The hatch opened. She was surprised to see Adam still in the room, though bound in a white wrapping with a giant spider standing over him.

Giant spider, nice touch.

The beast hissed at Samus and shot two string shots at her. Samus sidestepped and cauterized its skull with a plasma bolt. The behemoth dropped to the floor, limbs

twitching.

She began uniting Adam out of his web binding.

"Why did you leave?" Adam asked her.

"Now or then?"

"Then."

"Because you asked me to do something asinine. Against everything I stood for."

"It was a difficult situation," he retorted now free and standing beside her, "We all had to make tough decisions."

"You asked me to slaughter civilians."

"I needed you to follow my orders."

Samus spun around to face him, "I needed you to respect who I was."

"Any other soldier would have done it," Adam retorted, "I thought you were trained to follow orders."

"Well forgive me for not for being a mindless dog for you. Forgive me for not being Siegfried willing to murder thousands at a moment's notice."

"Those were my orders Samus, it's what needed to be done."

"Needed to be done?" she countered, her tone laced in sarcasm, "You turned the planet into a sepulture! And just because a few pampered pigs in the Senate told

you, too."

"Samus they-look, I was in no position to rebel. I had five other officers on the bridge at the time I gave the order. If I didn't give it, they would have removed me from

command and given it themselves. There was nothing I could have done."

"Adam, you told me a long time ago, 'We all have our choices to make.' And that day you made yours and I made mine. And I didn't want to serve under a government

that condoned planetary genocide just for a military outpost."

Adam was perturbed, you could see it in his red face. "Okay Miss Aran," he fired back, then why after leaving this corrupt Federation, you work for them. And regularly

no less! What's changed since then? Better pay to do the same thing? Such the improvement."

"What's changed is that can make my own rules now. If I don't like a mission, I don't do it. And from working with me for years, the Feds know what missions I'll refuse.

So they don't ask. They know I turn down missions involving civilian casualties. They know I won't just do something because they asked me to or because they pay

me to. I've shown them my standards. They respect that I'm not their pet murderer anymore."

Adam stared at her for a moment, looking her right in the eye. He muttered a curse.

"I lost so many," he mumbled, "I lost so many men that day Samus." He slammed his fist into the wall, "You have no idea what it's like to be in charge of a platoon.

Every single person in that squad, I was responsible for. Every one last one. And when one of them died, I was alone at fault. I've been haunted, Samus. Haunted by

the images of my men, brutally shot, never to return to the arms of their waiting wives. I see their fatherless children, asking every morning "when's Daddy getting

home? When's Daddy coming back?". I picture myself at every one of their homes, telling their family the bad news. Then I see then rise up like a wall of fire and

scream at me, "YOU KILLED THEM! YOU MURDERED OUR LOVED ONES"

He tried so hard to keep it together, but a tear slipped out.

"I don't care what you've done Samus. I don't care how many planets you've destroyed, or how many Vanies you've killed or how many races you've saved from

extinction, or what you did on the ground just now. You'll never know what it's like to lead men to their deaths. You think I'm a such great leader? Everyone else

seems to think so. I hear all the time the "accomplishments of Adam Malkovich" and how everyone seems to think I'm some sort of living legend. "Adam," they ask,

"what's it like being the hero at Crescal II" and, "what's it like putting down the Horus Insurrection", I'll tell you what's it like!

I've sent three battalions of men to their deaths on Horus IV, that's three thousand men. I've commanded losing battles in four different campaigns against the Krikens

and the Vanaralians. I ordered the slaughter of 18,000 civilians and soldiers on Crescal. I don't care what side they were on."

Samus' stood listening with a blank stare. He jabbed his chest, cursing himself, "I gave the order. I was responsible. I caused the Massacre at Crescal. And just when I

found one person in the entire universe who related to my pain just as much as I related to hers, I drove her as far away from me as I could."

She turned off her power suit. Orange energy wrapped around her as it dissipated into nothingness. She started crying as she wrapped her arms around him. "I

forgive you. It was an order you couldn't refuse."

Tears were streaming down his face. He returned the hug.

"I forgive you." She repeated.

There was," she was cried with him, "never anyone who understood me as deeply as you. That's why it hurt when you did what you did. I felt like you didn't know me

anymore"

"…I….I didn't know what I did until it was too late…It was wrong. So wrong of me… And I have this burden to carry for the rest of my life. But…it's, karkit! It's just too

heavy for me to bear."

