Author's note: Heh, this has been a crazy couple of weeks and a real roller coaster of emotions. I had a much harder time than usual getting up the motivation to write this chapter (which is very unusual for me). Once I sat down and made myself write, the spark eventually came back, but man was it a pain to make that happen!

Anyway, any feedback you can give is greatly appreciated. Knowing that there are people reading and looking forward to new chapters really does help me motivate myself to write more. So if you'd just take a moment to type out a few words in a review, I would really appreciate it. Like I said, these past few weeks have been intense so I appreciate anything that helps me shift my focus back to my writing.

Chapter 21: Ruthless

Samus didn't like the idea of taking Chance and Calline with her to infiltrate the prison. She knew they had a plan in place that would only work if Chance went with her, and she was a little more understanding of that than she was of having Calline with them. The girl might have been trained as a warrior, and she might have possessed telekinetic abilities, but she was still only a child as far as Samus was concerned.

The plan, though relatively straightforward, would be difficult to pull off. First, she'd protect Chance and Calline while they broke into the main systems control room and located where Elisa was being held. Lieutenant Thibodaux had helped her hack into the prison's database and download a map of its layout. Then, the two of them would jam the security surveillance in that area and make it seem like there was an emergency in another part of the prison so Samus could get to Elisa's cell with as little resistance as possible.

Samus stood rigid in her powersuit as she waited to get the signal that it was time to go. She, Chance, and Calline were in the main docking area of the lowest deck, just past the cargo hull. The other two people were in makeshift spacesuits that seemed crude next to Samus's, but the former bounty hunter knew they just had to make it down to the drop point. Keeping them alive through this operation would be no small task, and she was not looking forward to the moment when their little group would have to split up.

Right now, they would be flying through the outer layer of security on the Federation's most heavily guarded military prison station, and while Captain Charbonnet had assured her that they were using the most high tech cloaking methods known to man, Samus was not so sure it was going to be enough. She couldn't see outside of the ship, but she was edge, waiting to feel the ship rock from the cannon fire that could strike it at any moment. She wished she had her old gunship, not the one that had hit the asteroid off of SR-388, but the other one she had used during the Phaaze crisis. Its cloaking was vastly superior to anything known to man because it had been based almost entirely upon Chozo technology she had rediscovered during her various missions to planets that had been formerly occupied by the ancient race.

Of course, she had no way to access that ship now. It would still be stored safely in her privately owned garage space on Aliehs-III since there were no longer any records that it existed. However, she knew better than to try to go to Aliehs-III and get it since the planet was probably crawling with bounty hunters who knew she had also parked her regular ship there.

She held her breath as the smugglers' ship flew through hostile airspace, and she was amazed they had not been attacked yet. Most likely, the ship was functionally invisible, both to the eye and to any type of radar system. It would have to be equipped with at least enough technology to do that if it was smuggling medications in and out of Federation territory without being caught.

"Samus, can you read me?" Thibodaux's voice came over the speakers in the docking space.

"Loud and clear," the bounty hunter replied, knowing that the room had enough microphones hidden in it that Thibodaux would be able to hear her even up in the cockpit.

"Okay, good. We're getting through the main lines of guards now, but Charbonnet doesn't think we're going to be able to get into the inner layer undetected. We're gonna have to drop you off from much higher than we initially planned."

Samus grimaced. She knew what that meant. "No problem. What's the plan now?"

"Out systems are showing a small area that isn't as heavily guarded. It's further away from the inmate facilities than we would have preferred, but we can drop you there."

"Undetected?"

"That's the thing," Thibodaux replied, sounding hesitant, "there's no way to avoid detection if we fly into that area. However, we're planning to just dip into those radar fields, drop you, and fly off. We'll let them chase us for a while before we make the jump into hyperdrive."

Samus frowned. "That's basically suicide."

"No, it's not. Not if you follow orders and make the drop exactly when I tell you to. We've got it all figured out. You just focus on your mission, and we'll focus on ours."

With a heavy sigh, the bounty hunter relented. "Do what you have to do. Just give me the signal when it's time."

"Get into position because we're coming up on it quick!"

