly or not at all. Go!"
She then boarded the elevator with Adam, who looked back at Samus with a sad smile. Then he gave his trademark phrase, one last time, before the elevator doors closed, "No objections. Right lady?"
Samus then powered down her suit so she could hold out her hand and stuck out her thumb in the middle, her hold wavering. Eventually, she turned her thumb upwards and gave Adam her first thumbs up in a while. Her smile echoed his own sad smile and she declared, "I'll make sure they know that you're a hero." With that, the door closed and Samus reactivated her suit.
Before the door closed, Clone Samus called back and told her, "Samus, the ship I used to get here is in the Main Hanger Bay! Just follow the corridor all the way to the large set of double doors!" With that, the elevator door closed and Adam and Clone Samus rode it down to Main Engineering.
Prime Samus then turned back to Kreatz, Mauk, and Anthony and told them, "Hurry, we don't have much time." The group then charged back out into the corridor, hoping that more bioweapons had not come to replace the fallen.
Clone Samus and Adam stood on the elevator as it descended to the Main Engineering level. After ten seconds, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Sure enough, a dozen Rhedogians stood in the corridor, waiting for the two to emerge. Clone Samus obliged them and performed a Screw Attack. A yellow field of energy was emitted from various points on her armor as she somersaulted through the air, and plowed through the Rhedogians with contemptuous ease. Adam rushed after her, staying close to her so that her attack would shield him from any enemy fire. He needed to get to the main computer controls so that he could activate the self-destruct. He would make sure that it was an instantaneous self-destruct, though, so that there would be no chance of the computer overriding his command.
After the Rhedogian threat was neutralized, they found the door that led to the corridor that would take them to Main Engineering. They entered the corridor and saw that it was crawling with Zebesians and Kyratians. Clone Samus and Adam opened fire on the creatures and felled them with volleys of energy and plasma fire. Samus stood in front of Adam so as to absorb the incoming attacks for Adam. However, not many of the enemies managed to fire on Samus or Adam before being slaughtered. Once the battle was over, the two headed towards the door that led them out of the corridor and right into Main Engineering.
Upon entering Main Engineering, the two saw that the entire room was lined with tanks containing Metroids, likely unfreezable Metroids, and consoles. On the ceiling were turrets that likely were designed to fire energy blasts at any unwelcome intruders. In the center of the room stood the main core, a matter/antimatter reactor. A single breach to the containment field would annihilate the entire station and wipe out all of the bioweapons, even the Metroids. However, sitting inside a glass container on a hoversled was an Aurora Unit. The unit was almost as tall as Samus and Adam and strongly resembled a human brain.
"I am MB One-Point-Five. Intruders spotted," an androgynous voice said, upon spotting them. Adam grimaced. It looked as if MB had downloaded a copy of her personality, or at least her goals, into the Aurora Unit. "Defense systems activate! Terminate all human lifeforms!"
Immediately, the defense turrets came online and began targeting Samus and Adam. Samus stood in front of Adam and absorbed their fire, targeting each turret with a single missile and destroying it. One by one, the turrets were destroyed. However, soon, a greater defense would come to the aid of the Aurora Unit, for crashing through the ceiling came a full-grown Ridley bio-form.
"Ridley," Clone Samus muttered as she began to sweat. However, she resolved to not freeze this time. She would make Adam and her original proud. She would deal with Ridley herself and finally end the nightmare he posed, once and for all. She clenched her fist and then pointed her arm cannon at Ridley, shouting, "Okay, Ridley. Now it ends!"
Ridley obliged her by unleashing a stream of plasma at Samus, which she deftly dodged by sense-moving out of the way. As she did so, she charged her Plasma Beam and unleashed her charged Plasma Beam shot at Ridley. She scored a direct hit on his chest, but Ridley was far from finished. He then rose into the air and stabbed his tail down at Samus, who constantly avoided the tail by diving out of its way. When Ridley rested for a second, Clone Samus unleashed her charged Plasma Beam shot. She scored a direct hit on Ridley's chest and he recoiled in pain. However, he was not down, and he was not out. He then charged Samus and attempted to grab her. Clone Samus was too quick for him and she managed to avoid his charge. She then fired another charged Plasma shot and scored another hit. However, her scans indicated that he still had a lot of life left in him. It would be a while before she inflicted enough damage to take him down.