She squeezed so tight, "If you'll let me…I'll carry it with you."

Adam nodded. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too."

He looked like he was about to say something to her when his eyes went blank.

Oh gods above no.

He grabbed her tightly and pressed his ice gun to her head.

Powersuit on, an ice shot would do next to nothing. By removing it to embrace Adam, she had made herself completely vulnerable. It was exactly the opportunity

Hannibal had been waiting for.

But no bolt came out. The possessed Adam pulled the trigger rapidly, but not a shot came out.

"What?" he asked.

Samus was speechless. What happened?

Adam threw chucked the useless weapon and pulled a combat knife on Samus, stabbing her in the ribs the Ridley clone broke earlier.

She screamed in pain, pushed him away and knocked him to the floor. She shrieked as she tore the knife still lodged in her body and reengaged her powersuit.

Adam swore and his eyes returned to normal.

This is no use, said Hannibal, he cannot kill you. I will have to try something else.

Samus buckled to one knee. She may have returned to her armour, but the wound was still bleeding. Adam put her right arm over his shoulders and helped her up.

"Why didn't that gun shoot?"

"I emptied it while Hannibal was distracted controlling the Desbrachians. I was afraid he'd use me to shoot you when you were least expecting it."

"But then you had nothing to defend yourself."

"That's why the spider Hannibal sent got me."

"You knew that. Why did-"

"I knew you'd come back for me."

Samus smirked.

Adam made for the door "Let's get out of here. Quick"

You're. Not. Leaving.

Both hatches out of the room locked shut and shield doors engaged.

Samus spun her weapon around the room. Where is he? Is he sending more monsters? Nothing was going to take Adam away from her.

Oh no Samus, spoke Hannibal again, it seems that no matter what creature I send at you, you manage to best. Not even a superior Ridley could end you. Not even my

greatest creations, the Desbrachians. I'll face you myself.

Through the glass observation windows, a gargantuan demon appeared. Octopus like? More like a freaking cycloptic squid! It had a bulbous shaped head and flaming

red eye. It had 40 foot arms around its head.

It must have been far away from Samus and the others since they first heard it, because now, up close, the thing spoke like a thunderclap in her head.

YOU RUINED MY JUDGEMENT OF HUMANTY! I'LL TEAR YOUR INSIDES APART!

He must have been too close to the station for the Federation ships in orbit to get a clear shot. They would have shot at him by now. Despite the excruciating pain she

was in, she managed to stand on her own and grin defiantly back at it.
"Come and get some you freak! Get back Adam!"

Suddenly Hannibal's slit-eye turned white. The glass cracked as the room split was filled with a high-pitched piercing sound. Samus fell to the floor as the most horrific

pain hit her ribs.

THIS IS HOW I MURDERED REINHARDT. IT'S PSYCHOPARALISIS. I CAN BEND THE BODY IN WAYS IT SHOULDN'T LIKE THIS.

"AIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

OR I CAN BUILD UP PREASURE…

The pain transferred to the front of her skull and she buckled to the floor. Samus watched helplessly as her energy tanks disappeared before her eyes. One second

they were full, the next her reserves had been injected and she was down to mere half.

TO POP YOU LIKE A BALLOON.

Without warning the windows retracted, exposing the room to the cold vacuum of space. Momentarily distracted and still wearing his airtight suit, Adam chucked his

knife into Hannibal's psychic eye.

The creature reeled in pain as it whipped its eye around, trying to dislodge the knife. It stared right at Adam, raised a tentacle and crushed him into the steel floor like

a bug. Samus was she got pissed.

Really pissed.

She leapt onto one of his outstretched tentacles and ran up to its body. She punched the eye and sent it hurdling into the station floor, lodging it in a steel crater. She

spun around and delivered a bone crunching drop kick to his eye.
Hannibal squealed in pain, but she wasn't done. She charged a shot, put the wounded eye into a headlock and delivered a pointblank, plasma burst straight into the

knife wound.

She finally grabbed Hannibal and flung him straight out into space. Screeching as it did. Blue ribbons lanced through its body and ripped the thing to pieces. The Fed

ships got their clear shot.

It screamed its last, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!