"Understood," Samus replied as she turned to Chance and Calline. "You heard the lieutenant. Get into position."

Samus knelt down on one knee as the two of them climbed up onto her shoulders. It was awkward to have them up there, and they were large enough that both had to hold on tight to Samus. But the bounty hunter was strong, and standing up was easy even with the girl and the humanoid clinging to her. Since the drop was going to be from so high, Samus's suit would be the only one that could handle the impact of the fall without taking too much damage. She was not looking forward to impact with the ground, but she knew absorbing all of it was the only way to protect her two companions.

"Get ready," Thibodaux's voice said over the intercom as the light on the exterior hatch changed from red to yellow.

Samus stood in the ready position, fully prepared to run as soon as the light turned green. This would probably be the most dangerous part of this mission, and if anything went wrong, it could very easily be the only part of this mission.

"Go!" Thibodaux's voice yelled as the light turned green and the hatch flew open.

Without any hesitation, Samus ran for it full force as Chance and Calline clung to her with all their might. As she jumped out of the ship and they began their free fall to the surface of the station, she could hear the other two's strangled screams. She, however, was silent as she tucked in her knees and did a single roll through the air before landing cat-like on the ground. Her feet hit first, but she let herself quickly fall to one knee, her left hand bracing her as all three of them got their bearings.

A warning flashed on her HUD to let her know the fall had depleted a full energy tank of shielding, but she ignored it. There was much more shielding where that came from, and given the height of their fall, she was surprised the damage was not worse. She caught her breath as Chance and Calline let themselves fall off of her back and shakily stand upright as they turned to look at their surroundings.

"W-where is this place?" Calline asked, looking back at Samus as the bounty hunter got to her feet.

Samus looked around, silent for a moment. They had found a good place to land as there were no guards in sight. Overhead, they could see ships scrambling to go after the cargo ship that was fleeing from their station, but there was no one on the ground.

They were surrounded on most sides by large gray buildings that seemed to have been fused to the metallic surface of the station. There was nothing natural about the steel-plated ground beneath their feet, and the surrounding night sky made Samus feel like they were on a spaceship with the top down or something. The prison was so isolated from other planets and systems that there were no stars close enough to serve as its sun.

"We must be by the guards' and wardens' quarters," Samus replied, beckoning for them to follow her into an alleyway between two buildings so they would not be so out in the open anymore. Wherever they were, this section was desolate, and Samus could only assume it was because all of its occupants were out watching over the prisoners. "It's quiet right now, but we can't assume no one knows we're here."

Chance and Calline huddled close to Samus as the three of them hid in the alley and the bounty hunter scanned their surroundings.

"How far do you think we are from the main computer systems room?"

"No as far away as you might think," Samus replied as she read the map inside of her HUD. "They tend to keep the systems as far away from the inmates as possible for obvious reasons, and right now, we're no where near where the inmates live."

The lemur creature smiled cautiously. While he could tell Samus was irritated they were so far from where Elisa was most likely being kept, he was just happy to be far away from any galactic criminals being held here. There was no doubt in his mind that most were dangerous and this was probably where they were holding any POWs leftover from the Space Pirate War.

After Samus finished scanning the map, she turned and looked toward her two companions. "It's this way," she said as she began leading them through the rows of buildings.

Chance and Calline followed close behind knowing it was only a matter of time before they ran into any guards. The anticipation of what was to come was unnerving, however, Chance found being around Samus to be almost as frightening. With her powersuit and helmet on, she looked like a completely different person, and he could not see her face behind her green visor. Her voice was deeper and she carried herself much more like a predator stalking its prey than like the humanoid woman he had come to know aboard the ship. It was as though she had completely shifted modes and, to some extent, personalities. She spoke with confidence, authority, and perhaps even a bit of bloodlust in her terse words.

To Samus, however, these changes were so normal she barely noticed them. This was simply who she was on missions, the Hunter so many had come to fear over the years. Just because her enemies now wore the uniform of the Federation, it did not mean that her approach to them would be any different than any other force she had fought over the years.