While Samus was engaging Ridley, Adam went over to the main terminal and entered a series of codes into the computer. Just as had happened on the bridge, the computer denied him access to the self-destruct protocols. He then felt the Aurora Unit zeroing in on him from behind and dove to the floor as it fired a beam from its eye. The beam sailed above him and he turned and opened fire on the stasis tank that protected the organic supercomputer. His energy blasts splashed harmlessly against the tank's outer covering. He looked past the Aurora Unit and saw that Clone Samus had her hands full with Ridley. He would have to battle the Aurora Unit alone. He drew out his normal assault rifle and targeted the stasis tank, remembering that physical weapons were known to be effective against it. His gunfire struck the glass and cracks began to form along the shell. He then drew out a gray motion-sensor bomb and tossed it to the cracking glass. There, it stuck until the Aurora Unit foolishly swiveled and tried to draw a bead on him. The bomb then exploded, shattering the tank, sending several glass shards inward, which embedded themselves into the brain. With the brain exposed, and already having suffered damage due to the bomb's explosion, Adam drew his energy rifle once more and proceeded to pump energy fire into the Aurora Unit. Despite its defenses, the Aurora was unable to withstand Adam's assault, especially with its membrane already having been breached by several shards of glass. It was not long before Adam started to inflict catastrophic damage to the supercomputer. Adam's energy bursts burned the organic membrane and the interior of the brain, which disrupted many of its organic functions, causing the brain to malfunction. The end was near for the brain. If the Aurora Unit was not already dead, it soon would be. Adam merely made certain that it was dead when the hoversled ceased to function and fell to the floor, the Aurora Unit's remains rolling onto the floor. Adam fired a few more shots into the unit, completely obliterating the brain, ending its threat permanently. Once the Aurora Unit was completely destroyed, he headed over towards the main computer terminal, hoping that now he could enter the proper codes to start the self-destruct sequence. As the computer was destroyed, though, he saw all of the doors turn red, indicating that he and Clone Samus were trapped inside. He looked over at Samus and saw that she was still fighting Ridley, but was at the very least holding her own.
In her fight against the massive space dragon, Samus held the edge against Ridley. Ridley had only managed to hit her once with his plasma breath, while Samus had managed to score several direct hits on him with her Super Missiles and charged Plasma Beam blasts. Ridley was beginning to look quite ragged while Clone Samus was still healthy, relatively speaking. Clone Samus knew that Clone Ridley's end was close, so she readied another Super Missile and waited for Ridley to dive towards her. Once he did so, she sense-moved out of the way and dodged his strike. She then turned and fired her missile on Ridley. Clone Ridley turned and roared, only to have the Super Missile fly right into his mouth. The missile exploded as Ridley reflexively closed his mouth and blew apart Ridley in the process.
Once the fight was over, Clone Samus looked back at Adam, who was working at the console, inputting his command codes. She quickly noticed that despite the destroyed Aurora Unit lying on the floor, the security systems were still functional and beginning to target Adam. She then turned her arm cannon to the nearest cannons and opened fire, praying that they would focus on her, rather than go after Adam. After Samus took down a few cannons, the rest focused their fire on her, ensuring that Adam could work without having to worry about them.
Back at the console, Adam tried using his command codes once more. Again, access was denied. He did not know why. The data screen then flashed up on the monitor, reading, You will not succeed General Malkovich. My directive is clear. For the good of the galaxy, I must destroy the Galactic Federation.
"But you don't have to! Samus and the others are going to take down those that did this to you, MB!" he cried, trying to reason with the computer.
MB is dead, the screen read. Aurora Unit MB 1.5 is dead. All that is left is my directive. I must carry out my final directive, the destruction of the Galactic Federation. It was no use. He could not get through to the computer. Adam then pulled out his rifle and began firing on the reactor. He knew that if he could breach the containment field, then the uncontrolled matter/antimatter reaction would destroy the entire station. Still, his fire was insufficient to breach the container. He was not surprised. The containment field was designed to prevent the ludicrous amounts of energy produced from the core from leaking out and destroying the station. He had to find a way to lower the containment field so that he could destroy the ship. He then went back to the console and began to type in the commands again. However, this time, electricity erupted from the console and shocked him. Electricity arced across his body and he soon fell to the floor, seemingly unconscious.
Clone Samus witnessed Adam being shocked and rushed over to check on his condition. As she approached, his eyes shot open and he quickly rose. He faced her and said, "Don't worry Samus, I'm fine." However, his tone was off.
Samus approached him and asked, "Are you sure? That shock looked pretty nasty."
"I said I'm fine!" he snapped. Samus was taken aback by the sudden change in Adam's behavior.
"Okay," Samus said, with a note of uncertainty in her voice.
She then approached the main terminal, deactivating her suit, since she wanted to hack the computer with both of her hands being available since her Federation designed Power Suit did not have a Scan Visor. She looked over at the terminal and soon saw blood-red letters appear on the data screen, reading, Samus, behind you!
Samus turned around and saw Adam pointing his gun at her. He pulled the trigger and fired his energy blast at Samus. Her Zero Suit's shields were instantly depleted by merely one shot. She then dove out of the way of the subsequent shot as one of the defensive cannons that had not been destroyed targeted Adam, who was acting very strange. Adam pursued her, a sadistic gleam in his eyes. He soon pulled the trigger of his gun once more and he fired a single shot at her. The shot struck Samus in the lower right part of her abdomen and she cried out in pain as she fell to the ground, a hole burned into her side. She struggled to crawl away from Adam as he leered down at her, a sadistic gleam in his eyes. "Samus, I'm going to kill you now, and lead my bioweapons and Metroids to Daiban and have them devour every single idiotic person on that planet. Any objections, lady?" he added mockingly.
But before he could finish her off, a voice sounded from various speakers all around Main Engineering, saying, "Yes." The defensive turret then opened fire on Adam and a hole was burned through his chest, armor and all. As Adam fell to the ground, the turret fired on him once more and annihilated his head, ensuring that Adam's body was dead.
As Samus's eyes went wide at the sight of Adam's seeming death, the voice sounded over the speakers again. "Samus, you must power up your suit." The voice sounded just like Adam's. "I have managed to isolate the systems that power the containment field. You must destroy the joints above the main reactor to weaken the field enough that there will be breaches in containment system."
"Adam, is that you?" Clone Samus asked, incredulous at what she was hearing.
"Yes, it's me," the voice responded.
"But how?"
"While the MB persona created in the computer core was taking over my body, I piggybacked the signal and took over the computer," Adam explained. "It is the only way I can lower the defenses of the station so that you can destroy it. I have been locked out of the computer's primary systems." He then paused for a moment before continuing, "Samus, the warp drive is complete and it is beginning to power up. You have to destroy the station now. It is slaved to jump right to Daiban and emerged from subspace right on top of Galactic Federation Headquarters, inside the atmosphere of Daiban. From there, it will crash into GFHQ and the computer will then spread all of the bioweapons on this all across Daiban. Billions will die, and that's before the chaos of having the Federation Council and Chairman killed."
"But what about you?"
"I'm already dead, Samus," Adam told her. "I made certain of that when I blew my own head off. Samus, you must destroy this station now. I won't be able to control the secondary systems for much longer. You have to do it now."
"Okay," Samus said as she struggled to stand, holding her side. She concentrated and reactivated her Power Suit. Her suit formed over her body and she turned and took aim at the connection joints above the main reactor. She then activated her Seeker Missiles and locked onto the joints. Upon locking onto the joints, she fired her Seeker Missiles at the joints. Missiles erupted from her arm cannon and split apart, streaking towards the joints. The missiles struck the joints and detonated, blowing the joints apart. With the joints having been destroyed, the containment field fluctuated for an instant. In that instant, the energy contained within the matter/antimatter reactor breached the weakened field and was freed. The energy liberated from the reactor then consumed Samus, and the rest of the station in the blink of an eye.
During Adam and Clone Samus's trip down to Main Engineering and the main reactor, Prime Samus led Anthony, Kreatz, and Mauk through the corridor back to the gunship her clone used to get to the station. The corridors were lined with the remains of dead bioweapons and Federation Army Troopers. A few bioweapons, furry white creatures with bird-like feet that Samus did not know were juvenile Ridleys, were feasting on the remains of the fallen, but they scurried out of the way of Samus when she came rushing through, followed by three other soldiers. Anthony, however, took a few shots at the creatures, obliterating them. Samus looked back at him questioningly, but he merely responded, "What? I don't wanna have to face another Ridley?"
"Those things were Ridleys?" Mauk asked, a shocked expression crossing his face at the statement.
"Sure were," Anthony replied.
Samus and Kreatz did not really care about the new discovery, though. They just wanted to get to Samus's gunship as quickly as possible. Since she did not know how much time they had, she did not bother to stop when she faced any Zebesians or other creatures. She merely kept her Wave Beam charged and fired on any bioweapons that took too much interest in the fleeing warriors. A few Zebesians tried to bar her way, only to be shot down by Samus and Anthony. They soon came to a dead end and went through a door to their right.
In the next room, there was a long walkway that led over a grassy area. Samus switched to her Plasma Beam and fired on the two Zebesians in the walkway that tried to halt their progress. Her charged shots quickly felled the creatures with single shots, and set their carcasses ablaze as well. Once they crossed the chasm, they entered another set of doors.