As the group continued forward, Samus seemed to know where she was going, and the other two stayed close on her heels, terrified of getting lost in hostile territory. At one point, the hunter held up her hand and gestured for them to take cover behind what looked like a large, rectangular trash compactor. She followed, keeping her cannon raised and positioning her body in between her companions and the approaching pair of guards.

The two guards wore black Federation military uniforms, but they were unlike any species Chance and Calline had seen before. They were at least ten feet tall and looked like massive, muscular reptiles. They walked upright on two legs as their tongues flicked in and out to taste the air and their golden eyes looked around with black slits for pupils. One seemed to slow down as they were passing where the little group was hidden behind the trash compactor, but its companion said something to it, and it lost interest as they continued on their way. All three intruders breathed a collective sigh of relief.

In Samus's case, she did not fear the lizard creatures the same way the other two did, but she was glad not to have to kill them. She wanted to go as long as they possibly could without drawing attention to themselves, and she wanted to try to keep the body count on this mission to a minimum. When at last they were certain the guards were out of earshot, Samus beckoned for the other two to follow her, and their group continued on its way.

They must have been close to their destination when they had seen the guards because it was not long before they came across and unremarkable looking but heavily guarded building. It was a square, metal building, no taller than any of the others around it, but there were at least four of the muscular lizard creatures on each side, and they were carrying heavy-looking rifles. Their massive tails flicked back and forth as their long black tongues occasionally emerged from their mouths and flicked through the air.

"Oh great," Chance whispered as the three companions crouched between two other buildings. "Is that the systems room? How are we going to get in with all of those things guarding it?"

"Chancey," Samus said, her voice sounding irritated, "this is the most heavily guarded prison in Federation territory. Did you honestly think it would be easy to get into the systems room without getting caught?"

The lemur creature didn't say anything as the three of them silently continued to watch the guards at their posts. Eventually, they saw the two guards they had encountered earlier come in and relieve two of the others as they took their place. No one was sure exactly what time it was or how the rotation schedule worked, but Samus knew they would have to act quickly, just in case it was time for the prisoners to return to this area for simulated night.

"Calline," she whispered to the girl after a while, "what's the range on your powers? How far away can you create a diversion?"

The girl looked surprised as the mercenary addressed her and thought about it for a moment. "I can reach where those lizard things are, but it would require a lot of concentration."

"What about past them? Can you do anything to create a diversion on the other side of the building so we can distract them?" Samus knew it would not take much effort for her to kill all of the guards, but she also knew that the moment she started shooting would be the moment alarms would begin blaring and the whole station would go on an even stricter lock down.

Calline looked beyond the heavily guarded building, but the entire station was desolate and artificial. There were no trees or flora of any kind, only steel plating and gray metal buildings. As she stared at the empty buildings, however, she had an idea.

"The windows," the girl said. "I can create cracks in the windows and make them shatter. Even at this range. It wouldn't take too much effort. I can break a window on that building down there, and they'll have to go check it out."

Samus nodded. "Do it."

Calline took a deep breath as she looked away from the bounty hunter and toward the window she had selected on a far building. It was a daunting task compared to what she had been doing recently, but her training with the Federation Force had been intense and had prepared her for these types of challenges. As she exhaled, she focused all of her will upon the far window, and within seconds, she could feel micro-cracks forming in it. As the cracks began to spread from their central point, it became easier to create them, and it was only a matter of minutes before the whole window shattered. Loudly.

One of the massive lizards growled as all of them raised their weapons and looked toward the sound of the shattering. Several of them ran toward it to try to figure out the cause, and Samus and crew took this as an opportunity to head toward the building. The mercenary moved quickly and silently, the other members of her party clinging to her back as they had been when they landed on this station.

She was far quicker than any of the guards as she shot her grapple beam toward a second-story ventilation shaft and pulled it off, catching it in her free hand so it would not clatter to the ground. Within seconds, she had jumped up to it, helping Calline and Chance into it before rolling into her morphball form and following behind them as they led the way through the vent shaft. It was not long before they found an exit and crawled out into it, Samus following behind and unmorphing as soon as there was room.

"Um…" Chance stammered as he looked at the bounty hunter standing where the orange ball had once been. "W-what just happened? What was that?"