The next room was large room but only had one exit, which was the entrance to the Main Hangar Bay. A few Zebesians prowled the area and took a few shots at the heroes, but Samus put them down with a few shots from her Plasma Beam. The party then ran towards the door and upon reaching it, surged on through.
The hangar bay was devoid of any bioweapons and Samus could see her old gunship across the walkway near the exit. She noticed the bodies of several Army Troopers, technicians, and the wreckage of several fighters and other ships also littering the bay. She did not pay any attention to the debris as she ran down a set of stairs, followed by Anthony, Kreatz, and Mauk in single file. They approached the ship at full sprint and Samus opened both the dorsal and ventral hatches. Samus jumped to enter by means of the dorsal hatch, leaving the ventral hatches for Anthony, Kreatz, and Mauk.
She boarded her ship and immediately entered the cockpit cabin. She entered at the same time Anthony did and they both took the pilot and co-pilot's seat respectively. After that, Kreatz came onboard, and finally, Mauk was the last to enter. Once Mauk was onboard, Kreatz called, "That's everyone, Samus. Let's get out of here!"
Samus then initiated the startup sequence and her ship's engines sprang to life. The ship shook as it lifted off from the bay's floor. Samus then turned the ship until it was facing the exit of the hangar bay. She then took the ship through opening and rocketed away from the station as fast as she could, wanting to be as far away as possible before the station exploded. She then shifted raised the shields of her gunship and shifted power from the ship's weapons to reinforce the shields. For the first several seconds, there was nothing as the station remained off in the distance. A few seconds later, though, a bright light emanated from the station and it exploded in a magnificent display of light and fire. Kreatz and Mauk covered their eyes so as not to be blinded by the explosion. Samus then turned her ship to face the remains of the station. "Goodbye, Adam," she said softly, looking down at her console.
She was about to turn away from the station and head back to Daiban when she picked up an electronic signature from the debris. Anthony also saw this and, turning to her, asked, "Are you seeing this?"
"Yes," Samus responded curtly. Kreatz and Mauk soon came over to Samus and hovered over her.
"Man, what's that?" Kreatz asked.
"It looks like some sort of electronic signature," Mauk answered for Samus. They then detected a radio signal emanating from it. Mauk looked over at Samus and asked, "What do we do?"
"We investigate," she replied, as she powered the ship's engines and took her ship into the debris field that had once been Research Facility 777.
Her ship avoided the larger pieces of metal as they flew around her ship. The smaller pieces of metal impacted her ship's shields but did not inflict any real damage to them. Samus glanced at her sensor display and HUD and found that she was rapidly closing in on the signal. Scanning her sensors and looking out the view port and found that the source of the electronic signature, as well as the radio signal, was a small, black box. "Wow," Anthony said, "It looks like one of those old black box recording devices from old Earth airplanes."
Samus could not help but notice the similarity. "Do you think MB's hidden her programming in that thing?" Kreatz asked.
The thought had crossed Samus's mind and she was tempted to deploy her ship's energy cannons and destroy it, but something in Samus's heart made her think twice before taking such a rash action. "I don't know," Samus answered. One part of her thought she was crazy, but another was hopeful that this was some last remnant of information, or a testimony as to Adam's courage in sacrificing himself for the greater good. "I'm going to bring it onboard."
Kreatz's eyes flashed. "Are you nuts?"
"Maybe," Samus responded. "But it may be something else entirely. And if this holds a sample of the information already held within my own logbook, then this will corroborate the evidence that Anthony and I have already recorded on Elric. Don't worry, I'll take every security precaution there is to make sure that it's not MB and that if it is, she won't be able to take over the ship."
With that, Samus inched her ship closer to the black box until she was just over it. She then opened a cargo hatch from the bottom of her ship and a small arm extended. The arm then brought the box into the small hold. There, it underwent a deep sensor scan. The information that was contained was downloaded to a computer separate from her all of her other ship computers and systems. The information contained a images and recordings of all of the ringleaders of the conspiracy, including their mention of Elric and their plans for takeover, despite him being their benefactor. She also saw signs of other pieces of data, but could not make them out. One thing she did know, though, was that there was no trace of MB or Mother Brain's programming on that box. She then looked up and told everyone, "It's clean, and even better. The information stored in this black box corroborates all of the information that we obtained from the Control Bridge recording, and more."
"Man, I wouldn't want to be Elric when this gets out," Kreatz said jovially.
The others agreed. Samus, however, was silent on the issue. She still felt a great emptiness in her heart at the loss of Adam and her clone, two more friends that she had to add to the honor roll. But there was still something tugging at her heart, and she felt as if Adam might not have been as far away as she had believed. Little did she know how right she was as she turned her ship around and jumped to warp.