Samus ignored him as she stepped farther into the room and looked around. She let out a light gasp as she realized they had found it, the main systems control room. All around them were servers and massive holoscreens. There were wires and buttons for days, things she had no knowledge of and could only hope Chance recognized.

"This is it," she muttered as she looked around. Part of her was relieved to have found it so quickly, but another part of her was nervous that a scan of these computers might show that Elisa was not actually being held in this particular prison complex. "Chance…"

"I'm already on it, Samus!" he said as he ran over to one of the holoscreens. While Samus might not have known where to begin, the lemur creature was very familiar with this particular brand of technology and quickly went to work on it. It was a relief for Samus to see him work so quickly, especially considering she barely even recognized the language any of the text was written in.

"So," he asked after a few minutes of tense silence, "your girl, what's her name?"

"Elisa," Samus replied, holding her breath. "Elisa Rodriguez."

"On it," he said as he began furiously typing on a holo-keyboard and inputting codes. Samus watched in wonder, knowing she would have been very stuck at this point if she had attempted the mission alone. "Got it! Rodriguez, Elisa! Cellblock C! Cell 8686!"

Samus breathed a sigh of relief as she felt emotion well up in her chest. She was here. Elisa was here. And she would soon be reunited with her.

"Chance," she ordered, "stay here. Use the systems to create a diversion elsewhere. I'm going in."

"Yes, Ma'am!" the lemur said with a flick of his long tail.

Samus did not even bother to acknowledge Calline as she turned and made a dash back for the vent, changing into her morphball form as she traveled through the shaft. Her map showed where Cellblock C was, and that was all that mattered to her now. As she reached the outside of the building, she crawled out of the vent shaft and silently made her way onto the roof above so as not to attract the attention of the guards below. She shot a missile into the distance, and performed a continuous space jump to "fly" away from the building before anyone looked back and saw her. Landing in a secluded alley, she stood and raised her cannon, ready for the hunt once more.

At this point, she was less willing to hold her fire if anyone crossed her path. In solitude once more, she would not let anything come between her and Elisa, not now that she knew they were on the same space station.

Samus could hear alarms blaring in the distance as she ran to where Elisa was being held, but she ignored them, figuring that they were the result of the diversion Chance was creating. As she got closer to Cellblock C, she realized it was a maximum security cellblock, and even if other prisoners were out during the day, those kept within Cellblock C would not be allowed to leave. Elisa was definitely inside.

She tried to be as stealthy as possible, but she was anxious to rescue her love, and she knew she was taking some unnecessary risks. As a couple of lizard guards spotted her, she charred them out of existence with a few well-placed plasma beam bursts. On a whim, she cut off one of their scaly hands and took it with her as the found the barred entrance to the cellblock. Several more lizards spotted her, but she fried them all with the plasma beam.

Alarms were blaring all around her now, and she quickly used the severed hand to gain access to the front door by scanning it on the identification pad. The barred, metal doors opened just in time for her to rush in before they slammed closed behind her. Red lights were flashing in the prison as metal shielding came down from the ceiling to cut off her access to any of the hallways around her. With a ruthless ferocity, Samus sent a super missile flying through one of them, blowing it clean off.

Cell 8686 was marked clearly on her map, and she traveled toward it relentlessly, blowing up any doors or guards that got in her way. She was done with stealth and trying to keep a low body count. This was it. She was going to rescue Elisa, and she didn't care who or what she had to destroy to do it.

Her heart skipped a beat as she reached the 8000 section. As she walked along the rows of cells, their denizens glared out at her. Many were former Space Pirates who had been imprisoned since the end of the war. Many of them recognized her despite her altered appearance, but she knew she had not been the one to put any of them behind bars. She never left a Space Pirate alive long enough to bring them in.

As she approached cell 8686, she slowed down, her heart racing as she anticipated seeing Elisa and fearing what condition she might find the woman in. She worried about any injuries she might have sustained during torture or if they had been starving her. She worried about whether Elisa would even recognize her or if the woman would be fearful of her new appearance.

But Samus did not have to worry long about the state in which she would find her lover, because as she approached cell 8686 and peered inside behind its bars, she found it was completely empty.